We all have our favourite historic buildings. Mine is the Pope’s Palace in Avignon. It is located right in the town centre. And it takes your breath away. You stand in front of it and you are overwhelmed by its grandness.
It’s not only because of the papal palace that we decided to have Avignon as a base for our tours in the Southern Rhône Valley. It is a lovely town in many ways. It is a cultural centre, well known for its theatre festival. The restaurants are great. The atmosphere is young and lively.
And, of course, Avignon is perfectly situated if you want to explore the wine regions of southern Rhône. It is close to Marseilles. You can fly there if you do not rather fly to Paris and take the train. Paris -Avignon by TGV fast train takes just under 3 hours.
Provençal spices and spicy wines
Avignon is surrounded by wine districts. 20 kilometres north is Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Legendary, notorious and prestigious. You feel the Provençal heat in the wines. They taste of cinnamon and clove. But also of herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage, which grows wild around the vineyards. The soil is world famous. How can the vines grow here, in a soil which seems to consist entirely of large stones?
The village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is small. Some winding streets, a few restaurants, some pleasant cafés. A small path takes us up to the pope’s summer castle. Unlike the palace in Avignon this castle is nowadays just a ruin. But it is a fine ruin and the view over the vineyards and the Rhone River is magnificent. On a clear day you can see all the way to Avignon and Mont Ventoux, Provence’s highest mountain.
Châteauneuf -du-Pape has a long history and long established traditions. This can sometimes be a burden. But a new generation of winemakers are now seeing to it that changes are implemented where needed.
Golden oldies or perhaps better now?
We have interesting discussions with the wine growers. What should be changed? What was better in the old days? A lot of different things are discussed, not just winemaking and technology, but also sales and marketing.
We continue the discussion over lunch at fancy Hostellerie du Château des Fines Roches. It looks like a medieval castle and you can almost imagine a knight rescuing a princess there but it was actually built in the 19th century. It is now a hotel and restaurant but also a wine estate. From the terrace where we sit we see that the large pebbles in the vineyard below is actually even larger than the ones we saw earlier.
Discover the quality revolution in the southern Rhone Valley
Many of the wine villages near Châteauneuf-du-Pape have lived in the shadow of their famous neighbour, but not any-more. There has been an incredible boost in the quality and character of the wines from Gigondas , Vacqueyras , Beaumes-de-Venise , Cairanne, Lirac to mention just a few.
The basic appellations Côtes du Rhone and Côtes du Rhône Village hide treasures at affordable prices. Many producers are organic, some biodynamic. They make their wines with great ambition and passion.
At Domaine Montirius in Vacqueyras, Christine and Eric Saurel are happy to tell us about the practical work at a biodynamic wine estate. They show us, explain, they want us to understand.
We cross the river to Lirac and Domaine Duseigneur where Bernard Duseigneur offers a Provencal buffet in the garden. Lamb chops are barbecued and we taste the wines with the food in a relaxed atmosphere.
Back in Avignon again we have time for some sightseeing before dinner. A must to visit is the Pont d’ Avignon, or, by its full name, Pont Saint Bénézet . The bridge was built in the 12 century and had 22 arches. It was a very long bridge at that time. It was intact up until the 1660s. Then the people gave up the fight against the floods and stopped repairing it.
A visit to Avignon is not complete until you have been out on the bridge and sung Sur le Pont d’Avignon, on y danse, on y danse, sur le Pont d’Avignon on y danse tous en rond.
Rhone Valley wine tours are currently offered as custom made travel for groups. Take a look at the detailed program of how a wine tour to the Rhone Valley can look.
