Clos des Papes

This is Clos des Papes, a well established wine estate from Chateauneuf-du-Papes. Paul Avril first sold wine under the name Clos des Papes in 1896; he later went on to campaign for the establishment of the appellation. The name came from the fact that one of the parcels of vineyard was right next to the ancient Papal palace, and used to be an enclosed vineyard (hence clos). Clos des Papes grows all of the grape varieties permitted in the appellation, and makes only one red and one white wine, the latter using nearly equal proportions of all of the white varieties. I have had quite a few vintages of their red wines, which are good, but have yet to sample their whites.