Rhône Valley

Wine from the Rhône Valley, a valley bursting with minerals from the sediment of several ancient floods, dates back to the Greeks in the 4th century BC and owes its recognition to the Romans who took great interest in it up until the Empire’s collapse. The vineyards flourished once again in the 13th century when the Pope moved to nearby Avignon, but the vines went on to suffer badly from the Phylloxera epidemic of the 19th century. With a series of impressive vintages in recent times however and with the world growing a taste for its fruity flavours, the Rhône Valley fine wines are highly regarded.

The Rhône Valley is split into North and South sub regions. The North tends to yield Syrah grapes and features well-known names such as Saint Joseph, Cornas, Côte Rotie and Hermitage and favours one grape variety per wine due to the abundance of granite in the soil. The subsequent minerals make Côte-du-Rhone fine wines perfect for laying down. The South has a Mediterranean climate and though suffering from cold nights it compensates with pebbles under the vines to absorb sunlight during the day and heat them through the night. Its limestone soil allows for many grapes to be grown and great wines like Chateauneuf-du-Pape use blends of up to 13 different varieties.