The weekend wine festival called Printemps de Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape, now in its eighth year, is a festive rite of spring here in the
South of France. This year it's Saturday and Sunday, April 8 and 9, with a
special day for industry professionals only, on April 10. 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.
Each year the Printemps festival invites special guests from other
regions and this year wines and winemakers from Corsica will be featured.
As
in years past, there will also be special tasting workshops (Les Ateliers D�gustation) for which additional fees are
charged. The first focuses on the Mill�sime 2007; it will be offered Saturday
at 11 am and 4:30 pm and you can sign up here. The second explores the pairing
of Ch�teauneuf with chocolate; that one is Saturday at 2 pm and the sign up is here. Both will be held at the Ecole Primaire Albert
Camus and are expected to sell out soon.
The third is a light-hearted initiation into the discovery of Ch�teauneuf
wines, offered Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 am and 3 pm, at the Chapel Saint
Theodoric. It lasts an hour, costs 25� and includes your 10� entry into the
show itself. For that one you can register here or on site.
Eighty-one years ago, Ch�teauneuf
was designated as one of the very first AOCs (Appellations
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). The first year, there were five villages named: Ch�teauneuf,
Monbazillac, Arbois, Cassis and Tavel. And
as the European designation
AOP (Appellation d�Origine
Prot�g�e) is slowly replacing the French
AOC for agricultural products, you can expect to see more AOP on wine labels in
the months to come.
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 on all three 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.
A list of all participating
domaines is on the festival website here.
For all the details click here and follow the festival on Facebook and Twitter. If you have
questions, you can email: contact@lesprintempsdechateauneufdupape.fr.
For general info about the wines of Ch�teauneuf,
the village and the region, click here and here.
Or, you can call the lovely folks at the Ch�teauneuf Tourist Office: 04 90
83 71 08.
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