Châteauneuf du Pape

The Rhône valley, viewed through winemaking spectacles, has two distinct halves. The northern sector lies between Vienne and Valence, a broken thread of largely hilly, granite-soiled vineyards (see below); the southern sector begins at Montélimar and billows into Provence. This is a vast stonefield spreading through four French départements: Drôme, Vaucluse, Gard and Ardèche. Over 25 times as much wine is produced in the Southern Rhône as in the North, most of it blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre (the 'GSM' trilogy so popular, too, in the warmer regions of Australia). Few French red wines are as easy-going, accessible and affable as a good southern Rhône red: warm fruit, soft tannins and scents which can evoke the herbs and wild flowers of the garrigue which carpets the hillside. The influence of new oak is much less significant here than for other French fine red wines.

One appellation dominates the Southern Rhône, and produces a disproportionately high percentage of its finest wines: Châteauneuf du Pape. This large zone (3,200 ha or 7,900 acres - making it 24 times bigger than Hermitage) lies midway between Avignon and Orange, on the left bank of the river. Much of the terroir of the appellation is made up of giant river-rolled pebbles which soak up the sun's heat during the day and reflect it back into the vines at night. Even more important, though, are the clays and iron-rich sands which lie beneath the pebbles, since it is these moisture-retentive subsoils that ensure that the vines have enough water to see them through the long, hot summers characteristic of the area. A total of 13 grape varieties are allowed in the appellation (or fourteen if you regard red and white Grenache as being two different varieties), though the GSM trio is the most important, and few producers use all 13. (Beaucastel is one which does.)

The distinctive appellation name means 'the pope's new castle': it dates back to a period of schism in the Catholic church, when seven C14 Popes left Rome and led their flock from the Papal enclave of Avignon. The castle itself was built by the second of these, John XXII (Pope between 1316 and 1324). It was conceived as a summer residence, lying as it did on slightly higher ground than Avignon itself. He planted 10 ha of vines and olives near the castle: the acorn from which today's mighty oak has grown.

Great Châteauneuf du Pape is perhaps the easiest of all fine French red wines to enjoy. Sweet, meaty and spicy, the natural softness of its tannins means that it is rarely forbidding in its youth, yet good examples can last two decades, providing one of the longest drinking windows of any fine red. Its alcoholic richness is more than balanced in the best wines by a wealth of toothsome fruit. White Châteauneuf du Pape is a statuesque wine: subtly aromatic, with a rich, glycerous texture. Growers have made great progress in the last decade, not least because of the championing of this appellation by one of its great admirers, Robert Parker.