The Rhone Valley is well known for its spicy, fiery red wines, although it does make a very small amount of white and rose wine as well. The Rhone is in the southeast of France, from Vienne to the north to little Riez in the south. Perhaps best known of all Rhone wines is the Hermitage wine, created in the northern section of the Rhone valley.
The North
Northern Rhone has the
Hermitage wines, as well as
Cote Rotie and Condrieu. The vineyards in this section are along a very narrow strip of land, with most wineries using
syrah grapes. A few, such as Condrieu, use
viognier, and other grapes are used very infrequently.
The South
Southern Rhone is far different geographically than Northern Rhone, with a very Mediterranean feel to it. The southern area of Rhone is best known for its
Grenache grape usage. This region boasts the
Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines. In addition to grenache, the region grows a wide variety of lesser grapes such as muscat, cinsault, cargnan, and so on. These wines tend to be mellower and easy to drink.
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All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.