Guest post by Keith Van Sickle
France’s Rhône Valley is one of the country’s largest wine regions, running 200 miles from Lyon south to nearly the Mediterranean Sea. Its northern (or septentrionaux) and southern (or méridionaux) sections are so different that each deserves its own wine guide.
Red Wines of the Southern Rhône
Here, the Grenache grape is king, though it is usually blended with other grapes, especially Syrah and Mourvèdre. This blend is also popular in other countries, like Australia and the US, where it is referred to as GSM.
Image Source: Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons License, attribution Philipp Hertzog
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The greatest wines of the Southern Rhône are those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. They are blends of up to 13 different grapes, though most wines use only a few. Many of the grapes are grown in vineyards covered with galets roules, smooth round stones that absorb heat during the day and reflect it back to the vines at night, making for exceptionally rich wines that benefit from aging. Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are pricey, but if you are in the area in April, don’t miss the annual wine fair where you can taste to your heart’s content (and chat with the winemakers) for only 10 euros.
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Image Source: Gigondas: public domain
Gigondas
Near Châteauneuf-du-Pape and just below the spectacular Dentelles de Montmirail rock formation, Gigondas makes wines similar to those of their famous neighbor but much less expensive. A nice feature of the town is its community tasting room, where wines from many different domaines can be tasted and purchased. If you would like to stretch your legs, there is a walking trail above the town with spectacular views of the vineyards below.
Vacqueyras
If Gigondas is Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s little brother, then the little brother of Gigondas is Vacqueyras: similar wines, of somewhat lower quality but still excellent, and again less expensive.
Good Value Wines
The French appellation d’origine contrôlée system recognizes a quality hierarchy in the Rhône Valley. The top wines get to use the name of their village, for example Gigondas. The next level can call themselves Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, followed by the name of the village. The third are simply called Côtes-du-Rhône. These last use the same grapes as the others and, while they are not meant for long aging, can offer outstanding values—especially in good years, which are frequent in the Southern Rhône.
White Wines of the Southern Rhône
While most wines in the Southern Rhône are red, there are also notable whites made with grapes like Roussanne and Clairette. However, there are no specific areas devoted to white wines as there are in the Northern Rhône.
Image Source: Tavel: Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons License, attribution jean-louis Zimmermann
Rosé Wines of the Southern Rhône
Rosé wines are not nearly as popular here as in the nearby Provence region. But there is one exception: the appellation of Tavel, which only produces rosés. Made primarily from Grenache and Carignan, they are a brilliant strawberry hue, rather than the pale pink popular today. They have more body and structure than most rosés, and match well with a wide variety of foods.
A Notable Sweetie
Just a few miles from Mont Ventoux, the famous “Giant of Provence,” is Beaume-de-Venises, famous for its sweet wines. Made from the muscat grape, these wines are said to have fortified St. Louis as he headed eastward on the 7th Crusade and were later popular with the popes of Avignon.
Top Winemakers in the Southern Rhone Valley
Clos des Papes
For my money, this is the top winemaker in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where the Avril family has been making wine since the 19th century. Usually a blend of about half Grenache, a third Mourvèdre and the rest Syrah, Clos des Papes wines are brilliant expressions of some of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s best terroirs. This quality comes with a price, however, so they are not for everyone’s budget.
Image Source: Clos du Calvaire: their website
Clos du Calvaire
For excellent Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines at a more reasonable price, my choice is Clos du Calvaire, run by fifth-generation winemaker Francoise Roumieux. She is the former president of the Rhône Valley women’s winemaking association Femmes Vignes Rhône and produces three different cuvées at her winery just south of town.
Image Source: Notre Dame des Pallières: Keith Van Sickle
Notre Dame des Pallières
For years, the winemakers of Gigondas have held a blind tasting of their wines, with over 150 in contention. And every year the wines of Notre Dame des Pallières have found themselves in the top ten, and usually the top five…even though they are some of the least expensive in town! I can’t think of a better value for excellent, age-worthy Southern Rhône wines.
Image Source: Château des Alpilles: Val Van Sickle
Dining Tips
There are Michelin-starred restaurants galore in the Southern Rhône, in popular places like Avignon and Les Baux-de-Provence, but my favorites are in the town of St-Rémy-de-Provence, renowned as the town where Vincent van Gogh spent a year in a mental asylum. For traditional dishes in a cozy atmosphere, try Chapeau de Paille—The Wall Street Journal recently named it one of their “10 Restaurants to Book Now” in the South of France. For an elegant meal under magnificent plane trees, I love Château des Alpilles on a warm day.
Fun Fact
In 1953, the movie The War of the Worlds was released in France and led to a rash of UFO “sightings” across the country. The clever mayor of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, seeing a way to get his little village some publicity, passed an ordinance outlawing “the take-off, overflight, or landing” of UFOs in the city. The law is still on the books, and townspeople will winkingly tell you that no UFOs have been seen since it was enacted!
About the Author
Keith Van Sickle splits his time between Provence and California. He is the author of the best-selling An Insider’s Guide to Provence. Read more at Life in Provence.
