Chateau de Vaudieu Chateauneuf du Pape
The Vineyard – Chateau de Vaudieu
A cool summer allowed the grapes to ripen slowly retaining acidity while still achieving high concentrations of anthocyanin (a blue/violet, flavonoid pigment found in grapes) and tannins. Grapes were harvested in perfect health and at optimum maturity. The 2010 vintage promises to be a great example with exceptional ageing potential due to its perfect balance between tannin, acidity and alcohol. There is a real freshness to the wines due to the crisp acidity and bright fruit that also makes them approachable right now.
The Château Vaudieu, located in the heart of the Châteauneuf du pape region.
For over 250 years, the “Val de Dieu” (Valley of God), an area suitable for cultivation from which the name “Vaudieu” was to come, has sheltered a vineyard within its landscape of hillsides and terraces that enjoy the best possible exposure. In the mid 19th century, just before the phylloxera crisis, the estate was one of the four great Chateauneuf du Pape vineyards, able to produce over 200 hl of quality wine.
It was under the leadership of Garbriel and Juliette Meffre that the vineyards reached their current size of 70 ha within a 450 m radius of a bicentennial Lebanese Cedar, a special guest at the 18th century Chateau.
Upon the death of Gabriel Meffre in 1987, his daughter Sylvette Bréchet took the destiny of this magnificient property in hand. In 1990 she was joined by her son Laurent, and then by Julien in 2006. With their involvement, the winery was modernised in order to separately handle the grapes from the 32 vineyard plots that were re-demarcated in order to achieve the best potential from each “terroir”.
The elegance of the Vaudieu “Terroirs”, enhanced and magnified in this way, has ensured that the reputation of the estate’s wines has become well established over the years. Laurent Bréchet, supported by a team who is totally focused on quality, continues this painstaking work respecting the terroir and this very special environment, giving birth to the prestigious “Amiral G”, “Val de Dieu”, and “Clos du Belvédère” wines.