Arriving yesterday afternoon in Avignon, we picked up a rental car and headed
for a village In the Rhône wine region of southern France. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, loosely translated as
“new castle of the Pope” is in the heart of wine country, and is surrounded by
dozens of vineyards and even more wineries. Pope Clement V, you remember, being
quite fond of the wine produced in Burgundy, relocated the papacy in 1308 to
Avignon. He and his successor, John XXII, drank much of the wine produced in this
area, and John even built a castle which today stands as a representation
of the wine, now revered worldwide under the
appellation--surprise--Châteauneuf-du-Pape. And you thought the Popes were a
bunch of teetotalers.
These days each year they produce 110,000 hectoliters of wine here and in the
nearby villages, and those of you who know what a hectoliter is, realize that
is a lot more wine than all the Popes in history could drink in a year. We
thought we might try a liter or two ourselves, and so treated ourselves to a
nice meal with wine in one of the many local restaurants.
Château
de Beaucastel
This morning we were up early,
and after breakfast in our16th century B&B, were off to a morning winery
tour and wine tasting. At Château de
Beaucastel we were met by a pretty girl who gave us a complete tour and more
information than we could digest about the wine making process and the
100-hectare vineyard surrounding the chateau (that's 247 acres for you less sophisticated readers; I know, because I looked it up). Most of the vines here are not actually vines, but are self supporting, the theory being that the grapes are shielded from the sun by the leaves and therefore produce wine of higher quality. Each year the new growth is trimmed back after harvest so the plants remain small during their 70-year or so lifespan.
River rocks and grape plants
Dating from the 1500’s, the same family has owned this place for more than
100 years. The grounds were once part of
the riverbed of the Rhone river, and the ground is covered with rounded river
rocks. We learned the rocks are mostly
at the surface, covering a layer of gravel about 10 cm thick. Then under that is a layer of fine sand that
goes down to about 90 cm, at which point you find a layer of clay that holds in
the water that the roots of the grape plants can hopefully reach before drought
sets in. I forget what is under the
clay, but do remember that it is illegal in France to irrigate vineyards, so
the grapes are totally dependent on natural rainfall. OK, is that enough information to hold you
for a while? Let’s get on into the
actual winemaking and tasting.
Barrels
of wine aging at Beaucastel for the Perrin family
We learned plenty more about the winemaking process, after which we were treated to several samples of the wine being produced here. Since it was not yet noon, helping Charlie start the car was a challenge, and his driving led some in the group to voice some dismay. He ignored the voices and had a fine time on the local highways.
Palais des Papes
We headed down to the city of
Avignon where, after lunch, we visited the Palais des Papes, a World Heritage
site which is the world’s largest Gothic palace. And large it is. We spent hours exploring this immense
structure, where 9 different Popes resided in the 14th and 15th
centuries. The cavernous rooms where religious ceremonies and
magnificent feasts took place gave some idea of the immense wealth and
influence of the church. In fact, the
audio guides repeatedly pointed out the excesses of the Popes, to the point
where one had the impression that the French do not have much use for
the Popes or their religion. The list of supplies for one
celebratory feast went on and on, even to the 1,500 pounds of almonds that were
required.
Hours after entering, we drove back
to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where our gracious host gave a 1.5-hour lecture on wine making
(she is one of France’s best known sommeliers), after which we drove back to
Avignon. There we had our gastronomic
experience in a Michelin one star restaurant, where we enjoyed a 3.5-hour 8
course meal with wine. At the end of the
meal it became clear what the Michelin stars mean: one star means your will run one credit card
up to the limit; two stars mean you will need the limit on two credit cards to
get out alive, etc. Anyway, we all had a
first class meal and were back in the B&B by midnight.
Brian is wearing some of us out.
Charlie and Tricia
©2014
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