Wine: Domaine Pontical Chateauneuf-du-Pape Grape: Grenache (75 per cent), Syrah (10 per cent), Mouvedre (10 per cent), Cinsault (three per cent), Counoise (two per cent) Region: Rhone Valley, France Vintage: 1996 ONE of the pleasures of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the elegant bottle.
Burgundy-shaped, all bottles of the wine from single estates are embossed with the papal coat of arms and the words Chateauneuf-du-Pape Controle.
Do not buy any Chateauneuf-du-Pape without the embossed bottle, as it is likely to be of poor quality.
Domaine Pontical has been making wine since 1883.
Traditional methods are used, with the grapes vinified with their stalks in order to add strong tannins to the wine.
The wine is aged in small barrels, tanks and foudres for a year prior to bottling.