The Wines of Northern Rhône

The Rhône River in southern France has been a cradle of viticulture for more than 2,500 years. Most vineyards grow in the warm southern valley, near the Mediterranean coast. Upriver, the valley narrows and cools, and the hillsides grow steeper. Distinct from its southern counterpart in climate, size, and wine character, the northern Rhône Valley is known for crafting the world's best Syrah. If you take all the vineyards from northern Rhône together, it's only 3%, maybe, of the total of Rhône wines in general. So it's quite a pretty small wine region. The dramatic hillsides of Hermitage, Côte-Rotie, and Cornas are ancient wine-growing areas. Believe it or not, we grow grapes and make wines in Côte-Rotie for the past 2,400 years. In the northern Rhône, Syrah is the only red grape used for AOC wines. The grape's birthplace has long been the subject of debate, but recent research makes a strong case for local origins. Syrah is a powerful, it's a tannic, it's a structured grape, and it's very easy to make Syrah with big muscles, with big shoulders, with big structure. We have Syrah in all the northern Rhône appellations, but depending on the soil, you will have very different type of wines. Some soil will give the power, some other soil will give the spice, some soil will give the fruit, so it's a mix of different profile of wines. Red wines account for almost all northern Rhône production, but the valley's wine producers grow three white grapes as well. Vionnier is perhaps its most acclaimed white variety. The Vionnier grapes, it's a small grapes, small berries. When you taste the grapes, it's really perfumed grapes. Often it's a small production because the size of the grapes is small. Even rarer are white wines made from Marsan and Roussan. Marsan is the more vigorous and widely planted vine, while Roussan accounts for a smaller portion of most blends. Wine like white Saint-Joseph, white Hermitage, Saint-Perret, and it's all white wine making with Marsan and Roussan. And it's also wine with a lot of character, especially to pair with food, and Marsan-Roussan can age very well. The appellations of the northern Rhône Valley hug the river's edge as it flows southward. In the north, the valley begins with Côte-Rotie. Côte-Rotie is very unique in many ways, but let's say the fantastic slopes we have, the exposure we have, the top of Sol, the unique mix of Syrah with Vionnier is Côte-Rotie. Côte-Rotie wines are always red, but growers in this appellation can choose to co-ferment Syrah with Vionnier. Let's say the typical aromas of Côte-Rotie can be the small red fruits, licorice aromas. You know, always the little lift of the Vionnier brings a very floral note to Côte-Rotie. A lot of people talk about the violet in Côte-Rotie, which is not wrong as well. Let's say we have two different styles, the Côte Blonde style as well as the Côte Brune style. So it starts with a beautiful legend that at the 16th century time, the owner of the Château d'Ampuie was the Marquis de Maugeron, would have had two daughters. One blonde-haired girl, and when she got married, he decided to give her half of his Vionnier the Côte Blonde, and one brunette, and when she got married, he decided to give her the other half the Côte Brune. In the Côte Blonde, the base of the soil is made of sheaths, and on the surface you find the limestone and the silica that are always making nice Côte-Rotie, elegant Côte-Rotie, soft Côte-Rotie. Whereas in the Côte Brune, the northern you go in the appellation, the more you find clay in the soil. Talking about the vinification, according to the fact that Côte-Rotie is located in the northern part of the Rhône Valley, and this is the northern appellation of the entire Rhône, very logically the harvest happened quite late. And because it's late, we're not afraid by whole clusters and especially stems. So we are happy to keep stems in vintages that are ripe enough. And I'm convinced that the stems can bring, let's say, a stability in the wine, which is interesting. Hermitage, a single hill on the river's eastern bank, has long been famous for both red and white wines. For reds, Syrah may be blended with up to 15% of Marsan and Roussan. For the tiny quantity of Hermitage white wines, Marsan is often the primary grape. Hermitage has the perfect exposure, south facing south, just because the Rhône, around 10 Hermitage, is not running from north to south, but is curving, and it goes from west to east. Also what makes Hermitage is the complexity in soils. So even if it's a small area, it's 125 hectares altogether, we have all different type of soils, and extreme in the difference, from the acidic soil to the basic soil. Great Hermitage needs to have the power and the finesse, the structure, the tight tannins, but also the softness. It needs the bones and the flesh. In the aroma, it's the same. You need some ripeness, but you don't need to be overripe. You need to be very defined. Some of the fruit will be slightly cooked, maybe a little bit jammy for the generosity, but at the end, you still have some flower, you still have some cherries. It's always a matter of balance, Hermitage. Unlike Côte-Rotie and Cornasse, Hermitage fruit is often de-stemmed prior to fermentation. We start at about 130-140 meters high, and end up at about 400 meters high. We have soils that are mainly made of gorge. Here in Cornasse, it's only the Syrah. There's no other plant than the Syrah. The specificity of Cornasse is often its purple side, its black olive side. In Cornasse, the wines are rather rustic, rather charpented. The northern Rhône's most famous wines account for only a small part of the region's total production. Over 80% of the region's vineyards are in two larger appellations, Croze-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. Hermitage is very important. It's the place, and then Croze-Hermitage, the problem used Hermitage in its name, and it's a whole different place. Croze-Hermitage is mostly located on the flats in the Rhône Valley. I will say Croze-Hermitage is more about the fruit than the soil. In Croze-Hermitage, the wines will stay as the simplicity, but from the beauty of northern Rhône, a good fruit, a good acidity, and easy-going wines. Saint-Joseph, it's an appellation in northern Rhône that is not related to a city or to a village, so it's why sometimes it's difficult for people to locate, to be able to locate Saint-Joseph, because it's just a name. So it's actually difficult to define Saint-Joseph, except that maybe the way the common thing is, the soil is granite. Most of the Saint-Joseph, they have a morning sun, and the sun tends to disappear quite fast in the afternoon. So the Saint-Joseph is all about the tightness of the tannins, the purity of the fruit. It's not a big wine, it's a fresh wine. Many lovers of Viognier feel the grape reaches its top potential in Condrieu. So Viognier, now it's a variety planted all over the world, but 50 years ago, there was Viognier only at Condrieu. Condrieu, it's the birthplace of these grapes. It's very aromatic. It's aromas of peach, apricot, and floral, too, violet. And it's a wine with not a lot of acidity, but it's a dry wine, but it looks sweet wine. It works well also with foie gras, because it's rich, so with foie gras, it pairs perfectly. The Northern Rhône Valley is the classic home for Seurat and Viognier in France. Today, the region is experiencing a renaissance, as areas forgotten or dismissed by critics are gaining renewed attention. Ambitious new growers join famous, established houses in delivering high-quality wines across the entire valley and in every appellation. The Northern Rhône has a great future because we have true terroir, wines very loyal to where they come from, and that's the beauty of Northern Rhône. The Guild of Sommeliers is a nonprofit membership organization for wine professionals. To join our online community, visit us on the web at guildsomm.com.