Château Fortia

By 1783, the wine being produced from the estate was receiving favorable accolades from consumers in Northern Europe, the British Isles and the West Indies[citation needed].

In 1919, his daughter Edmée married a decorated World War I pilot, Baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié.

Baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié (5 April 1890-June 1967) was born in Mortagne, Normandy to a family that could trace its history back to the Crusades.

After being shot down twice during World War I, Le Roy was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre (Military Cross).

[1][5][6] The early plans for the INAO and AOC appellation were drawn up by Baron Le Roy in 1923 after a series of meetings among Châteauneuf-du-Pape growers.

The growers were responding to the rising wine fraud that plague not only the Rhône but also most of France following the devastation of World War I and the phylloxera epidemic before it.

Baron Le Roy's plan isolated an area around the village that was infertile and arid, suitable only for growing lavender, thyme and wine grapes.

[4][5] In another lasting imprint on the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine industry, the Le Roy led Syndicat de Chateauneuf introduced the La Bouteille Armoriee embossed bottle in 1937.

[1][7] Over the course of his long career, Baron Le Roy was honored numerous times for his services to the advancement of the French wine industry.

Finally the separate wines are blended into the cuvee and placed in large oak foudre barrels where they age for 12–18 months before being fined and filtered prior to bottling.

[1] The single white bottling is produced from grapes that are immediately pressed soon after harvest and fermented in stainless steel tanks at around 68 °F (20 °C) until the wine is completely dry.