Best Avignon Wine Tours: Wine Tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
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If you’re looking for the best wine tours from Avignon, I’d start (and end) with Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
From Champagne to the Loire Valley to Burgundy, I’m no stranger to drinking my way through France’s wine regions. But wine tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a totally different experience. It was bigger, bolder, and more varied than I expected. And I loved it!
Just ~20 minutes from Avignon, this legendary Rhône Valley appellation is known for its powerful, full-bodied red blends, centuries-old châteaux, and vineyards blanketed in iconic rounded river stones called galets roulés.
I booked this full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour from Avignon, and I wish I could do it all over again. Four guided tastings of high-quality wines, three very different winery visits, and a three-course lunch at a beautiful château overlooking the vines? It all added up to the perfect way to spend a day in Provence. And by my count, we tasted 17 different wines… plus two more at lunch!
In this guide, I’m sharing exactly what my Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour from Avignon was like and what we tasted, what you can generally expect from any tour, and a few other Avignon wine tours worth considering.
4 Best Avignon Wine Tours: Quick Picks
There are plenty of wine tours from Avignon, but these are my top picks.
The best option depends on how much time you have – and whether you want to focus solely on Châteauneuf-du-Pape, explore other Rhône Valley appellations too, or even mix in some sightseeing around Provence.
All four are small-group tours, limited to eight guests.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine Tour: This is the tour I booked and loved! We had four different tastings – at three wineries and one caviste – of 17 fantastic wines, stopped in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape village, and enjoyed a fabulous lunch at a château surrounded by vineyards.
Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine Tour: This option ventures beyond just Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with stops that may include other southern Rhône appellations like Gigondas, Vacqueyras, or Séguret. It includes three tasting sessions and a château lunch.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Luberon Villages Tour: Pick this if sightseeing matters just as much as the wine! This tour combines two Châteauneuf-du-Pape wineries with some of Provence’s prettiest villages, including Gordes (pictured below!) and Roussillon.
Half-Day Rhône Valley Wine Tour: Short on time? This half-day option packs in three different winery visits across the prestigious Cru appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Vacqueyras.
What to Know About Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine Tasting
Before we get into the details of my full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour, here’s my little “Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine 101” so you know what you’re getting into!
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most prestigious appellation in the southern Rhône Valley – and one of the most renowned in France, too!
And how could it not be, with a nickname like the “Wine of the Popes”? (During the Avignon Papacy, the popes helped build the region’s reputation by serving its wines at the papal court and to visiting dignitaries.)
About 93% of the wine produced here is red. Usually big reds. Full-bodied, powerful, fruit-forward, and often spicy – with plenty of ripe red and dark fruit. ABVs usually fall around 13.5–15%, but vary by wine, producer, and vintage.
Grenache is the star grape, commonly blended with Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, and others. Does “GSM” ring a bell? Grenache–Syrah–Mourvèdre is a classic combo, but the appellation recognizes 13 traditional grape varieties – so winemakers have lots of flexibility when blending.
Then there’s the terroir. And to me, it’s the most interesting part…
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is famous for its galets roulés: the big, smooth river stones that blanket the vineyards. They absorb heat from the intense Provençal sun during the day and release it into the night, helping the grapes ripen.
But not all Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards are like this! Some plots have limestone, red sandstone, and sandy soils.
The other force at play is the Mistral – the fierce, dry wind that blows through the Rhône Valley. It keeps the vineyards dry and healthy by reducing moisture and fungal disease.
You’ll learn all about this during your Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour, but I think a little background knowledge will make your experience even richer!
MADDY’S NOTE: Planning a wine-focused trip through France? Check out my Beaune, France travel guide and my picks for the best Burgundy wine tours from Beaune. I loved Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but give me a fabulous Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir and I couldn’t be happier!
My Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine Tour from Avignon
If you’re thinking about booking an Avignon wine tour – and specifically the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour I booked – I’ll give you some sound advice: do it! But if you want all the juicy details first, keep reading…
Our day started in the historic heart of Avignon, where we met our sommelier guide, Clémence, and the rest of our small group (eight of us, in total).
Everyone had some wine knowledge, ranging from very enthusiastic to “we’ve already been to Châteauneuf-du-Pape twice before.” But you don’t need to be a wine expert to enjoy this experience. You just need to love wine!
Clémence was a dream guide and driver, too: super fun and approachable, generous with her knowledge, and happy to answer questions throughout the day.
Our itinerary included six stops:
- two wineries in the morning,
- a lovely château lunch,
- a third winery after lunch,
- the ruins of the Castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape,
- and a wine boutique in the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Already in? Book your full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour here.
1st Stop: Château de la Font du Loup
Our first stop, Château de la Font du Loup, set the bar very high.
This family-run estate has been making wine here for around 75 years. And I loved that they take an organic-as-possible, minimal-intervention approach, and let their sheep graze among the vines for part of the year.
But what made Font du Loup’s wines particularly special was the estate’s rare, prized sandy soils. The wines had much silkier tannins and more Burgundian-esque elegance than the big, powerful style I’d been expecting.
Our visit started with a walking tour of the vineyards, winery, and cellar, before settling into a shaded garden area for our tasting.
We tried five wines, including a white blend and several reds, including one made from incredibly old vines – 120 years old!
All of the wines were delicious, though my favorite was the final: a tiny-production 2023 cuvée of only around 600 bottles (or roughly two barrels). It was rich and complex, with unforgettable notes of raspberry and dark chocolate, and a spicy, long finish.
This was a fabulous first stop, showing us how versatile Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines can be – and how, even within the same appellation, soil, vine age, grape blend, and winemaking approach can produce wildly different wines.
2nd Stop: Château Mont-Redon
Next up was Château Mont-Redon, a fourth-generation family-run estate and the largest in the entire Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. But I’m happy to report it didn’t feel overly commercial or polished, and our whole group loved the wines.
We started on a beautiful terrace overlooking vast vineyards completely covered in galets roulés, with Mont Ventoux and the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail looming hazily in the distance.
Then, down in the tasting room, we had a guided tasting of four wines produced by two Rhône Valley estates under the same ownership. Château Mont-Redon spans all three of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s iconic terroirs – galets roulés, safres (fine, compact sand), and limestone – and follows sustainable practices, while its sister estate, Domaine de l’Oratoire Saint-Martin in Cairanne, is fully organic and biodynamic.
We started with a fresh Cairanne white, made without any oak, followed by a Châteauneuf-du-Pape white blending grapes from the estate’s different soil types. Then came the reds – a Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah blend from 2021, followed by a younger 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape designed to age for decades.
Between the different estates, soil types, grape blends, and winemaking philosophies, we were starting to understand just how versatile Rhône Valley wines are… even when the same grapes kept showing up in our glasses!
3rd Stop: Lunch at Hostellerie Château des Fines Roches
After nine wines, it was time for lunch – and a couple more glasses, obviously!
I was not expecting our lunch setting to be as idyllic as it was… Or for it to be my favorite part of our Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour from Avignon. But everything about our lunch stop was perfect.
A ten-minute drive from Château Mont-Redon, Clémence dropped us off at a four-star hotel and Michelin-recommended restaurant, Hostellerie Château des Fines Roches.
We enjoyed a lovely, leisurely lunch outside on the terrace on a sunny spring day, overlooking the château’s vineyards.
Lunch wasn’t included in the tour, but the restaurant’s two- or three-course menus of the day were super reasonable (€28 and €35, respectively).
No surprise, my husband and I went for three courses, alongside two glasses of the château’s wine.
Between us, we tried the œufs mayonnaise with tarragon and chives; green asparagus with herbs and lemon sabayon; Moroccan-spiced lamb charlotte with coco bean foam and a baby vegetable ragout; and grey sea bream with fregola risotto, steamed peas, and a tangy white butter sauce. And for dessert, we ordered the strawberry tart (always a must in Provence!) and lemon crème brûlée.
And another nice touch: usually on small-group tours like this, everyone sits together at one big table. But Clémence arranged for each couple to have their own table – which my husband and I were delighted by, given the romantic setting!
MADDY’S NOTE: If you’re considering booking the Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wine Tour I mentioned (which includes other southern Rhône appellations like Gigondas, Vacqueyras, or Séguret), then good news! This tour often goes for lunch at Fines Roches, too.
4th Stop: Château La Nerthe
After lunch, we headed to Château La Nerthe, one of the oldest winemaking estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, dating back to 1560. It’s also been certified organic since 1998!
Seeing a trend here? Our full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour visited some seriously epic estates. I love how each one prioritizes organic, biodynamic, or otherwise low-intervention farming practices.
I thought the wines at La Nerthe were excellent, but I also loved seeing the old dovecotes outside and touring the 16th-century cellar. We walked past old stone tanks built directly into the cellar walls, barrel rooms, and dust-covered lockers aging rare bottles and special vintages for some of the most prestigious hotels and restaurants in Europe.
After touring the winery and cellar, we stood at the tasting-room bar to try three more wines.
We started with a 2024 Châteauneuf-du-Pape white. It was fresh and aromatic with an almost eucalyptus-like character.
Then came a nice-but-not-particularly-notable 2021 GSM blend, followed by the star of the show: the 2022 Cuvée des Cadettes, made from some of the estate’s oldest vines. Even cooler, the Cadettes parcel was the first replanted after phylloxera devastated the estate in the 19th century.
5th Stop: Castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Ruins
After La Nerthe, we made our way into the charming village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which translates to Pope’s new castle.
Between 1317 and 1333, Pope John XXII had a castle built on the hilltop, which became a summer residence for the Avignon Papacy. Today, part of the château stands in ruins on the hilltop, overlooking the village, vineyards, and Rhône Valley.
We stopped for a quick look around the ruins before wandering downhill through the little village’s cobblestone streets toward our final tasting of the day.
6th Stop: La Nez des Papes
14 wines deep, what’s five more?
The final stop of our full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour was La Nez des Papes (or The Nose of the Popes), a little wine shop tucked into the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
After three wineries and a lot of excellent white and red wines, a fourth tasting of five more wines in the cutest little cellar-like room was such a bonus!
And thankfully, there was even more variety! We started with a delicious rosé, followed by a fruity white. Then, we moved into a few more reds. We tasted a lighter, lower-tannin Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend; a GSM blend, aged first in concrete, then for 18 months in barrel; and a Lirac AOC red made with Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan.
It was an intimate, relaxed way to finish the day. And maybe my second favorite part – after our lunch. The wine and laughter were flowing – and a record was spinning in the background.
Sounds pretty fabulous, right? Book your full-day wine tour in Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Avignon here.
MADDY’S NOTE: The tour company operates this wine shop, which was fabulous because we could mix and match our favorite bottles from any of the day’s tastings into one custom shipment. A very cool option I’d never come across before! On all of the other wine tours I’ve done, I’ve had to arrange shipping directly with each winery. This way, you could keep notes throughout the day and decide which ones were your favorites at the end.
Tips for Wine Tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
A few things to know before you spend the day drinking your way around Châteauneuf-du-Pape:
- Eat a proper breakfast! This should go without saying, but the wines here are not shy. Many Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds sit around 13.5 to 15% ABV, and on a full-day wine tour from Avignon, you’re going to taste a lot of them. FYI: my favorite place for breakfast and specialty coffee in Avignon is Tulipe!
- Pace yourself… And use the spittoons if you need to! You absolutely do not have to finish every pour. Everywhere we went had spittoons available. There are a whopping 17 wines included in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour I recommend, but zero shame in not finishing every pour.
- Don’t wear perfume or cologne. Strong fragrances can interfere with your ability – and everyone else’s ability – to smell and taste the wine properly!
- Wear comfortable shoes. Generally, Avignon wine tours include walks through vineyards, wineries, cellars, and cobblestone streets of different villages. And sometimes, tastings are done standing. It’s nothing too strenuous, but this is not the day for impractical shoes.
- Bring layers. Even when it’s hot and sunny outside, winery cellars can be surprisingly chilly.
- Take notes on the wines you love. After 10… 12… 17 wines, they will start blending together in your memory. I kept track of my favorites, which was especially useful because our tour finished at a wine shop where we could order bottles from different wineries together.
- Don’t do a DIY day trip. If wine tasting is your goal, booking a wine tour from Avignon with round-trip transportation is by far the easiest option. Enjoy the wines properly and let your guide handle the roads!
FAQs: Best Wine Tours from Avignon
My top pick is the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour from Avignon my husband and I did! It includes three winery visits, a fourth tasting at a charming wine shop in the village, 17 wines, time to explore Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and a beautiful château lunch stop. Our sommelier guide was excellent, the pacing never felt rushed, and every winery was completely different (and focused on sustainable and organic viticulture – which is something I really care about). And most importantly, I didn’t turn my nose up at any of the wines! They were all high quality. In other words, I loved everything about this tour.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is only about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of Avignon, or roughly 20 minutes by car. That makes it one of the easiest wine regions to visit on a day trip from Avignon.
Of course I’m going to say a full day of wine tasting is better than a half day! Is that even a question? But really, if you love wine, choose this full-day Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour or this full-day Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour. You’ll have time to visit several wineries, compare different terroirs and winemaking styles, and enjoy lunch without feeling rushed.
If you’re short on time, then this half-day Rhône Valley wine tour does the job. Or if wine isn’t the main focus of your Provence trip, this Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Luberon Villages tour combines wineries with Provençal must-sees like Gordes and Roussillon.
It depends on the tour. On the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tour I took, we tasted 17 wines across four guided tastings. My husband and I also ordered two additional glasses of wine with lunch, bringing our personal total to 19!
I recommend wearing comfortable shoes and bringing a light layer, even in warm weather. I wore a dress and brought along a light jacket. My husband wore a plain tee shirt and linen shorts. You don’t need to get overly dressed up, just make sure you’re comfortable!
