The Appellation

Lying between Orange and Avignon in the département of Vaucluse, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine-growing area has been cultivated and expanding ever since the 14th century. Today it covers 3,200 ha [7,900 acres], operated by more or less 300 owners

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée is one of the first four French AOCs (Decree of 15/05/1936), granted just a year after the Institut national des appellations d’origine contrôlée [National AOC Institute] was set up in 1935. Since 1937, the bottle bearing the coat-of-arms, which guarantees estate bottling, has been the sign of the Appellation.

Producers have to obey the Appellation’s strict rules, requiring hand picking, grape selection, and limiting output to 35 hl/ha [374 gal/acre] (a third less than for Côtes du Rhône), as well as imposing a minimum natural alcohol level of 12.5°.

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation authorizes thirteen grape varieties (8 red, 5 white), while leaving wine-growers room to manœuvre within this combination, from single varietal wines to the full range referred to as the ‘symphony of the 13 varieties’.

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards are easy to pick out, first of all because of their planting density – almost half that of the other vineyards; and then by the way they are pruned, referred to as ‘goblet’, allowing the vine shoots to be self-supporting and dispense with any external support.

Website of the "maison des vins et des producteurs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape".