Ch�teauneuf Wine Fest is April 2 & 3

The
weekend wine festival called Printemps de Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape,
now in its seventh year, is a festive rite of spring here in the South of
France. This year it's Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3, with a special day
on Monday April 4 (9:30 am to 2:30 pm) for wine-industry professionals. Roughly
85 domaines and ch�teaux will be represented, making this a wonderful
opportunity to meet local producers while tasting their latest releases and a
few smashing older vintages. It�s also an easy way to buy the wines you love,
some of them normally quite difficult to get. 



This
year, the fest celebrates the 80th anniversary of Ch�teauneuf's designation as one of the very first AOCs (Appellation d'Origine Contr�l�e) in
France.  The AOC decree was first created by Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumari� (aka baron Le Roy), a winemaker at Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape (Ch�teau Fortia). That first year, there were five villages named: Ch�teauneuf, Monbazillac, Arbois, Cassis and Tavel.  



Each year the Printemps festival invites special winemaker guests from other regions so this year's guests of honor will be winemakers from the four other "first" AOC villages. (For an AOC update, see below.)



In years past, the tasting workshops
(Les Ateliers D�gustation) at the festival have been super popular and this year seems no exception; two of three have already sold out. Last I checked there was
still space left in the one called "Erafl� ou
Non-Erafl� ? Telle est la question ..." which delves into the differences
between "stemmed" and "non-stemmed" wines. For almost 20 years, two wine making styles have distinguished the
cellars of Ch�teauneuf:
The modern method (de-stemming) and the old-school (keeping the stems or the
whole grape cluster).  The workshop is Saturday at 3 pm (30�); sign up
online.



Les
Printemps is organized by by The Young Winemakers Association of
Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape and takes place at the Salle Dufays on the Place de la
Renaissance in Ch�teauneuf. Hours are 10
am to 7 pm both days. Your 10� ticket (pay at the door) gets you in all weekend and
includes a tasting glass. There will be free parking...indoor and outdoor play
areas for the kids...and food available on site.



For all
the info click here and follow the festival on Facebook  and Twitter. If you have questions, you can email: printempschateauneufdupape@gmail.com.



For
general info about the wines of Ch�teauneuf,
the village and the region, click here and here. 
Or, you can call the Tourist Office: 04 90 83 71 08.


FYI about AOC: The European designation AOP (Appellation d�Origine Prot�g�e) is slowly replacing the French AOC for agricultural products...so expect to see more AOP on wine labels in the months to come. Read more here and here.