Cellier des Princes

Cellier des Princes has been producing wines in Châteauneuf du Pape since 1925, when a group of vignerons decided to team up to face together a particularly difficult period, which had first seen the devastation of the vineyards caused by phylloxera and then the tragic consequences of the abandonment of the countryside to World War I. The winery quickly established itself thanks to the exceptional quality of the plots of Châteauneuf du Pape and the Côtes-du-Rhône area. The effort of the last decade has brought the sales of bottled wine from 20% to 96% and has repaid the great work done in the vineyard and in the cellar to direct all production towards excellence. Today the Cellier des Princes brand is an important reference point for the lower Rhône area and produces wines that offer excellent value for money. A further step forward has been taken in recent years with the collaboration of Philippe Cambi, an oenologist particularly expert in the wines of the Rhone Valley, who has helped to raise the level of labels even further. Châteauneuf du Pape has been famous for its wines for centuries and in 1936 it was the first AOC recognized in France. The Appellation area is located between Avignon and Orange and its grounds have a very ancient history. During the secondary and tertiary era, the inland sea deposited sediment layers of sand and clay, which make up the deep layers of the soil. During the Quaternary glaciations, the Rhone transported downstream an extraordinary quantity of pebbles smoothed by the alpine glaciers and water that were deposited in the Châteauneuf du Pape area, creating a deep layer of stones: the famous galets roulé. They are very draining soils, which force the roots to go down to reach water and nutrients. Furthermore, the stones heat up a lot during the day and return heat at night, thus allowing a perfect ripening of the grapes. Today the Châteauneuf du Pape vineyard extends over about 3200 hectares, in the municipalities of: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bédarrides, Courthézon, Orange et Sorgues. Cellier des Princes cultivates vines in various areas of the appellation, on a mosaic of plots with different soils: the galets roulés that give the wines power and concentration, the sandy soils that give elegance and finesse and the soils of hard limestone flakes, which contribute to give wines a mineral profile. In addition to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape area, Cellier des Princes produces numerous wines in other famous territories of the lower Rhône region: Côtes-du-Rhône & Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, Vaucluse, Vacqueyras and Gigondas. The labels are perfect interpreters of the various terroirs and are appreciated for a straightforward and authentic character.