Northern Rhône Valley - Overview
Well, I think the time has come for me to write about the Great Wines (notice here both capital letters) on this planet Earth, which one would make a mistake not starting with the Rhône Valley as one of them.
Geographically, the valley runs its course North to South, etched into the cities of Vienne to the North and Valence to the South, over a 60km stripe total.
Starting West to the Rhône river, the town of Ampuis rises up, where most of the Côte-Rotie vineyards can be found. Moving down to the town of Condrieu, Vérin for Château Grillet, St. Joseph all across a good portion of the stripe between Chavannay and Glun. Then, Cornas followed by St-Péray, which closes our little tour of the area.
But first, let’s look at the grapes and the appellations a bit more in-depth, just to get everyone on the same page.
Coming to the number of 4, they all share the Northern Rhône Valley as their birthplace: Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne.
CÔTE-ROTIE (established in 1940)
Côte-Rotie, mostly based around the town of Ampuis, has a staggering acreage of 276 hectares, the second biggest in the area but still one of France’s smaller appellation in terms of hectares grown.
Over the years and especially in the past few decades, not only being of the most age-worthy wines with best examples going back decades, the appellation has built itself a worldwide reputation upon two grapes, Syrah and Viognier. Although it might seem counter-intuitive to blend both red and white grape together (up to 20% of Viognier can be added to the blend), the white grape can actually bring a daunting floral-edge and an amazing finesse that most wine drinkers will die for.
While it might share similarities with other Syrah-based appellations in the area but nothing quite compares to the black fruit core, spiciness, black pepper undertones but mostly being bold and never overwhelming.
Having 73 registered crus today (Côte Blonde and Côte Brune being the two famous ones), the appellation has historically always been known for blending parcels together in order to produce a more even expression of the terroir, making the single-vineyard bottlings a more modern approach.
Vines are planted on steep terraces where North to the center part of the appellation, clay-based soils can be found which gives wine its power and moving down South of the appellation, sandy-granite soils are most common, known for its floral aromatics.
Today, the appellation is known for its incredible concentration of worldclass producers but here are my own recommendations for producers to hunt:
CONDRIEU (established in 1940)
Under 110 hectares of vines today, made of 100% Viognier grape, Condrieu can be rich, silky, greatly textured and full of exotic spices but still remains today somewhat of a niche appellation as not a lot of it is exported outside of Europe or even outside of the area.
Planted on steep terraces and spread around the tiny village of Condrieu on Schist soils, Condrieu wines can be a rarity enjoyed within a few years of release, as the grape is mostly picked at a higher maturity, which keeps acidity levels lower than most wines (also being a lower-acidity grape). Can be at its best, textured and balanced and at its worst, opulent and cloying.
CHATEAU GRILLET (established in 1936)
Extremely tiny appellation registered as a monopole of over 3 hectares under vines (single-owner, one of three in France).
100% Condrieu, Château Grillet is based out of Vérin, just a few kilometres down the town of Condrieu and tend to be a bit off the beaten path. With a small 10 000-yearly production of cases a year, the Estate keeps a very close watch on its wines and how it is sold to its buyers while most of it go out to auctions today.
The Estate, whose Thomas Jefferson was a big buyer of, has a history that goes back hundreds of years. The property was owned by Neyret-Gachet family from 1887 to 2011 and was most recently sold to François Pinaud’s multinational firm, while projects are currently underway.
And yes, being as highly-priced as it is, C.G was pointed out a few times to be inconsistent on some vintages but these wines are longer-lived than most of Condrieu wines and can have an incredible depth with some beautiful honeyed, stone fruit and mineral notes.
ST. JOSEPH (established in 1956)
St. Joseph has a long history for winemaking and has to be the most value-driven/popular appellation out of the area and for good reasons as its quality has been on the rise for the past few decades.
Planted to Syrah, Marsanne and Rousanne on steep terraces, the appellation started North of Cornas in 1956 around the towns of Glun, Mauves and St-Jean-de-Muzols at about 100 hectares to later expand in 1988 to the rest of the valley, up to Condrieu into a staggering 1200 hectares today.
St.Joseph white and red can both be found today and it still remains one of the most beautiful expression of Syrah as a grape variety, if well-handled.
A wave of producers can be found today producing the wines and can be a hit-or-miss, meaning berries picked too ripe by unexperienced hands can sometimes come out a bit jammy and unfocused, almost New World-style.
But can shine, especially on wonderful vintages like 2015-16-17 from worldclass producers... Producing for the reds, seamless, fresh black fruit mineral-driven while retaining a spicy and floral tone and for the whites, rich but floral.
CROZES-HERMITAGE (established in 1937)
Jumping East to the Rhône river, Crozes-Hermitage can be found on flatter parcels, from both white and red grapes and has over 1500 hectares under vine.
Equally as popular nowadays partly due to the prestige of the ‘Hermitage’ name and its neighbouring hill, Crozes-Hermitage covers the whole area surrounding the latter.
Along the lines of St. Joseph, the appellation can be found on both sides of the spectrum at very ripe levels with lower acidity. which also means easily approachable and drunk at a young age, although a few reliable exceptions can be found down the line. I would stick to producers’ names as a rule of thumb.
HERMITAGE (established in 1937)
Probably the number one most famous and prestigious appellation where it all started back in 600 B.C.
Especially as one knight back from the Crusades was offered a hill as a gift from the Queen for him to retire and spend his last days. Making him known as the ‘hermit’ where he then started planting a few wines which kickstarted viticulture in the region, later on giving the appellation its renowned name Hermitage.
Overall, 130 hectares of vines of Syrah, Marsanne, Rousanne are planted on much more sandy and granite-based soils with much longer sunshine hours due to South-facing slopes, which makes for much heavier wine clearly not meant for early consumption. They can open up beautifully over 10-20 years into much smokier, peppery and fragrant beauties. Much more austere and rustic than Côte-Rotie.
Today, it seems like the wines have somehow fallen under the radar a bit and are losing ground over other surrounding appellations. Although a few bottlings are worth pointing out, especially from JL. Chave or l’Ermite from M.Chapoutier.
JL. Chave (Cuvée Cathelin)
CORNAS (established in 1938)
Just south of where St.Joseph ends West of the Rhône river, the small 130 hectares of vine planted to Syrah ONLY (by far) makes for the most tannic versions of the grape found in the Northern Rhône Valley. Although some producers are slowly making changes in style, polishing its edges a bit (with shorter maceration time) and leaning towards a more appealing approach to making Cornas.
A bit further away from body of water on very steep granite soil, some sites don’t quite get the cooling effect that the Rhône river can bring to other appellations, creating a particularly warm microclimate for vines to grow in.
But one thing that Cornas has never failed at is delivering. The wines can indeed have some weight and coarse texture yet maintaining lively acidity with layers of stewed black fruits and smoked meat notes. Being to this day one of the AOCs stating the strictest rules for winemakers to follow, the appellation is packed with producers delivering incredible and consistent quality year in, year out.
ST-PERAY (established in 1936)
Having made our way all the way down South across the valley, the road gradually start taking on a much flatter aspect as it opens up to the city of Valence.
Edged into both towns of Valence to the South and Cornas to the North, the appellation under 75 hectares of vine is primarily dedicated to growing white grapes, Marsanne and Rousanne. The production there remains fairly small and not much makes it outside of local consumption while the wines commonly sees barrel-ageing, although a touch more delicate than most of the other whites found in the Northern Rhône Valley. The grapes are most commonly picked earlier with higher acidity levels and tend to produce white wines with a bit more energy to them.
Grapes are usually blended together. Marsanne, a grape with much stronger aromatics gets offset by the floralness of the Rousanne, much more delicate of a variety.
Also, it is worth pointing out that not only exciting still but sparkling wines have recently made headways and have historically been made in the Traditional method.
Anyways, if you still didn’t get the point I was trying to get across, the Northern Rhône Valley is today one of highest-quality areas for wine production all across the Globe and has never failed to amaze as producers never cease to question styles being made, while making sure to deliver year after year.
TIME TO GO GET SOME, and please I would highly recommend cruising around the area and get a feel for what the valley has to offer. Plus, most winemakers are incredibly welcoming and happy to share their wine!
