The Domaine de Valori of Châteauneuf-du-Pape of Rhone Valley

Layers of colour in the sky before me: indigo, peach, salmon. In the rear-view mirror, the gold was catching fire. As I drove down through the lonely, Mistral-chilled vines of Babeau-Bouldoux towards nearby St-Chinian, I was thinking about what Christine Deleuze of Clos Bagatelle had just said. ‘When you came to visit 10 years ago,’ she reminded me, ‘you said we needed to wait another decade for a market breakthrough. Today you’ve said we need to wait another decade or two. So when, exactly, wil ...

Establishing a vineyard isn’t something you just rush into these days. Identifying the right site, carrying out soil analysis, selecting suitable rootstocks and varieties, procuring equipment… We’ve made a lot of progress in the past 80 years. But perhaps we overthink such things. Some estates, such as Domaine Font de Courtedune, have grown organically, with major decisions often being made for practical, rather than stylistic, reasons. And the results, from Côtes-du-Rhône to Châteauneuf-du-Pape ...

Guigal has acquired Château d’Aqueria for an undisclosed fee in a deal that adds to a sense of fresh dynamism in the historic vineyards of Tavel, a rosé-only appellation that lies on the west bank of the Rhône river in southern France. Marcel Guigal, son of Guigal domaine founder Etienne, said, ‘Our family is delighted to join the Tavel appellation and to participate in the promotion of this great gastronomic rosé.’ Château d’Aqueria. Photo credit: Courtesy of E. Guigal. The purchase puts ...