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Châteauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes
In the early 14th century Pope Clément
V would regularly travel from Avignon by mule to the small village of
Châteauneuf to inspect his vineyard. Clément became Pope
in 1309, during the severely strained relations between the King of France
and the Roman Papacy. As a native Frenchman (from Bordeaux) he decided
it would be better to remain in France and moved the Papacy to Avignon
where it remained until 1378 (also known as the Great Schism).
Clement was already an accomplished vigneron, having planted his
own vineyard in Bordeaux (in the Graves region) known as Château
Pape-Clement. But while he did have a few vines near Avignon it was his
successor, Pope John XXII who was responsible for the development of Châteauneuf
du Pape as a world renown wine-producing region. It was also John XXII
that built the papal summer residence (to escape the heat and bustle of
Avignon) in the small village of Châteuneuf. Pope John used the
10 hectares that came with the Chateau but found he needed much more wine
for his papal feasting in Avignon where one feast included 55 sheep, 690
chickens, 580 partridges, 270 rabbits, 8 pigs, 4 wild boar, 40 plovers,
37 ducks and 50 pigeons. As a result he contracted for an annual delivery
of 1,550 liters from the village of Bédarrides, which is part of
the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation today.
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-Grenache and Mourvèdre blend -Harvest is usually mid September for Grenache, early October for Mourvèdre -A.O.C established 15 May 1936 & today 3,140 HA in production |
-Vines are on average 50 years
old -Some Grenache vines are over 70 years old -Grenache Vineyard soil is composed of red clay with galets roulés |
