The Pope, the Rhône and the Birth of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Before it became one of the Rhône Valley’s great wine names, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was shaped by popes, a medieval château and a group of growers who helped define French wine as we know it today.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape has one of those names that makes you want to know the story behind it.
It translates quite literally as “the Pope’s new château,” and in this case the history is almost as good as the name suggests.
In the early 14th century, the papacy moved from Rome to Avignon. A few kilometres north, vineyards were already being cultivated around the village of Châteauneuf, but the arrival of the popes would change their fortunes.
Pope John XXII, who reigned from 1316 to 1334, took a particular interest in the area. The local wines began appearing at the papal court and became known as Vin du Pape — the Pope’s wine. With ambassadors and visitors arriving in Avignon from across Europe, it was a useful audience to have.
John XXII also ordered the construction of a château above the village. The ruins still overlook the vineyards today, a rather impressive reminder of how closely the history of the place became tied to the papacy.
Interestingly, the village itself was already known as Châteauneuf before the château was built. It only officially adopted the full name Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 1893.
A very particular place to grow wine
The other image most people associate with Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the ground itself.
Many of its vineyards are covered with large rounded stones known as galets roulés, deposited over time by the Rhône. They absorb heat during the day and release it slowly as temperatures fall, while vines send their roots deep below the surface in search of water.
But not all of Châteauneuf looks like this. The appellation also has sandy soils, limestone and red clay, which is one reason wines from different parts of the area can feel surprisingly different.
Then there is the Mistral, the strong northern wind that regularly sweeps through the Rhône Valley. It helps keep the vineyards dry and healthy in what is already a warm Mediterranean climate.
Grenache is the principal red grape here, usually joined by Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and others. Châteauneuf is famous for its blends, but there is no single formula. Some wines are rich and powerful; others can be much finer and more lifted than the appellation’s reputation might suggest.
That variety is part of what makes it interesting.
Old vines of Grenache in the galets roulés of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC.
The village that helped create the appellation system
The story becomes even more important several centuries later.
By the beginning of the 20th century, wine fraud had become a serious problem in France. If a famous place name could simply be put on a bottle regardless of where or how the wine had been made, that name gradually lost its meaning.
Growers in Châteauneuf wanted to protect theirs.
In 1923, they turned to Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié, better known as Baron Le Roy, a lawyer and the owner of Château Fortia. Together they began defining rules for what could legitimately be called Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Those rules covered not only the geographical area, but also grape varieties, vineyard practices and production standards. It was a simple idea that would become fundamental to French wine: protecting an origin meant protecting how the wine was made there too.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape became one of France’s first official Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée in 1936, and Baron Le Roy would later play an important role in the organisation that became the INAO, which still oversees France’s appellation system today.
So Châteauneuf-du-Pape didn’t simply benefit from the AOC system. Its growers helped shape it.
The bottle with the Pope’s crest
The history of Châteauneuf-du-Pape even made its way onto the bottle.
In 1937, shortly after the appellation was formally recognised, the local growers’ syndicate introduced the now-famous crested bottle.
Moulded directly into the glass is a papal tiara above the crossed keys of Saint Peter, surrounded by the words Châteauneuf-du-Pape contrôlé.
It was more than decoration. The bottle became another way of identifying and protecting the appellation, while giving Châteauneuf-du-Pape one of the most recognisable bottles in French wine.
We particularly like that detail because it brings the whole story together: the popes, the village and the later effort to protect where the wine came from, all carried on the bottle itself.
Châteauneuf in the Aether cellar
We work with several domaines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and each gives a slightly different view of the appellation.
Domaine de Beaurenard has been in the Coulon family for generations and offers a particularly good way of understanding the Rhône hierarchy, from Côtes-du-Rhône and Rasteau through to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and its flagship Boisrenard cuvées.
At Clos du Calvaire, the Mayard family has been part of the appellation for generations. Today Françoise Roumieux Mayard works alongside her children Nicolas and Coline, with the vineyards now farmed organically.
And at Château de la Gardine, the family has its own distinctive interpretation of Châteauneuf, right down to its unusual bottle shape, inspired by an old hand-blown bottle discovered at the estate.
Different families, different vineyards and different styles, all within the same appellation.
That is probably what we like most about Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The history is extraordinary, but it never feels like the whole story.
The popes helped make the wines famous. The growers helped protect their name. And nearly seven centuries later, the vineyards around the ruined château are still producing wines that feel very much alive.
