Wines and vineyards in Vaucluse : September. On the steps to the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, the harvest ban is proclaimed. The careful choreography of the grape harvesters begins, tractors coming and going, on the country roads, between cellars and vineyards of the Rhône valley.

From its towering 1912 meter altitude, Mont Ventoux overlooks the vineyards which bear its name. The rounded back of the Luberon range huddles over its vineyards, protecting them from the mistral wind. At twilight, when the suave scent of the vintages to come fills the evening air,  Châteauneuf-du-Pape gives back to the soil the heat stored by the pebbles which protect its vines, warming the last clusters of grapes to go into the symphony of 13 varieties which can make up the powerful reds and delicate, ample whites. Soon the wine will start aging in the beautiful Chateauneuf bottle, struck with the Pontifical coat of arms “2 intersecting keys, Saint Peter’s keys, indeed, the keys to paradise”.