Rhone Alp Wines

The banks of the Rhône River are lined with vineyards. The northern vineyards include Côte Rôtie and Hermitage. In the south, grapes ripen more fully and therefore the alcohol content of the wine is high. The southern vineyards produce Côtes de Rhône, including Châteauneuf du Pape wines, strong in alcohol and taste and dark in colour. Though technically Côtes du Rhône wines can be from vineyards anywhere along the river, most Côtes du Rhônes are blended from grapes in southern vineyards. In fact, the southern vineyards produce 80% of Côtes du Rhône wines. Syrah, with its smoky, blackberry flavour, is the great grape of the Rhône 

Soils and grape varieties are diverse. The vineyards produce mainly reds; big sturdy, beefy reds that are perfumed and often magnificent. Designed for aging, they need a long time to mature. The whites also have a distinctive vigor of their own. The rosé from Tavel is probably the best known of all rosé wines 

While cooperatives and merchants are important, many of the region's best wines are produced on small, family-run estates. For centuries, Rhône reds were used to improve the appearance and colour of wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy


                                                                    Tasting Notes

Over 90% of Côtes du Rhône wines are warm, rich, fruity reds made primarily from the Grenache grape. They are generally thick and robust, with the smell and taste of freshly ground pepper. Their alcoholic content is higher than that of most French wines - 12.5% at a minimum and 14% is not uncommon. Whites are rich and strong (alcohol and flavour), full yellow-gold. Less than 10% of the Côtes de Rhône villages may use the appellation Côtes de Rhône Villages 

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most famous Côtes du Rhône wine. The "Côteaux" (slope) is one of the most beautiful landscapes of Provence. In the 14th century Pope John XXII built a new castle (now ruined), the Châteauneuf -du-Pape, and planted the vineyards. The château served as the summer residence of the Popes. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape is thick, harsh, full-bodied, dry, powerful and richly coloured, big and beefy. It can be light and fruity for early drinking, or richly gamey and long-lived. Producers are entitled to blend 13 authorized and controlled grape varieties. Some grapes are optional; some are compulsory. Maturing in 5-6 years, it is strong in alcohol, sometimes 15% 

The Côte Rôtie, a series of "roasted slopes" with its hills bathed in sun, produces a warm, robust, full-bodied, richly coloured, red wine with complex berry flavours and a smoky note. Harsh and dark purple when they are young, these wines become softer and develop an excellent bouquet with age, browning slightly in colour. Syrah is one of the two grape varieties that dominate the production. Wines of Côte Rôtie are often considered the best Côtes du Rhône 

The wines of Condrieu are the best white wines in the Rhône Valley. They are dry and full-bodied, with a perfume of peach blossom, apricots and violets. The area also makes some late-harvest sweet wines from "nobly rotten" grapes 

Crozes-Hermitage is a large appellation - almost 2500 acres across 11 villages north and south of Tain-l'Hermitage. Ninety percent of the wines are full-bodied reds, made mainly from Syrah grapes 

Gigondas red wines are plummy and rich, full-bodied and rustic, dominated by mellow flavours of the Grenache grape 

Hermitage wines can be powerful tannic reds or full-bodied herb and peach-scented whites. Richly tannic Syrah grapes are the only grapes used for the complex, long-lived, inky-black reds of the area. However, wines are often made from a blend of grapes selected from several sites. They are packed with flavours of raspberries, blackberries, pepper and smoke. Tough and inaccessible in their youth, aging gives them a gamey complexity. Wine has been produced here since before 71 AD, when Pliny made note of them 

Lirac is made from a combination of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault grapes, producing a medium- to full-bodied, smooth and spicy, rich and peppery red wine 

St. Joseph wines range from basic Côtes du Rhône to wines that are close to Hermitage in character. They are generally soft, fruity and medium-bodied. Wines are less intense than Hermitage but these blackberryish reds can be drunk relatively early 

Tavel, the most famous rosé in France, was a favourite of both Louis XIV and Honoré de Balzac. This bronze-coloured wine is the only rosé that improves with age. Good Tavel is fragrant and fruity, rich and peppery, full-bodied and bone dry