Like many of the major wine regions we have discussed here on the blog, the Rhône Valley has a rich history of wine production. Since there is so much to cover, I thought it would be a good idea to split the Rhône into three parts. In Part I, we will cover a little bit about the Rhône Valley as a whole and then in Part II explore the Northern Rhône and in Part III, the South.
The Rhône Valley is located in the southeastern part of France. Above it to the north lie Beaujolais and Burgundy, and to the south are the regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence. The region follows along the curves of the Rhône river with a topography that varies dramatically depending on whether you are in the north or the south. Together with Bordeaux and Burgundy, the Rhône Valley is considered one of the most important appellations for the production of top quality red wines. In fact, the Rhône produces a tremendous amount of
appellation contrôlée wine – more than any other region besides Bordeaux. While the majority of the wine made in the Rhône is red, you can also find white wines, rosés and sparkling wines. The main grape variety of the North is Syrah and in the South you tend to find blends that are based predominantly on Grenache. We’ll spend some more time getting to know the numerous grapes of the South in Part III.
There are, as I mentioned above, several distinct parts to the Rhône, the most important two being the Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône. The Northern Rhône overall has the more prestigious appellations of the two, but the Southern Rhône is extremely important for the quantity of wine that is produced there.
Regardless of where you are in the Rhône, it is widely known that the region has a very long history of wine production. In fact there is evidence that suggests people were growing grapes there as early as 600 B.C. With its proximity to the Rhône River and the Mediterranean, the Romans were particularly taken with the Rhône, especially the North. The steep hillsides with excellent sun exposure, the location of the river and the stony soils were all appreciated early on for their potential for quality. Appellations in the Northern Rhône such as Côte Rôtie and Hermitage with their proximity to the Roman city of Vienne were all recognized early on as excellent terroirs.
We’ll explore these and several other terroirs of the Northern Rhône in my next post – Part II of the Rhône.
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