The Avril family has a very long history in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In the 17th century, they were already city consuls and treasurers. The domain has had this name since 1902, which partly originates from the terroir that was part of the papal vineyard in the shadow of the pope’s castle (the current ruins) in the centre of the village.

Clos des Papes contains over 25 parcels in total, most of which are located in the municipality of Châteauneuf-du-Pape itself. There is also a great variation in the soils. In the south, the vineyards are rather stony, whereas in the west they contain more lime, and part of the vineyard 'La Crau' in Courthézon contains the typical thick boulders with a sandy surface and a clay underground.

All plantings are carefully adapted to the terroir. Today, it is Paul-Vincent Avril who manages the policy on the domain. He spent five years learning the trade at school in Burgundy, after which he also did an internship at several wineries in Australia as well as Ch. Mouton Rothschild, where he learnt to make top wines.

His way of winemaking is characterised by the following:

- no great yields, often only 25hl/ha to 30hl/ha;

- no different cuves, everything goes into 1 red wine, because Paul-Vincent believes that a top cuve would reduce the quality of the regular cuve;

- destemming of the grapes: all berries are removed from their stems (unlike many other domains, where 'vinification grappes entières' is applied, i.e. winemaking with the stems added);

- maturation in large foudres (barrels) so that the expression of the fruit and the terroir is at its maximum;

- 55% grenache, 30% mourvèdre, 10% syrah, completed with 5% vacarèse, counoise and muscardin;

- no filtration.

The domain also produces a very limited amount of white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, each time made from about 15 to 16% grenache blanc, clairette, rousanne, picpoul, bourboulenc and picardan. The vineyards are very old, meaning they produce highly intense and complex wines of enormous length. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful Châteuneuf-du-Papes in existence, with infinite finesse and elegance. This allows the wine to be particularly pleasant both in its youth as well as its age.

At this time you can still purchase a small amount of 2015 and 2017, because the domain has made a few more crates available. We have however no stock left of the white wines. You can now subscribe to the new (very qualitative) 2020 vintage for red or 2021 for white. By subscribing now, you will be able to enjoy a 5% pre-order discount. Delivery of the 2020 red and 2021 white wines is planned for the end of June 2022.

Click here to order Clos des Papes with pre order discount.