The wines made by the monks and nuns of the Barroux abbey and Vignerons Caritatis (a collaboration between winemakers) have a long, rich history as they come from the oldest, papal vineyard which was planted in around 1309 by Pape Clément V. They also continue the long tradition of monk making wine in France.
Located in Provence at the foot of Mont Ventoux, Barroux Abbey was created in 1970 by Dom Gérard Calvet from a famous Bordeaux wine merchant family.
In 1986, nuns joined the monks how had already settled here and took up the running of the vineyard to continue the work there. In 2010, Jean-Dominique Artaud, who was head winegrower at Domaine de la Janasse in Châteauneuf-du-Pape at the time, told the monks and nuns that their mountain vineyard could be the site of a fine wine. From 2011 onwards, they set about making changes to their wines in this new direction. The Via Caritatis project, uniting the monks and nuns with Beaumont winemakers, was launched with the oenologist Philippe Cambie offering advice until his passing. 30 hectares of wines (10 of which are cared for by the nuns) are tended to using organic production methods and the wines are made in a cooperative cellar. 140,000 bottles of wine are made from grapes that come from plots that are becoming more and more qualitative. There’s no time like the present to discover the wines made these monks and nuns.

Each year, the monks, nuns and winemakers associated with the Via Caritatis project choose the best grapes from the vineyard to go into the cuvée. Generally, the blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan come from several terroirs. The south, clay-limestone Annonciation parcel and the terraced plots of deep clay-limestone soil for the Grenache, old Syrah vines and old plots with deep clay soil for the Carignan.
The harvests are conducted by hand the grapes have reached ripeness when they are also heavily sorted. They are then taken to the cellar for classic vinification in concrete vats and a maceration of 25 days (completely destemmed). Gentle pumping over is carried out and then the maturation takes place over 24 months with 80% of the wine in concrete vats and 20% in 500-litre oak barrels.
Tasting this wine reveals a sweetness with volume, intensity and elegance.