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Visiting the wine producers

The main reason for visiting Chateauneuf du Pape as a tourist is to taste and buy a few bottles or perhaps fill up the car with the wonderful wines you can get here.
There are very few towns around the world where you in such a small area can find so many different good bottles of wine.
Of course you can buy a bottle of wine from this town at your wine merchant everywhere around the world but to buy it at the producer is quite another thing, not because the price will be much lower but because you in this way get much more than a bottle with wine - you get memories about a place, memories about people you meet there and when later at home you enjoy the wine you have a history to share with your family or your guests.
This homepage from a wine lover is a possibility for you to be able to orientate yourself better when you are among all the good stuff. 

A few producers do not have direct sale at all and you have to get a special introduction if you want to visit these producers. If you are lucky to have such one be sure you know where the producer lives because there will be no sign to tell you where to go.
In this category of "hidden" producers you can find very small producers, whose bottled production is very small or it can be the most famous producers (e.g. Bonneau, Rayas) whoes wines are very expensive and to whom the problem is to have enough wine for their importers around the world.

Some producers receive visitors but you have to mail or phone in advance to get an appointment. The reason for this can be like what is said on the homepage of Domaine Charvin's: "To manage a family wine field is a demanding occupation and sometimes we regret not being able to devote as much time as we would like to meet our customers and other visitors. We however endeavour to receive those and to taste our wines with them. Therefore we recommend to make an appointment."
Of course you have to respect that some wine growers, whose production is not very big, can't stay at home all day waiting for possible visitors.
Charvin recommend an appointment and other producers say they only receive visitors having made an appointment.
Of course you can try anyway. If someone is available you will probably be received.

Quite many producers have opening hours and a tasting/sales room where you can always meet someone. It can be a member of the family or it may be an employee. On the pages about the different producers (links from here) you can se the opening hours.
It's most often Monday - Friday but some also receive visitors Saturday and even Sunday. Most of the producers have closed a couple of hours about noon.

If you are very serious about your wine buying you have made a plan before your visits. Then you will know who you want to visit and which wines you want to taste at the different places. Available wine depend of course of whether Cotes du Rhone are produced or not and if white wines are produced or not. If all of these wines are produced you can choose between the following wines and they are shown in the order of which they should be tasted.

White Cotes du Rhone
White Cotes du Rhone Village
White Chateauneuf du Pape
Red Cotes du Rhone
Red Cotes du Rhone Village
Red Chateauneuf du Pape
A red special cuvé - perhaps

It's your choise at what level you want to start the tasting. It should be noted that it's not uncivil behaviour to spit out some wine when you have got the taste.
You have to accept if a special cuvée  is not for tasting, but you can judge the expensive wines from tasting the basic wine. 
The tasting is normally free and there is no plate where to put money even if you don't buy any wine.
Even if you don't plan to buy Cotes du Rhone you should give them a try. They can be quite good and the prices are often reasonable.

The prices for the wines vary quite a lot. The price for an average Chateauneuf du Pape is about 15€ but many wines cost some more.
The special cuvées can be much more expensive.
Many Cotes du Rhones from good producers are offered for 5-7€.

In 2006 you can expect the vintages of red Chateauneuf du Pape to be 2004 even if som estates don't bottle the wines before the autumn. The red Cotes du Rhone will probably be from 2005.
The white wines will probably all be from 2005 perhaps some from 2004.

You should not be walking from one place to another without buying any wine, but if you don't find the wine good enough or you find it too expensive then just thank for the tasting and leave without buying anything.
You will probably never visit this place again. If you have done your homework before visiting you will never meet this dilemma.

After buying some wines and if you are an interested visitor you can easily aske if it's possible to see the cellars. You'll never get more than a no. If you meet the owner and you have a good communication with him, he will be proud to show his cellars.

On this homepage you can see the opening hours. Don't be to angry if they have changed. Information on the internet about these thing are not often updated.

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Updated 16-07-2008