Winemaking at Château La Nerthe: A Story of Terroirs
In the heart of the prestigious AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château La Nerthe is crafting a new chapter of its 2023 vintage: the excitement of the harvest has given way to the patient magic of winemaking. Our cellar team is now dedicated to highlighting the personality of the harvested grapes. To do this, they rely on centuries-old expertise, inherited from our five centuries of history. This is an opportunity for us to share some winemaking secrets at Château La Nerthe, including those of our Ducos Cuvée, which perfectly embodies our long winemaking tradition…
Winemaking, or the Art of Fully Expressing Our Terroirs
“Know the technology to use it as little as possible.” This is Rémi Jean’s credo when it comes to turning must into wine. The vision of our Director nourishes the daily work of our team during winemaking. While the 1990s saw the oenologist imprint his style on the wines, this is no longer the case today. Quite the opposite.
In our cellars at Château La Nerthe, it is the terroir that must be revealed. The winemaker himself steps back behind the mark of nature and the vintage. We thus intervene as little as possible in making our Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. Instead, we let the 57 plots that make up our 92-hectare vineyard speak: a true mosaic of characters, enriched by a superb range of 13 grape varieties. The parcel-based vinification of our white wines, for example, accurately reflects this goal: their signature freshness mirrors the quality of our soils and the benign influence of our natural springs…
Aging, the Final Touch to Enhance Every Aromatic Expression
The bespoke aging of our wines also stems from our desire to maintain the delicate harmony between the soils, the plants, and human touch. In this way, aging is an extension of our commitment in our Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, where we blend organic viticulture with agroecology, as well as our art of winemaking.
Moreover, to reveal the soul of the vintage and our terroirs, we primarily use large wood volumes, like our foudres and demi-muids. These noble containers are complemented by a few small tanks and barrels, housed in our 16th-century cellars.
Each of these decisions is crucial in preserving the identity of our wines. You can explore these choices in more detail during an exciting visit to our vineyard, accompanied by a tasting of our Châteauneuf-du-Pape…
Perpetuating the Legacy of Winemaking at Château La Nerthe
To us, winemaking is more than just a production step. It represents a fabulous wine heritage that we are keen to protect. The Ducos Cuvée is thus one of the symbols of our centuries-old expertise.
Joseph Ducos: A Major Inspiration for Our Work
The Ducos Cuvée takes its name from Commander Joseph Ducos, who purchased Château La Nerthe in 1877 from the Tulle de Villefranche family. But at that time, the vineyard was devastated by phylloxera. Joseph Ducos devoted himself to finding a way to combat the parasitic aphid destroying all roots in its path. An eminent graduate of the Polytechnic, he decided to apply the work of the Montpellier School of Agriculture: he was thus the first to introduce grafted vines to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
His perseverance was soon rewarded, and other regional winemakers quickly followed his successful example. Recognized by his peers, Joseph Ducos would later become mayor of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and then deputy of Vaucluse.
The Ducos Cuvée: A Tribute to Commander’s Winemaking Talents
Beyond his pivotal role in restoring our region’s vineyard, Joseph Ducos excelled in the art of winemaking. 
Specifically, one of his “recipes,” based on ten grape varieties, became so emblematic that it led to the selection of the thirteen grape varieties of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. Among these varieties are warm, mellow red grapes like Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Syrah, as well as elegant, fresh white grapes like Clairette and Picpoul.
The Ducos Cuvée is inspired by this iconic blend of wines. Our team crafts this experimental cuvée each year from the same ten Châteauneuf-du-Pape grape varieties. To continue passing down this tradition to future generations, the harvest is even pressed using a manual press, in the purest respect for the grape and our unique terroir…
Winemaking at Château La Nerthe, as well as aging, has always been the focus of our attention. This meticulous and patient care is something we invite you to experience if you visit Châteauneuf-du-Pape in winter: our team will then gladly guide you through our cellars and our history…