The Rhône Valley 213 the Rhône Valley
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THE RHÔNE VALLEY 213 THE RHÔNE VALLEY Famous for its full, fiery, and spicy-rich red wines, STRETCHING FROM VIENNE TO AVIGNON, the Côtes-du- the Rhône Valley also produces small quantities Rhône appellation occupies a 125-mile (200-kilometer) length of the Rhône River. Beyond this great region other Rhône wines of rosé and white, and even some sparkling and exist, and some are not even French. The banks of this mighty fortified wines. Although essentially red-wine European river are clad with vines all the way from the Valais vineyards of Visp in Switzerland, just 30 miles (50 kilometers) country, and great red-wine country at that, the from the Rhône’s glacial origins in the Alps, to the vin de pays Rhône has experienced a kind of revolution in vineyards of the Bouches-du-Rhône, set amid the Rhône delta just west of Marseilles, where the river finally and sluggishly white-wine production. There has been a growing runs into the Mediterranean. number of exotic, world-class white wines in Only a tiny patch of vineyards in the very north of this region various appellations since the late 1980s, when is in fact located within the Rhône département (which is a geographic misnomer as it actually accounts for 70 percent of just a few began to emerge in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Burgundy’s output). Comparing the contrasting characters of Rhône Givors A47 r ie 321 G 538 D502 ST-CHAMOND N86 Condrieu VIENNE ISÈREGère Chaâteau-Grillet N7 395 1370 LOIRE Roussillon Beaurepaire Serrières D519 Bourg-Argental N82 Dolon 703 D538 A7 Annonay e D82 ur la ce a an G C 121 D St.-Vallier 1213 ROMANS-SUR- Hermitage ISÈRE Tournon-sur- D532 Rhône N532 x 544 Isère ou D BOURG-DE-PÉAGE Cornas 441 LA LANDONNE VINEYARD, CÔTE RÔTIE St-Péray Syrah grapes are harvested on the steep slopes of Guigal’s top-performing Valence Léoncel Vernoux-en- Guilherand La Landonne vineyard in the Côte Brune area of Côte Rôtie, above Ampuis. Vivarais 789 Chabeuil 1698 D2 N86 538 D 2086 D538 238 DRÔME la-Voulte-sur-Rhône N7 959 Livron-sur-Drôme D518 ARDÈCHE Die Privas D104 Crest Châtillon- D93 en-Diois R N304 Drô o 395 me a D539 552 n PARIS n 1589 e Aubenas NORTHERN RHÔNE N A7 1202 102 Luc-en-Diois 1550 SOUTHERN RHÔNE D93 Jab D ron r le Teil ôm THE RHÔNE VALLEY, MONTÉLIMAR Dieulefit e D579 551 see also p.55 1451 la Motte-Chalancon 526 N7 D61 Viticulturally the Rhône Ruoms N86 z Valley covers a large area St-Remèze Le A D94 rd D4 Pierrelatte of southern central France, Côtes-du-Rhône D979 èc Valréas he See also pp215, 218 Nyons from Vienne into the heart D94 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages 1192 of Provence. See also p218 Bollène Ouvèze Clairette de Die Pont-St-Esprit Vaison-la-Romaine See also p214 Châtillon-en-Diois R D938 1442 Céz h Séderon See also p214 e ô Gigondas 734 n Sisteron Lussan D6 e Coteaux du Tricastin Bagnols- ORANGE 1637 See also p218 sur-Cèze N7 N580 VAUCLUSE 1140 Coteaux de Pierrevert D950 D950 Sault ALPESDE Digne- See also p218 D942 942 N85 les-Bains GARD 19 D Banon e Côtes du Lubéron Peyruis on D4 lé D See also p218 Uzès Sorgues CARPENTRAS B 952 A9 e HAUTE- squ n Côtes du Ventoux Ne o 920 1054 v See also p218 N100 a 672 l A51 N100 a C Côtes du Vivarais N86 L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue PROVENCE 214 Avignon D973 1749 See also p218 D28 e N100 c Châteaurenard Apt n Département boundary N96 a r 6 D11 Cavaillon u D 1125 Manosque D D11 Height above sea level (meters) 69 Tarascon D99 Beaucaire Riez St-Rémy- D973 de-Provence n 0 10 20 miles N570 ra o Du nce rd Rhône BOUCHESDU Ve 595 D 984 ARLES 554 D13 0 10 20 30 40 km RHÔNE 291 Pertuis N113 D556 N96 Peyrolles-en-Provence SALON-DE-PROVENCE 779 214 FRANCE RECENT RHÔNE VINTAGES 2003 Another classic region turned upside-down by the dramatic heat wave, with unprecedented high sugar and low acidity levels that provided the potential for great red wines only from those skilled enough to cope with the challenge. There will be many more flashes of brilliance that will have the critics raving about big, black monsters, only to find the wines will shed their fruit relatively quickly to end up with the alcohol showing through. The northern Rhône probably has the edge over the south, but where the wines are properly balanced, the greatest reds from all over the region will probably be a match for the best Rhônes from any vintage in living memory. There will always be exceptions, but generally you can forget the whites and rosés. 2002 A washout, literally. 2001 Some good northern reds, particularly in Côte-Rôtie, but September rain meant that many lack finesse, leaving them overall average at best. Much better, potentially long-lived reds in the south. 2000 A brilliant year for reds in both the northern and southern CÔTE BRUNE ON THE CÔTE RÔTIE, NORTHERN RHÔNE Rhône, with the wines showing excellent color and tannin structure, The Côte Brune is an area of the Côte Rôtie where the rust color of the soil and lush fruit. The whites, however, are fat and blowsy. is visible evidence of iron-rich elements in its granitic sandy soil. 1999 Soft, juicy, well-colored reds in the Northern Rhône have the and Burgundy wines produced within the one département can edge over the southern reds, although those in the south who picked have a humbling effect on all those who glibly talk about regional late have made wines to rival their northern cousins. styles. For example, what could be further apart than a rich, classic Condrieu and a fresh, light Mâcon, or an intense, ink-black Côte Rôtie and a quaffing, cherry-colored Beaujolais? Yet all of these wines are produced in the same département and could A REGION DIVIDED thus be described as coming from the same region. In terms of grape varieties, the Rhône divides neatly into two— the Syrah-dominated north and the Grenache-influenced south— BEAUMES-DE-VENISE, SOUTHERN RHÔNE although there are those who confuse the issue by separating the Home to one of the most elegant and consistent fortified Muscat wines in the southernmost section of the northern district and calling it the world, Beaumes-de-Venise also produces a soft, peppery red wine under the Middle Rhône. The north and south differ not only in terrain and Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages appellation. climate, but also contrast socially, culturally, and gastronomically. THE RHÔNE VALLEY - THE NORTHERN RHÔNE 215 THE NORTHERN RHÔNE The Northern Rhône is dominated by the ink- FACTORS AFFECTING TASTE AND QUALITY black wines of Syrah, the Rhône’s only truly classic black grape. A small amount of white wine LOCATION granitic-sandy soil at Hermitage and HThe narrow strip of vineyards Condrieu with a fine overlay of is also produced and, in the south of the district, that belong to the Northern Rhône decomposed flint, chalk, and mica, commences at Vienne, just south known locally as arzelle; heavier at St.-Péray and Die, sparkling wines are made. of Lyon, and extends southward soil in Crozes-Hermitage with patches to Valence. of clay; granitic sand with some clay CLIMATE between St.-Joseph and St.-Péray, THE NORTHERN RHÔNE might be the gateway to the south, F getting stonier toward the southern but it has more in common with its northern neighbor, Burgundy, The general effect of the end of the region, with occasional Mediterranean is certainly felt in the outcrops of limestone; and limestone than it does with the rest of the Rhône, even though its wines Northern Rhône, but its climate has cannot be compared with those from any other area. Indeed, it and clay over a solid rock base in a distinctly continental influence. the area that surrounds Die. would be perfectly valid to isolate the north as a totally separate This results in the pattern of warmer region called the Rhône, which would, therefore, allow the summers and colder winters, which VITICULTURE AND is closer to the climate of southern JVINIFICATION Southern Rhône to be more accurately defined as a high-quality Burgundy, to the north, than to that Unlike the Southern Rhône, most extension of the Midi. of the Southern Rhône. The climatic Northern Rhône wines are factor that the area does have in produced entirely or predominantly THE QUALITY OF THE NORTHERN RHÔNE common with the southern half of from a single grape variety, the The ink-black classic wines of Hermitage and Côte Rôtie stand the Rhône is the Mistral, a bitterly Syrah, despite the long list of cold wind that can reach up to 90 grapes that are occasionally used shoulder to shoulder with the crus classés of Bordeaux in terms of miles (145 kilometers) per hour and (see Secondary varieties, below). pure quality, and the greatest Hermitage and Côte Rôtie deserve is capable of denuding a vine of its Viticultural operations are labor- the respect given to premiers crus such as Latour, Mouton, or leaves, shoots, and fruit. As a result, intensive in the northern stretch of Lafite. Cornas can be even bigger and blacker than Hermitage or many Mistral-prone vineyards are the district and, due to the cost, the protected by poplar and cypress vineyards were once under the Côte Rôtie, and the top growers can rival the best of wines from trees.