Vid of the Popes

About 200 kilometers from the town of Vienne (south of Lyon) and Avignon, is the area of origin of Cotes du Rhone wines. The Rhone river gives its name to one of the most famous wine. The Popes' vine was planted in the garden of the Doms Rock. It was planted by the Compagnon du Ban des Vendanges des Cotes du Rhone, a brotherhood of viticultural artisans. It has three different types of grapes, two white (white Viognier and Grenache) and two red (Syrah and Grenache Red). From the twelfth century, in the time of the Popes, the grapes were grown in Avignon and its region. From the seventeenth century, during the reign of Louis XIV and XV Louix, crops spread across the region and the banks of the Rhone.