From the late nineteenth century, winemakers have favored and focused on quality of the wine production. They have the means necessary to achieve and in particular are able to implement strict and rigorous cultural practices.
The conditions of producing Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC wine are not taken lightly! Strictly regulated, they were in the decree of November 2, 1966 amended by the decree of October 2, 1992 and 26 March 1993. Their peculiarity is that their content is largely based on proposals from the winemakers. Anxious to ensure an original product and high quality, they have set many constraints such as the requirement to harvest by hand and eliminate during the harvest insufficiently mature, diseased or damaged berries. Sometimes the pickers have two buckets of different colors to better fulfill this obligation to sort the grapes.
Another strict obligation is the maximum yield of 35 hl / ha, which makes it one of the lowest in France. In addition, many operations are performed manually as green harvesting of removing some clusters in the summer to let remaining grapes ripen optimally. The establishment of a vegetative cover in the inter-row creates water and minerals competition for the vine, which results in a reduction of the load and weight of clusters and improves the alcohol content and will increase the compounds of polyphenols in grapes.
The vineyard is obliged to have a very low density of plantation: 3,000 to 3,500 vines per hectare. In the last century this was the distance required for the horses to cross the vines. Nowadays it is a guarantee of quality because each vine has enough space to flourish in the best conditions. Furthermore, the wine is bound to a minimum natural alcohol level set at 12.5%.
