What's Going On in the World of French Wines

In my last post on the Wine Regions of France, we took our first steps into the Rhône Valley. As I discussed in that post, the Rhone is divided into two distinctly different parts – the Northern Rhône and the Southern Rhône. Our focus today is the Northern part of the valley.

If you were to draw a line from Burgundy through to Beaujolais, the next region below those two on the line would be the Northern Rhône. In fact, climatically speaking, the Northern Rhône actually has a bit more in common with Burgundy than it does with the Southern Rhône. The continental climate of the Northern Rhône means the grape vines face cold winters and fairly warm summers, similar to those in Burgundy. However, the proximity to the Rhône river offers good moderating effects which helps the grapes ripen. Many of the Northern Rhône’s top vineyards are located on the steep slopes of the Rhône river – in fact the Northern Rhône is the site of some of France’s steepest vineyards. The slopes have good drainage and they offer the grapes excellent exposure to the sun which further positively influences the growth of the grapes.

One last dominant feature of the region is the Mistral, a strong wind that blows through the Rhône Valley. Given the formation of the valley (picture the letter V – the grapes grow on the sides of the V and the river is at the bottom), the wind essentially comes whooshing down the corridor blowing through the vineyards. While it can cause some problems (vines have to be supported in the face of such a strong wind), it does help to keep the region dry and it helps to keep problems of frost and mold at bay. The soils of the Northern Rhône are somewhat varied. You can find some granite soils covered with a rocky topsoil as well as some patches of clay and limestone.

When it comes to the grape varieties grown in the Northern Rhône, this is again something that differentiates this part of the Rhône from the southern part of the valley. The Northern Rhône is best-known for the reds wines made from 100% Syrah, whereas the wines in the Southern Rhône are usually blends and the dominant grape there is Grenache. Syrah is an amazing grape – and one of my favorites. It is a relatively productive and hardy grape that produces wines that are usually fairly full-bodied with firm tannins, moderately high acidity and moderate alcohol. The wines typically have distinctive notes of black pepper, blackberries, raspberries and cherries and can sometimes have a note of leather, bacon or roasted meat.

When it comes to the whites, which account for a fairly small amount of production, the main grapes one can find are Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. Viognier is another fascinating grape with an intense, perfumed nose with notes of honey, citrus fruits and flowers. Wines made with Viognier typically have a deep yellow color and can be fairly full-bodied with high levels of alcohol. Historically, Viognier grapes were added to Syrah grapes as the wine was fermented to help stabilize the color and add aromatics to the wine. This was especially popular in the Côte Rôtie appellation of the Northern Rhône. One usually finds Marsanne and Roussanne blended together in the Rhône to produce a wine that is also very aromatic with notes of herbs, nuts and citrus fruits.

There are 8 appellations in the Northern Rhône that are important to know: Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Château Grillet, St Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas, and St. Péray.
Côte-Rôtie, which means “roasted slope” has steep terraces that produce red wines made from Syrah. One finds mainly red wines, but also some whites in St Joseph, an appellation that tends to produce a lighter-bodied style of Syrah that is very approachable when young. One of the most famous appellations of the region is Hermitage, which produces very full-bodied, age-worthy red and white wines. Crozes-Hermitage, an appellation that surrounds the hill of Hermitage, also makes mainly red wines with some whites. Crozes-Hermitage is thought of as a little brother to Hermitage as the wines are a little lighter in style and the vineyards are a little flatter. Cornas is a small appellation that produces only red wines from Syrah. The vineyards are a little sheltered and warmer, so the wines there tend to be fuller and more alcoholic in style. Condrieu produces only white wines made from Viognier as does Château Grillet, an appellation that is interesting in that it belongs to a single estate. Finally, there is the St. Péray appellation, a village that produces mainly sparkling wines and some white wines.

You might be wondering why I haven’t really addressed the Côtes du Rhône appellation in this post. While the Côtes du Rhône appellation does include vineyards in the North, it is much more common to find wines made from grapes grown in vineyards in the Southern Rhône. So in the next installment of my posts about the Rhône Valley we will discuss the Southern Rhône in detail and focus on the important appellations found there – including those labeled Côtes du Rhône. Until then, cheers!