61% Grenache, 18% Mourvèdre, 13% Syrah, 5% Cinsault, 1% Vaccarèse, 2% other varieties

Food pairings: Classic meat dishes such as veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game and roast chicken; roasted, braised and stewed dishes; sausages and cassoulet; eggplant, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Winemaking: Strict disbudding keeps yields in check, and the grapes are hand-harvested with careful bunch selection. In the gravity-fed underground cellar the wine is made in tulip-shaped concrete vats, with only underripe stems removed. It stays on the skins for more than four weeks with gentle extraction, then ages for 18 months in foudres, 600-liter barrels and concrete vats.

Vineyards and terroir: The blend draws on century-old Grenache and on Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault from the estate's finest sites, mainly in the north and north-east of the appellation, on red clay over sand. The Grenache comes from plots where Palestor meets Bois Dauphin and at the corner of Grand Pierre, Rayas and Pointu, plus Cabrières, Boursan and Pied Long. The Mourvèdre comes from Les Mascaronnes and Boursan, the Syrah from Le Parc and Cabrières, and the Cinsault from Pierre à Feu. The vines average 65 years, and nearly half of them are century-old Grenache.

Family and history: The Barrot family has worked vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for centuries, and Alexandre Barrot bought the first family land in 1703. Christian Barrot took over in the early 1970s. Julien Barrot joined in 2002, aged 22, fresh from his oenology training, and through careful parcel selection created the domaine's cuvées. A new gravity-fed cellar followed in 2015. This cuvée, his signature wine, carried Julien Barrot's name from 2016 to 2023 and is now called Barroche Rouge.

In the pictures: In the Domaine la Barroche vineyard; the foudre cellar; a view over the vineyard; and an old vine. Photographs from Domaine la Barroche (photos by PUShAUNE and Djibz).