For those that are counting, the trip to Chamonix was Day Trip 3, I just forgot to include that in the title. This really is Day Trip 4 and it was the longest journey by car that we took the entire time we were in France. However, since Chateauneuf du Pape is the heart of the Southern Rhone wine region, we felt that we owed it to ourselves to make the journey there. After all, who knows when were going to get a chance to do this again?
For those that aren’t familiar with the region, Chateauneuf du Pape is a little village just north of the bustling city of Avignon. It is here that the best red wines of the Southern Rhone valley are made. The history of this region, including how it came to viticulture, is best stated in this quote from Wikipedia.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is firmly entwined with papal history. In 1308, Pope Clement V, former Archbishop of Bordeaux, relocated the papacy to the city of Avignon. Clement V and subsequent "Avignon Popes" were said to be great lovers of wine and did much to promote it during the seventy-year duration of the Avignon Papacy. At the time, winegrowing around the town of Avignon was anything but illustrious. While the Avignon Papacy did much to advance the reputation of wines from Burgundy, the papacy also promoted viticulture in the surrounding area, more specifically the area 5–10 km north of Avignon, close to the banks of the Rhône River. Prior to the Avignon Papacy, viticulture of the area had been initiated and maintained by the Bishops of Avignon, largely for local consumption.
Clement V was succeeded by John XXII, who regularly drank the wines from the vineyards to the north, as well as Burgundy wine, and did much to improve viticultural practices there. Under John XXII, the wines of this area came to be known as "Vin du Pape"; this term later became Châteauneuf-du-Pape. John XXII is also responsible for erecting the famous castle that stands as a symbol for the appellation.
Today, Chateauneuf du Pape is its own AOC, making wines that define what a GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) blend is.
The area itself is marked by rolling hills with chateaus that dominate the hillsides and grape vines as far as you can see in any direction. The soil is primarily clay but it is filled with galets (pebbles). In England they are also called pudding stones. They are essentially quartzite rocks that had been deposited by Alpine glaciers and smoothed over the millennia by the action of the Rhone River. These stones act as a natural heat sink, soaking up heat from the sun during the day and releasing it back to the vines during the nighttime. Between the presence of the galets and the Mistral (the wind constantly blowing in the Rhone valley) the vines are trained gobelet (bushvine) style and are kept close to the ground. Even though there are many permitted varieties of grapes for Chateauneuf du Pape, their reputation comes from the GSM blends. They wines are typically rustic in character but can show great finesse as they age.
The village itself is where you want to be for wine rather than the chateaus. Each little store front offers degustation du vin or a wine tasting. Typically four to five wines are being poured from one or more local labels. These are, of course, all small family run businesses. In fact, we went down stairs to one small tasting room where we sampled and purchased some wines from a very hospitable gentleman. We then went next door and upstairs to find a charming lady pouring several wines from different vineyards. During our chat, we found out that they were husband and wine in direct competition with each other!
For me, this day trip was the highlight of the trip. Fantastic wines, beautiful scenery and great company (the Diminutive One and Johnny Softball joined us for this trip) made for a wonderful day in the French countryside.
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