Rhône wine region

The Rhône wine region is first divided into north and south. The north is famous for its syrah based reds and its pure viognier whites. The south is most famous for Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Northern Rhône

Syrah is the only red grape variety allowed in these wines. Some, however, have some white mixed in. The only white grape varieties in the north are viognier, marsanne, and roussanne. Marsanne and roussanne are used for the whites in Crozes, Hermitage, Saint Joseph and Saint Peray.

From north to south the appellations are:

• Côte-Rôtie AOC - reds with syrah and up to 20% viognier.
• Condrieu AOC - whites with only viognier.
• Château-Grillet AOC - whites with only viognier.
• Saint-Joseph AOC - reds with syrah and up to 10% ~ 15% marsanne and roussanne, whites with only marsanne and roussanne
• Crozes-Hermitage AOC - reds with syrah and up to 10% ~ 15% marsanne and roussanne, whites with only marsanne and roussanne
• Hermitage AOC - reds with syrah and up to 10% ~ 15% marsanne and roussanne, whites with only marsanne and roussanne
• Cornas AOC - reds with only syrah
• Saint-Péray AOC - whites with only marsanne and roussanne

Southern Rhône

Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC has 13 legal varieties, and the surrounding areas, Coteaux du Tricastin AOC, Côtes du Ventoux AOC, Côtes du Vivarais AOC, Lirac AOC, Tavel AOC and Vacqueyras AOC can have more. Gigondas AOC is predominantly made from Grenache Noir and is more restricted in the other grapes it can use. Fortified wines (vin doux naturel) are made in the Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise AOC and Rasteau AOCs.

Côtes du Rhône

Côtes du Rhône AOC is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée that covers both the northern and southern sections of the valley. Typically it is only used if the wine does not qualify for a more prestigious appellation. Produce from vineyards surrounding certain villages may be labeled Côtes du Rhône-Villages AOC.

Other appellations

Other appellations falling outside the main Rhône area in terms of wine styles but administratively within it are Clairette de Die AOC, Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC and Côtes du Luberon AOC. These are more similar to Provence wines. Nîmes AOC has recently been added to the Rhone department in the official sense. Its wines largely parallel the wines of Southern Rhone proper.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rhône wine region".