Wine region | |
Type | AOC |
---|---|
Year established | 1936 |
Country | France |
Part of | Rhône wine, Côtes du Rhône |
Climate region | mediterranean |
Soil conditions | chalky gravel, fluvial sand, sandstone, red clay, quartzite shingle |
Total area | 933 hectares (2,310 acres) (approx.) |
Size of planted vineyards | 933 hectares (2,310 acres) (approx.) |
Grapes produced | Grenache, Cinsault, Bourboulenc, Clairette rose, Clairette blanche, Mourvèdre, Picpoul, Syrah, Carignan, Calitor |
Wine produced | Tavel AOC |
Tavel (French pronunciation: [tavɛl]) is a wine-growing Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in the southern Rhône wine region of France, across the Rhône River from Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC and just north of Avignon. Tavel wines are all rosé wines and must have a minimum alcohol content of 11%. The 933 hectares produce an average yield of 42 hectolitres per hectare[1] The vineyards are located in the commune of Tavel only.[2]
Tavel is reputed to have been a favourite wine of kings Philippe le Bel and Louis XIV, the Popes of Avignon,[3] the 19th century novelist, Honoré de Balzac, the 20th-century writer, Ernest Hemingway, and is one of the few rosé wines that can benefit from aging.[4]