Chateauneuf-Du-Pape

And its satellites

The center of the Southern rhone in both geographic and wine terms is the Appellation of Chateauneuf Du Pape. The wine most commonly seen from the area though is Plain Cotes Du Rhone. With the large number of permitted grapes in the blend the perfect encepagement has changed through time. At the beginning of the 1800s the bend was almost half white grapes and now the leading grapes are either Grenache or Mourvedre depending on if you’re sticking to the older pre AOC style or following current fashion. The list of permitted is as follows: (red) Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Counoise, Vaccarese, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, PIcpoul, and Picardin; (white) Grenache Blanc, Terret Blanc, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Roussanne, Picpoul, and Picardin.

Chateauneuf-Du-Pape

Chateauneuf is a large appellation with over three thousand hectares that are entitled to its name. The soil in Chateauneuf is quite varied. The Rhone river valley is over 50 kilometers wide at this point and the river have changed courses many times over the millennia. The cliche of Chateauneuf is the galet, the rounded heat absorbing stone that is found in some of the vineyards but in reality that is not all that common. Though many producers have vineyards situated throughout the AOC and blend the various wines into one cuvee. There is gravel, clay, sand, and limestone. South of the village in the direction of Avignon, gravel predominates; north towards orange the soil is clay and limestone. Especially to the north and north east, the soil is covered by the galets.

The climate and thus the character of the wines varies greatly from one sector to another. The eastern part of the AOC tends to be drier and hotter so the harvest commences a week earlier than around the village itself. The western side of the AOC tends to have more finesse than the eastern as well.

The codes of the appellation are interesting in that they were adopted before the AOC system was set up in the country as a whole. They have the distinction of having the highest minimum alcohol content in the country at 12.5% though now finding one below 14.5% can be a challenge and sometimes they reach to 16%. The appellation also has a mandatory triage (removal before fermentation) of at least 5% of the grapes.

There is no such thing as a typical Chateauneuf du Pape. With the large number of allowed grapes and the different methods of vinification you can see everything for a premier style to a vin en garde. You can also see occasionally a white Chateauneuf that is being made with an increasing amount of Roussanne that can have a delightful floral character with crispness and spice.

Lirac

Lirac has the dubious distinction of being the place where Phylloxera was first detected in 1863. Though it does to this day produce all three colors of wine it is mostly noted for its production of red wine. The soil in Lirac is like that of Tavel only a little more sand then chalk and the closer one gets to the Rhone river the more galets one encounters. Here the permitted red grapes are Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah, Cinsault, and Carignan, and they can produce a sturdy, meaty wine that shows a real gout de terroir.

Tavel

One of the few appellations in france for rose wine alone. It lays claim to being the best rose in the country because it is definitely the fullest and firmest rose. Tvel lies to the south of Lirac on the western side of the Rhone. Tavel has been a well-known and prosperous vineyard area for many centuries. After phylloxera the vineyards fell into disuse and declined from 750 hectares to about 100 hectares in 1930, the cooperative is responsible for about half of the tavel produced today.

The soil is predominantly chalk and sand on the flatter land nearer the village turning to clay as you head north. Grenache and Cinsault are the lead grapes of the wine though seven other varieties are permitted. The addition of Syrah and Mourvedre in 1969 to the list of permitted grapes is not without some controversy.

Gigondas

After Chateauneuf du Pape the most prestigious and expensive red wines in the southern Rhone. Until 1971, Gigondas, like Sablet and the other neighbouring hillside villages, was entitled to the Cotes-du-Rhone-Villages appellation, but then was elevated to appellation controlee in its own right. Why this one only repeated once in 1990 for Vacqueyras no one has a compelling answer. The soil is varied ranging from a rich yellowish clay on the highest slopes, to stony and sandy areas on the lower slopes and flatter ground. This singling out has done the local producers a lot of good the wines command a substantially higher price than the surrounding properties.

Vacqueyras

Vacqueyras, like its neighbour Gigondas, was promoted from cotes-du-rhone-villages to a separate appellation, this time in 1990. For a long time it had been the leading contender, producing wine which is much like Gigondas, naturally, but a little less ‘hot’ and chunky, a little bit crisper and more elegant.

Cotes Du Rhone-Villages

The Cotes Du Rhone-Villages appellation was created in 1953 as a halfway house between Chateauneuf and plain Cotes du Rhone, the yield is 42 hl/ha instead of 35hl/ha as in Chateauneuf though the alcoholic content requirements are the same. Cotes du Rhone-villages as has some varietal limits as well Grenache can be included to a maximum of 65% and Syrah, Mourvedre, and cinsault must make up at least 25% of the blend. The region has changed through the years with Gigondas and Vacqueyras being promoted in 1971 and 1990 and other villages have been added. The best remaining village is Cairanne.

Cotes Du Rhone

Plain Cotes du Rhone is a vast productive vineyard area and technically anything from avignon to Vienne can be sold under this name. The appellation has some 42,000 hectares of land under vine and produces 2.5 million hectoliters of wine in a typical vintage. This represents about two thirds of the entire production of the Rhone Valley. The appellation covers red, rose and white wine. There is a wide variety of soil types and quality levels as befits such a large wine producing region.

Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise

A Vin doux Naturel or fortified sweet wine. The Muscat grape is a relative newcomer to the southern rhone dating from the early nineteenth century. The muscat variety used to produce the wine is the muscat petits Grains which comes in two sub varieties a Grains Blanc and a Grains Noir most growers have a combination of the two which they use to make a white wine. The grapes are harvested late usually not until mid october giving the wine a natural alcohol level of 15%. This must be vinified slowly before the mutage with pure grape alcohol, this is done before the completion of the natural vinification to preserve at least 125 grams of sugar per liter of wine. THe flavour of the muscat grape is instantly recognizable being distinctly ‘grapy’. A good vin doux naturel retains a fresh acidity, ripe welcoming fruit and is generously sweet.

Rasteau

This appellation is also part of the Cotes-du-Rhone-VIllages and produces dry wine along-side both a Vin Doux Naturel and also a Rancio. The base for the Vin Doux Naturel and the rancio must be 90% Grenache, the Rancio is deliberately oxidized as well. The fortified wines make up a very small amount of the total production of this area.

Coteaux du Tricastin

In the early 1960s this area began to be settled by wine makers. It has a soil structure similar to that of Chateauneuf du Pape with galets over a wide portion of the delimited vineyard area. The usual Rhone varietals were planted plus a relatively high percentage of syrah. While the appellation includes all three types of wine the area reputation is entirely made of red wine.

Cotes du Ventoux

The Cotes du Ventoux is a large area three times the size of the whole northern rhone. The vines are planted in soils that range between gravel, sand, clay, limestone, and chalk. With few exceptions Ventoux is undemanding and easy to drink light wine of vin de l’annee. THere are some more serious growers producing wine that approaches the quality of Cotes du Rhone-Villages. Appellation controlee status was granted in 1974.

Cotes du Luberon

While the red and rose are very similar if a little leaner and fresher than those of the Ventoux, it is the white wines that attract the most interest. The wines under the appellation label must contain the same grapes as the southern rhone, though in practice more and more Chardonnay is being planted. Chardonnay flourishes on the chalky, limestone hills of the upper luberon, particularly away from the more alluvial soils of the valley floor, on the higher ground east of Cadenet where the temperature does.

Coteaux de Pierrevert

Upgraded from VDQS in 1997 most of the wine is rose, this seems to be the most successful style.

Cotes du Vivarais

A drive up the ardeche valley from Pont Saint-esprit is a breathtaking journey. The gorges de l’Ardeche vie with the canyons of the tarn as the deepest and most spectacular in france. twelve communes in the department of the Ardeche and two more south in the Gard are entitled to the appellation though the vin de pays de l’Ardeche are just as good and marginally cheaper.

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