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Blackberries, ripe cherry and blueberry with licorice, sage, lavender, crushed flowers, Provençal garrigue and saddle leather. Rich yet elegant and layered, with a silky texture, fine tannins, mineral energy and a long, spicy finish.
Available in store
Close55% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 5% Counoise, Vaccarèse, Muscardin and Cinsault
Food pairings: Lamb, game, cassoulet, roast meats and mushroom dishes.
Scores:
Winemaking: Clos des Papes makes just one red. The grapes are destemmed and crushed and vinified in ceramic-lined concrete vats, with the varieties blended in the vat whenever their ripeness allows, and a traditional maceration of around three weeks. The wine stays in vat through the winter, then ages for about 12 months in large old oak casks (no new oak) and is blended again before bottling at the estate. In 2022 a hailstorm destroyed about a third of the crop, yet the spread of parcels allowed the usual grape proportions to be kept.
Vineyards and terroir: The 35-hectare estate is divided into 24 plots across the appellation, which lets the family pick each site at its own ripeness and match varieties to soils. Sandy soils bring finesse, while clay soils, often covered with rounded galets, give structure. Yields are low, averaging 20 hectolitres per hectare, and the different plots and varieties are co-fermented. The estate is named after one of its plots, a walled vineyard (clos) near the ruins of the popes' castle.
Family and history: The Avril family have been winegrowers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape since 1600 and served as the village's First Consuls and Treasurers from 1756 to 1790. Paul Avril began selling his wine as "Clos des Papes" in 1896 and registered the name in 1902, and Paul Eugène Avril helped lay the foundations of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation from 1911. Régis Avril supplied the Élysée Palace under de Gaulle and Pompidou; Paul Avril (from 1963) and his son Paul-Vincent Avril (from 1988) moved the entire production to estate bottling.
In the pictures: Vines growing in galets at Clos des Papes; the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape seen from the vineyards; the cellar; and the gate of the Clos (photos courtesy of Clos des Papes).
