June 22, 2022

A kid in a candy store.

As a wine lover, it is difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that within a one hour drive from our rental home here in Bonnieux, I can drive to legendary wine regions such as Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas or Vacqueyras. These are wines I often seek out in the U.S. but the selection is usually paltry and the prices are high.

There are also many fine local Provencal wineries and caves within a couple of kilometers of our place. Also excellent wine stores abound each full of great wine and the prices are much more reasonable than back home in the U.S. There are so many wines to drink but oh so little time and oh so little available luggage space!

Wines of the Southern Rhône Valley

Châteauneuf du Pape

So one day, I took the one hour drive along the D900 from Bonnieux, made my way to Avignon and then meandered up to Châteauneuf du Pape, one of my favorite wine regions of the world. The mention of the name Châteauneuf du Pape or the sight of the distinctive papal miter and keys bottle type sends pleasure signals to the taste buds.

Châteauneuf du Pape translates to new chateau of the pope. Between 1309 through 1377, the papacy was centered down the road in Avignon France.

The term “Avignon Papacy” refers to the Catholic papacy during the period from 1309 through 1377, when the popes lived in and operated out of Avignon, France, instead of their traditional home in Rome. A contentious conclave and strong influence by the then king of France Philip IV resulted in a Frenchman, Clement V, being elected to succeed St. Peter. He then seeds the college of cardinals with Frenchmen so the next 6 popes are French and the papacy remains in Avignon until 1377.

In 1316, John XXII is elected pope, loves the area around Avignon and decides to build a new chateau about 10 miles north of Avignon. He also promotes the region as a special wine growing region. That is how the region got its name but officially not until 1893.

Fast forward to 1919 and the official boundaries of Châteauneuf du Pape were drawn based on the unique characteristics of this special terroir. In 1936, the Institut National des Appelations d’Origine officially created the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation or designation which is a series of strict rules that wine growers must follow in order to place the official Châteauneuf du Pape designation of the wine label. These rules include the grapes that can be grown, blending percentages, yield per hectare and wine making techniques to name a few.

The wines are predominately made up of Grenache. Syrah and Mourvedre are the next most common grapes with 10 additional grapes used to add structure to the wine and to tweak the flavor profile.

The soil here is a combination of fine and pebbly sands mixed with clay, heavier clay with large stones or galets and some pockets of limestone.

The village is charming with crooked narrow streets. Wine caves and stores are scattered throughout the town offering a diverse selection of the region’s wines. There are also a few restaurants in town and not much else, it’s all about the wine here.

There were so many choices! They are all incredible deals, all ranges of prices, I can drink some here and maybe pack some in our bags to take home. And what about when Anna and Alex are here? I need more! Finally, I bought a few bottles, some to drink here and some to bring home.

I felt exactly as I did many years ago in that candy store when my Mom said “Here’s 50 cents, pick out some candy”.