Wine Region - Rhone Valley

Wine Region - Rhone Valley

 Rhone valley is located in south eastern France. It is located south of the other famous Burgundy region as well. Rhone valley is a broad region which contains other sub regions. These other major sub-regions are: Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cote Rotie, Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, and Gigondas.

            It is predicted that the first vines were planted in this region around 600 B.C.  Again, it is predicted that the Greeks might be responsible for bringing the Syrah grape from the city of Shiraz. Other speculation is that the Greeks brought the grape when they were fleeing from the Persian king Cyrus I. The last thoughts are that the Romans may have brought the Syrah grape along with the Viognier grape from Syracuse around 280 A.D.  However, when the Romans no longer existed as an empire, so did the wines that were of interest in this region. The wine production did not start back up until the 13^th century when the Pope moved to Avignon .

The two major grape varieties in the Rhone Valley are Grenache and Syrah. Two other red grapes that are not as popular as the previous two are Cinsault and Mourvedre. These grapes represent ninety two percent of the grapes used, with Grenache being the top pick.

The AOC looks over the winemakers in the Rhone Valley. They put requirements on the alcoholic contents of the different wines in the region. For example: the minimum alcoholic content demanded by AOC for Cotes du Rhone is 10.5% and 12.5% for Chateauneuf-du-Pape. AOC regulates wines in the northern and southern part of this region, however the AOC may demand different things from the two regions. For example, the northern part of Rhone valley must exclusively use the Syrah grape.

The Syrah grape produces Cote Rotie, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, St. Joseph, and Cornas in the North. Blends with Grenache and Syrah produce the best Chateauneuf-du-Pape as well. Rose is made primarily from the Grenache grape, although a large variety of grapes can be used in the blend. Also, the grapes Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvedre are responsible for Cotes du Rhone, Cotes du Rhone-Villages, Cotes du Ventoux, Gigondas, Tavel, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

A winemaker is allowed to use thirteen different kinds of grapes in order to make the Chateauneuf-du-Pape. When the winemaker uses a lot of the top notch grapes, the results is a wine that is way more appealing. This, in turn, makes the wine more expensive. So if on the label you see that a wine only contains twenty percent of top notch grapes, you can assume that the quality is below average and it’s probably not that expensive. However, if the label says that the wine uses eighty percent of the higher quality grapes, the wine will be more appealing and more expensive.

The north part of Rhone Valley is very distinct from the southern part. These distinctions all come down to the soil, location, and different grape varieties used in making the wines of each area.

In the Rhone Valley, there are different quality levels which classify the wines. Cotes du Rhone accounts for 58% of the production of wines in this region and it is cheap. Cotes du Rhone Villages accounts for 8% of production and is average priced. Cotes du Rhone Crus accounts for 10% of production and is the most expensive.

            Also, The northern part of the Rhone valley usually produces spicy, strong, and dark red wines. AOC wines are only allowed to use Syrah in the northern region. Nothern Rhone reds are often identified by their signature smells of smoky bacon and green olive. With the weather being warmer in the southern part of the Rhone valley, its wines tend to be softer and riper.

            There are over 6000 wine growing properties in the Rhone Valley including 1837 private wineries. Some vineyard owners don’t vinify their own wines and deliver bulks of grapes to winemaking cooperatives or sell them to wine producers/ merchants.

In south eastern France, the climate is very hot and the weather is sunny for the most part. This very sunny/warm weather climate allows more sugar to be generated in the grapes. The soil is embedded with a plethora of rocks that contain this head throughout the whole day.

            In northern Rhone, the climate is influenced by the mistral wind which brings coler air from the Massif Central. This makes the northern part of this region cooler which changes the style and grape varieties. In southern Rhone, there are usually milder winters and really hot summers. The valleys and rugged landscape protects this area from the mistral wind.