AubrysInFrance: A Visit to Châteauneuf-du-Pape

While in Provence we made a day trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, an historic site, beautiful small village, and a pioneer in creating quality standards for French wines. The standards were created in the 1920’s and were used as a basis for national and other regional standards in France over the years. A Châteauneuf-du-Pape red was one of the earliest ‘famous’ French wines that Anna and David can remember ordering in a restaurant in the US, so it was fun to visit the place where the wine originates. Additionally, the name refers to the ruins of a 15th century château built by one of the Avignon Popes that sits above the town. Since January is traditionally a vacation period for many in the wine industry, as the harvest and initial fermentation have been completed, the area was somewhat quiet and many wineries were not open. But since there were also few tourists, we had our pick of the rest.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape (CNP) is only about 20 miles from Avignon so we arrived about noon after driving through vineyards and past small wineries, and up a small hill to the town. We parked and walked to the small town square, and checked in at the tourist office, where an extremely gracious and helpful woman gave us lots of information. On our walk to the square we noticed that, in spite of it being a beautiful day – 50-60 degrees, bright blue skies – it was very windy in the village. The woman explained that this was the famous (or infamous) “Le Mistral”, a strong seasonal wind blowing down the Rhone River valley towards the Mediterranean.

The Square looking up the hill

Leaving the tourist office, we wandered through the narrow streets and up to the top of the hill to see the actual Châteauneuf-du-Pape, constructed as both a fortress and secondary residence by Pope John XXII. It has been photographed and painted by numerous famous artists over the years. Although only a huge partial shell remains, it is still an impressive edifice. Returning to the central square, we went into a small Brasserie where we had one of the best meals we have had in France, with, of course, a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape red wine. Anna had Escallope de Porc avec Roquefort [basically a pork chop with a bleu cheese sauce), and David had Pave de Boeuf en Croute d’epices (steak with a crust of spices, such as various peppers). These were both accompanied by potatoes and vegetables, and were great.

One of the remaining old sections of wall at CNP with gate

Approaching the famous actual Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Where we had lunch

After a leisurely lunch we continued our sightseeing in the village, going into a small ‘cave’, or wine store, where we tasted more wine, purchasing six bottles of CNP that are ready to drink now.

Here are a few more shots of what we saw: