It’s not news to anyone even mildly interested in wine that France’s Rhône valley is the source of a large number of fine wines – mostly red, but with more than a handful of fine whites as well. But it takes a leisurely cruise down the Rhône – say from Lyon south to Arles, with little stops along the way at interesting places like Avignon – to make you realize just how many wine appellations the valley is home to and how varied their terroirs can be. What may really be news to many wine fans is just how good all those wines are. Even the most basic categories can offer some genuinely enjoyable drinking.
About a month ago, Diane and I took just such a cruise.
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After a prolonged and dreary New York winter, we were hoping for sunshine and southern French warmth. We got sunshine, but warmth was nowhere to be found. The Mistral was blowing incessantly and strongly out of the north, and the weather was beyond chilly. So strong was the wind that our riverboat’s sundeck had to be closed because it was just too dangerous, and we chickened out of several planned shore excursions because they would have been just too uncomfortable.
Disappointments to be sure, but there was still plenty of food and drink, and we were in a fine part of the world for those – so eat and drink we did, doing our very best to encourage Rhône vintners to yet higher quality and greater production.
Sailing south from Lyon, the first Rhône appellation you pass – just south of Vienne, for those who know their French geography – is Côte Rotie, which has become very well known and correspondingly expensive. A bit further south are the steep vineyards of Hermitage, once the most prestigious of the great Rhône sites. The eminent George Saintsbury thought it “the manliest of French wines.”
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All this is Syrah territory, and for my palate the variety here achieves elegances and subtleties that elude it elsewhere in the world. Even the less prestigious appellations – Crozes-Hermitage and Saint Joseph – make wonderful wines, charming in their youth and impressive in their age. Diane and I drank a lot of these: By the standard of New York retail and restaurant prices, they were quite inexpensive.
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Unfortunately, our boat’s wine list didn’t run to Hermitage or Côte Rotie.
Once you near Avignon, and from there south, you are in the heart of Châteauneuf du Pape and Côtes du Rhône territory. There are now multiple Côtes du Rhône appellations, as individual villages have improved their output and won the right to name themselves on their labels. Gigondas, Vacqueras, Rasteau, Cairanne are among the best of many fine ones. The wines are even more varied than their numerous appellations would suggest, because they can be vinified from several grape varieties. Much depends not just on the individual producer’s style, but more fundamentally on which varieties his fields support.
That, of course, is even truer of Châteauneuf du Pape, which can be vinified from 13 different grape varieties, in proportions of the vintner’s choice. Syrah is not much used this far south on the river, but Grenache is very important, as are Carignane and Mourvèdre. Particularly from great traditional producers such as Vieux Télégraphe, Chateau Fortia, Clos du Mont Olivet, and Mont Redon, Châteauneuf du Pape is completely enjoyable as a young wine, but it can be majestic at 15 to 20 years old. In truth, there are many fine Châteauneuf producers worth tasting to find your preferred style.
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And I would be totally remiss if I failed to mention that white Châteauneuf is a great wine at any age, much bigger and deeper and more complex than many Burgundies. Almost all producers of red Châteauneuf make at least a little white, though it can be very hard to find on the American market.
One final note: All along the Rhône, aged distillates of the local grapes can be magnificent. Diane and I have drunk Marc from Hermitage that was so long barrel-aged that it was chestnut brown and smooth and deep as the priciest Cognac. On this trip we enjoyed both a lightly aged Marc du Rhône from Chapoutier and a 2001 Marc de Châteauneuf from Vieux Télégraphe. The latter was among the finest brandies of any kind we have ever had – and by this time of our lives, that covers a lot of brandies. We may not have had the warmth of the sun on this trip, but we certainly enjoyed the warmth of the grape.
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