Château Val Joanis is a winery located in the Vaucluse Department of France, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, just west of the town of Pertuis. The wines it produces are classified AOC Côtes du Luberon.
The Chateau is built on the site of an ancient Roman villa, some of whose stones today decorate the garden. The building is decorated with the coat of arms of Jean de Joanis, the secretary of the King Louis III of Naples. The estate was occupied by the Arnaud family, who kept it until the 17th century. The estate was given the status of a fief in 1754.
The house and estate fell into ruins during the 19th century. It was purchased in 1977 by Jean-Louis Chancel. Between 1979 and 1999, he planted 186 hectares of vines. He also commissioned the architect Jean-Jacques Pichoux to build a modern winery building, inspired by the architectural style of the Dominican Order.
The gardens were begun in 1978 by the owner, Cécile Chancel, with the help of landscape designer Tobie Loup de Viane. The garden was finished in its present form in 1990 and became a Remarkable Garden of France in 2005. The garden is built on three terraces cut into a hillside overlooking the vineyards.
The upper terrace is a kitchen garden and flower garden.The middle terrace is devoted to flowers and ornamental plants.The lower terrace is devoted to fruit trees, and to platane trees over twenty years of age brought from Mount Athos.
The three terraces are linked by a pergola, or tunnel, covered with climbing roses and trumpet vines, which runs from the top to the bottom of the garden.
References:Manarola is a small town, a frazione of the comune of Riomaggiore. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists, with a population of 353.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name 'Manarola' is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, 'magna rota'. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to 'magna roea' which means 'large wheel', in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region.