North, south and the crus

The Rhône Valley vineyards run from Vienne, south of Lyon, to Avignon, across six French departments. The north is a narrow strip of steep, terraced slopes, largely on granite and schist, with a semi-continental climate. The south opens out into plains and hills of clay, limestone, sand and pebbles, among garrigue and olive trees, with a dry Mediterranean climate swept by the mistral.

Labels follow a simple ladder. The Côtes du Rhône appellation, recognised in 1937, is the base and covers 172 communes on both banks. Côtes du Rhône Villages is limited to 95 communes in the south, and 21 of them may add their own name to the label. At the top stand the crus, which generally carry the name of a single commune, such as Cornas or Gigondas.

Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu

Côte-Rôtie is the northernmost appellation of the valley, on the right bank just south of Vienne. Its vines climb narrow terraces of mica schist and gneiss in Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône, Ampuis and Tupin-et-Semons. The wine is red, from Syrah, and up to 20% of the vines may be Viognier, fermented together with it. Growers distinguish the Côte Brune, on dark soils rich in iron, whose wines are firmer and slower to open, from the Côte Blonde, on paler soils, whose wines are more elegant and ready sooner. E. Guigal, founded in Ampuis in 1946, makes the single-vineyard Côte-Rôties La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque. Stéphane Ogier farms parcels on both slopes from the same village, and Maison Stéphan, founded at Tupin-et-Semons in 1991, has farmed organically since 1995.

Just south, Condrieu makes only white wine, from Viognier alone, on narrow granite terraces. Inside its area lies Château-Grillet, an appellation since 1936 with a single owner. Its Viognier grows in a south-facing amphitheatre.

Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Cornas

Hermitage is one hill on the left bank, above Tain-l'Hermitage, recognised in 1937. The reds are Syrah, with up to 15% of Marsanne or Roussanne allowed, and the whites come from those two grapes. Its named plots include Les Bessards, on granite, and Le Méal, on limestone and pebbles. In Tain, M. Chapoutier, whose business began in 1879, makes single-plot Hermitages from its own vines on the hill. Paul Jaboulet Aîné, founded in 1834, names its Hermitage La Chapelle after the chapel of Saint Christopher at the top of the hill.

Across the river, Saint-Joseph runs along the right bank from Chavanay in the north to Guilherand-Granges in the south, and became an appellation in 1956. Its grapes are those of Hermitage, with up to 10% of white grapes allowed in the reds. Hervé Souhaut farms granite hillsides around Arlebosc, higher in the Ardèche, with two sites in Saint-Joseph. Further south, Cornas is a single village facing Valence. Syrah is its only grape, grown on terraces of weathered granite, and its almost black reds age well as their tannins soften.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies on the left bank between Avignon and Orange, where John XXII, the second of the Avignon popes, had a summer residence built in the fourteenth century. It was among the first French appellations, recognised in 1936 after the work of the grower Baron Le Roy. Thirteen grape varieties may go into its reds and whites, and Grenache leads most blends. Beside its well-known rolled pebbles, it has limestone in the west, suited to whites, and sand in the east and north, which gives silkier reds.

On sandy ground north-east of the village stands Château Rayas, founded by the Reynaud family in 1880. Emmanuel Reynaud ran Rayas from 1997 until his death in 2025, alongside Château de Fonsalette in the Côtes du Rhône and Château des Tours near Sarrians. Henri Bonneau & Fils works a small estate planted mostly to Grenache. Le Vieux Donjon has belonged to the Michel family since its founding in 1966.

Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the Côtes du Rhône

Gigondas and Vacqueyras lie in the Vaucluse at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail, a ridge of worn limestone. Gigondas was the first Côtes du Rhône Villages to become a cru, in 1971. Its reds rest on Grenache, with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, and from the 2023 harvest it may also be white, mostly from Clairette. Vacqueyras, around Vacqueyras and Sarrians, became a cru in 1990 and makes all three colours. Domaine des Bosquets bottles named plots of Gigondas apart, such as La Colline, Le Plateau and Les Roches. Le Sang des Cailloux farms a garrigue plateau between Vacqueyras and Sarrians, facing the Dentelles.

Most Côtes du Rhône comes from the south, where its reds and rosés must blend at least two of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, Grenache included. Domaine Gramenon, founded in 1979 at Montbrison-sur-Lez in the Drôme, farms its vines biodynamically.

Whites and keeping

Rhône whites have their own grapes: Viognier at Condrieu, Marsanne and Roussanne at Hermitage and Saint-Joseph, Clairette and Grenache Blanc in the south. See also our white wines and red wines pages. The wine board gives red Hermitage around ten years and Château-Grillet ten years or more, and the Côte-Rôtie growers speak of a great capacity to age. For the way the vines are farmed, see our organic wines and biodynamic wines pages, and for older Rhône bottles our collector wines. The wines above are the Rhône wines of our cellar.