Happy Hour Featuring Southern Rhone Valley Wines Chateauneuf Du Pape, Vacqueyras and Gigondas

"When it came to writing about wine, I did what almost everybody does - faked it"

 - Art Buchwald

We’re not faking it here at Wine Watch we actually drink the wines!! 

It was just brought to my attention that although we have a nice collection of vintage Chateauneuf Du Pape in the store right now we are lacking in the value section of this category and in newer current release wines. 

So, I thought it was time to host a happy Hour Southern Rhone wine tasting featuring new releases from Chateauneuf Du Pape to restock this section of the store. 

The Southern Rhone Valley is one of France’s most prized wine regions and at one time one of the most counterfeited wines on the planet!  It was here that France’s AOC laws originated, they drew up a set of laws to guarantee the authenticity and the origin of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the rest of France followed. 

Join us as we explore the world of Southern Rhone wines tasting through over a dozen wines from Chateauneuf du Pape and some of the other great appellations of this region like Gigondas and Vacqueyras.   The fee for this tasting is $75 + tax.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Happy Hour Southern Rhone Wines

Featuring Chateauneuf Du Pape, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and more

Thursday, August 21^st

6pm

Twenty One Wines

2023 Domaine Saint-Damien Vacqueyras Selection

Price: $30.00               Your Price: $26.40

2021 Domaine Saint Damien Gigondas Vieilles Vignes

Price: $42.00               Your Price: $36.96                    Quantity in Stock: 21

2022 Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf Du Pape Cuvee Girard

Price: $54.00               Your Price: $47.52

2022 Domaine Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf Du Pape Tradition

Price: $69.00               Your Price: $60.72

2022 Raymond Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale

Price: $93.00               Your Price: $81.84

Breakthru Beverage

2021 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape

Price: $82.50               Your $72.60

2021 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf Du Pape

Price: $108.00                           Your Price: $95.04

2022 Château de Nalys (E. Guigal) Grand Vin Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc

Price: $81.00               Sale $71.28

2023 Perrin et Fils Chateauneuf du Pape les Sinards

Price: $54.00               Your Price: $47.52

2022 Domaine Saint Damien Gigondas Vieilles Vignes

Price: $45.00               Your Price: $39.60

2022 Famille Perrin Vacqueyras Les Christins, Rhone, France

Price: $30.00                             Sale $26.40

Republic National

2023 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc

Price: $85.50               Your Price: $75.24

2020 Domaine La Boutiniere Chateauneuf du Pape Rhone France

Price: $43.50               Your Price: $38.28

2020 Calvet Chateauneuf du Pape Rhone France

Price: $41.75               Sale $36.74

2020 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Les Clavelles, Rhone, France

Price: $258.75                           Your Price: $227.70

Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Granieres de la Nerthe Rhone France

Price: $51.75               Your Price: $45.54

2021 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf Du Pape

Price: $79.50               Your Price: $69.96

Menu

Fried Green Tomato with Melted Mozzarella Pesto Served on Rosemary Crostini

Tuna Tartar served in Baby Yukon Gold Potato with Shaved Egg and Lemon Olive Aioli

Wild Boar Sausage with Eggplant Maple Mustard Sauce

Peach and Prosciutto Pizza with Mozzarella and Fresh Basil

Candied Bacon

The fee for this tasting is $75 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 

A bit about Chateauneuf Du Pape

Alphonse Daudet, the French writer, once called Châteauneuf-du-Pape the "Wine of Kings and the King of Wines."  The wines of this region with the easy sounding name have been legendary for hundreds of years.  In 1309 a French Cardinal was elected Pope Clement V.  Because there was much strife between the French King and Rome, Pope Clement chose to remain in France.  The Pope, formerly the Bishop of Bordeaux, owned his own vineyard in the Graves district of Bordeaux (now known as Château Pape-Clement and one of the better properties of Graves); and he was very interested in cultivating vines in the new papal residence he established in Avignon.  It was really Clement's successor, Pope John XXII, who did extensive planting of vineyards and constructed a castle outside of Avignon, called the Châteauneuf-du-Pape or "new house of the Pope."  This was an affluent time in Avignon; many parties were thrown and much wine was drunk.  Although wine had been grown in the surrounding villages for 150 years, it was the papacy that spread the fame of these wines from Avignon.

In the 1920's some of the growers at Châteauneuf-du-Pape became really concerned about the amount of "foreign" wine being sold as Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  The late Baron Le Roy, the proprietor of Château Fortia, one of the great estates of the district, drew up a set of laws to guarantee the authenticity and the origin of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  These laws later became the model for France's Appellation Contrôllée laws and were later copied by the Germans, the Spanish, and the Italians.  Although the laws have been in force for some years, it is common knowledge that there is still a great amount of illegitimate wine labeled Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  The local growers and estate owners realize that one of the problems is that 80% of the wine is made and bottled at facilities outside the district; this obviously leaves room for tremendous abuse.  We have found many Châteauneuf-du-Papes from shippers to be variable in quality, and we recommend only those wines that have been estate bottled within the district.  In order to make these wines more identifiable to the consumer, the growers use a bottle with the old papal coat of arms.  We enthusiastically recommend these wines and urge that you avoid almost all the plain-bottle négociant wines (shipper's blends).

Besides the great difference between estate-bottled and négociant wines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the grape composition of the wines further complicates the picture.  As many as thirteen different varieties can go into the make-up of a Châteauneuf; each grower swears by the percentage of the grape he uses.  Since different grapes contribute different characteristics to the overall wine (Grenache and Cinsault for warmth and mellowness; Mourvèdre and Syrah for solidity and color etc.), it is understandable how different estates with different grape compositions can produce very different wines.  Further complicating everything is how the harvest conditions affect the grapes - all of which ripen at slightly different intervals.  It is easy to see why the variation in quality is broader in Châteauneuf-du-Pape than perhaps any wine district in France.