{"id":2905,"date":"2025-02-25T15:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T15:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2025-02-26T17:06:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T17:06:17","slug":"chateauneuf-du-pape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2905","title":{"rendered":"Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Of course, there\u2019s a wonderful Rhone wine called Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  It comes from the vineyards around a Provencal village called, well, Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  In French, it means \u201cthe Pope\u2019s new castle\u201d.  The town was there before the Popes arrived in the 14th<\/sup> century, due to the Babylonian Captivity that split the Catholic Church over matters of\u2026oh, you probably don\u2019t care.  It seems that the 14th<\/sup> century Popes didn\u2019t actually live there (they were in nearby Avignon<\/a>) but one of those Popes built a castle and town has been named for it ever since.  The castle survived for many centuries until more than half of it was destroyed by the German army at the end of World War II.  The remains dominate the village to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The castle ruins atop the village of Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The village of Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape is located on a hill, with winding streets that lead up to and around the castle ruins.  If you visit Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape your objective will likely be to go wine tasting; there is no denying the appeal of these fine wines.  But the renowned vineyards and tasting rooms are located in the flatlands around the village, not on the hill itself.  We don\u2019t want to drag you away from wine tasting \u2013 never! \u2013 but we do recommend that you save a little time to visit the village itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can and should walk up to the top of the hill to see what\u2019s left of the castle.  If you\u2019ve seen Greek or Roman ruins, you know that there is a melancholy poetry to what is left of destroyed ancient buildings, and so it is in Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  Moreover, you have the views from there of some of France\u2019s greatest vineyards, stretching out to the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other attractions, such as an old church, a pretty fountain, tasting rooms, wine stores and even a wine museum.  Still, Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape is just a small French village, with less than 3,000 residents.  But it is a village with money, derived from the wine trade.  So it is a spic and span village, ready to welcome visitors.  It looks very much like the French village you dreamed of, which so few actually are.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo courtesy of Booking.com.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you come to Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape for wine tasting, complete the experience with a stellar meal.  There is no shortage there of restaurants, cafes, bistros and watering holes.  After a few hours of tasting wine, or maybe the next day, you\u2019ll be ready to settle down with some Provencal cooking and a bottle of, well, Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In good weather, you can dine outdoors with those vineyard views and, on a clear day, of the Rh\u00f4ne river just beyond.\u00a0 Buttery croissants in the morning; p\u00e2t\u00e9 and cheese for lunch; local leg of lamb roasted or venison stew for dinner.\u00a0 Yum!\u00a0 Of course, this being in the heart of French Wine Country, there is haute cuisine<\/em> to be had as well.\u00a0 Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape is a small village, but it boasts eleven restaurants listed on Michelin\u2019s website.\u00a0 Almost by definition, all these restaurants have fine cellars to match their cooking.\u00a0 What more could you ask for a southern French experience?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of course, there\u2019s a wonderful Rhone wine called Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  It comes from the vineyards around a Provencal village called, well, Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape.  In French, it means \u201cthe Pope\u2019s new castle\u201d.  The town was there before the Popes arrived in the 14th century, due to the Babylonian Captivity that split the Catholic Church over matters of\u2026oh, you … Continue reading Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2927,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions\/2927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}