Châteauneuf du Pape “Cuvee des Remperts” Louis Montellier 2006
Posted on November 30th, 2007
Outside the usual suspects from Bordeaux, Châteauneuf du Pape is probably one of the best known names in French reds.
Why it’s normally so expensive is hard to fathom, purely down to favourable reviews from the world’s most famous wine writer, Robert Parker perhaps? In Ireland, you don’t often see bottles of it for less than €20, so when I saw Châteauneuf du Pape “Cuvee des Remperts” Louis Montellier 2006 on sale for €12.99 in SuperValu, Aston Quay, I thought it was worth a punt.
While tucking into it I decided to do a bit of good old booklearnin’ about it. So here’s some wine facts coming up (skip this, what was it like?)
Some wine facts about Châteauneuf du Pape…
- A village in the southern Rhône valley, near Avignon, about 100km north of Marseille (see it all on a Google map).
- 13 different grape varieties (both red and white) are permitted to go into a Châteauneuf du Pape, most of which it has has to be said, I’ve never heard of.
- Grenache (red),
- Syrah (red),
- Mourvèdre (red),
- Cinsault (red),
- Counoise (red),
- Terret Noir (red),
- Muscardin (red)
- Vaccarèse (red),
- Clairette (white),
- Roussanne (white),
- Picpoul (white),
- Picardan (white)
- and Bourboulenc (white).
- Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre are the dominant grapes, the others are used in small quantities
- The name comes from “New house of the pope” as the papacy was based in nearby Avignon in the 14th century.
- Since 1923, had the first “Appellation Contrôlée” rules in France
- Most bottles are dark and come embossed with a papal seal
How did this Châteauneuf go down?
- Smell: strong rich spices, predominantly black pepper
- Taste: savoury spices, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. The only fruit would be more like raisins, figs or prunes.
- Verdict: I quite liked this wine, it really stands out. There’s no danger of confusing it with most other reds from other regions in France (at least not the ones that I’ve tried).
Due to it’s spiciness, Châteauneuf du Pape probably won’t have a middle ground, a wine you either love or hate. The usual price of €20 and over could put a lot of people off.
Like the wine, but not the price?
If you like this kind of wine, but find it hard to stomach the normal retail price, I’d recommend Gigondas or Vacqueyras, both no more than 5 or 6 km from Châteauneuf du Pape and often much better value.
What does Gary think?
Back in October, Gary Vaynerchuk took at look at three “Paps”. Here’s how he got on.
Hi, living a few kms down the road also I’d agree with you about Gig and Vaq. Chateauneuf has been clever with their marketing and consequently have been able to budge up their prices. The consequence has been that the good and the bad are not distinguished. Here in France they would always be considered as good for laying down, in the good years, even if the prices are a bit high.
Gig and Vaq are much more ‘ordinary’ in the French consciousness so they don’t tend to be as pricy.
Bye, Barry
Hi Barry,
thanks for dropping by. Whats’ your tipple around those parts?
Lar
I live in the Luberon, the local stuff is very mixed but there are a few newbies doing ‘bio’ i.e. no chemicals. There is one, Chateaux de la Canorgue, which is good and getting better and another Ch de la Verrerie which is good but getting pricy because they are getting mentions….. One other Les Vadons, here in the village made it to Gault-M a year or two back…
I once found a local one in an offlicense in Clonskeagh!! Ch Val Joannis, which is owned by a French pop singer or someone, heavy marketing but pricy.
Rose is the preferred tipple in Provence, the weather is just fine for that. Lots of good ones…. Also some nice whites. Nothing millesime like of course, but who wants to pay those kinds of prices??
On the Chateauneuf story, as I said it good to lay down and there are plenty of small houses. Well worth a trip.
There is a place run by two Irish guys, Domain des Anges in the Ventoux, a little light for my liking.
Bye, Barry
[...] to misspell. Apart from that what’s more interesting is that it’s just up the road from Châteauneuf du Pape in the southern Rhône, but a lot cheaper for the most [...]