Appellation
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Identity card
VillageAOPRedWhite
Rhône Valley › Southern Rhône · Recognised on 15 May 1936
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Dry reds and whites; 95% of the output was red in 2010.
- Hand-harvesting and sorting are compulsory; yields are capped at 35 hl/ha.
- The pebbles give back the day's heat at night, helping the grapes ripen.
Grape varieties
RedWhite
Allowed varieties
Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut, Counoise (grape entry not yet written), Vaccarèse (grape entry not yet written), Muscardin (grape entry not yet written), Terret Noir, Piquepoul Noir (grape entry not yet written), Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Clairette, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, Picardan, Piquepoul Blanc, Piquepoul Gris (grape entry not yet written)
18 varieties for reds and whites alike, with no required proportions
Clairette counts both its forms, white and pink
Production rules
35
hl/ha
Maximum yield
12.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 128 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 14 % ABV across 78 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
Terroir
- Soils: Rolled pebbles of Alpine origin in a reddish clay
- Soils: North-east: sandy, sandstone soils on molasse (safres)
- Climate: Dry Mediterranean, under 650 mm of rain a year
Wine style
- Red
- powerful
- structured
- great complexity
- long finish
- built to age
- White
- full-bodied
- very expressive
- aromatic freshness
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
16 November 2011
Décret n° 2011-1567 du 16 novembre 2011 relatif à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Châteauneuf-du-Pape » (JORF n°0268 du 19 novembre 2011). Appellation reconnue par le décret du 15 mai 1936, après le jugement du tribunal civil d'Avignon du 28 juin 1929 obtenu par le syndicat de défense fondé en 1923 par le baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié. Tavel a été reconnue le même jour, par un décret du 15 mai 1936, parmi les toutes premières appellations d'origine contrôlées ; le cahier des charges présente les exigences de Châteauneuf-du-Pape comme « le premier exemple d'une discipline et d'une politique adoptées par la suite par les autres régions françaises ».
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Châteauneuf-du-Pape » (rouge)— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO)
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press
- Trade bodyVignobles de la Vallée du Rhône — site officiel d'Inter Rhône— Inter Rhône — Interprofession des vins AOC Côtes du Rhône et Vallée du Rhône
The most famous cru of the southern Rhône, spread over five communes of the Vaucluse around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, fifteen kilometres north of Avignon. Eighteen varieties are authorised — thirteen if the colour forms of Grenache, Clairette and Piquepoul are grouped together — but no proportion rule governs the blend: Grenache dominates in practice, grown on the famous rolled-pebble terraces that give back the day's heat overnight.
Mini-challenge
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
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