Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most celebrated red appellation of the Southern Rhône in France: a warm, full-bodied, high-alcohol blend built on Grenache and permitting up to thirteen grape varieties, classically rounded out with Syrah, Mourvèdre and a long supporting cast. Grown on sun-baked terraces around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, north of Avignon — many of them carpeted with the large rounded galets pebbles that store the day's heat — it yields a plush, generous wine of sweet red and black fruit, garrigue herbs, pepper and sweet spice. Dry yet richly fruited, soft-tannined and warming at roughly 14.5 to 15.5 percent alcohol, it is one of France's great food reds and a pioneer of French wine law.