Northern Rhone Flashcards
Where are many of the vineyards located?
On steep slopes next to the River Rhone, between Vienne in the north and Valence in the south. Close to the river on steep slopes with south facing aspect. Sites often lie in lateral valleys that feed into the Rhone, protecting the vines from cold winds known as mistral.
Describe the climate.
Moderate, continental, significantly cooler than southern rhone.
What are the vines supported with here?
By an individual stake or a tepee-like stake, tied onto the stakes with Rafia.
What black grape(s) are grown in Northern Rhone?
Syrah is the only grape permitted.
Describe the growing conditions in reference to Syrah.
Syrah is at the very northern limit of it’s growing range here, with this latitude and the cooling effect of the mistral. The best grapes are grown on southern aspect steep slopes.
Describe the Syrah wine of the region.
Deeply coloured with medium to high levels of tannins, black fruit, and sometimes black pepper or floral aromas. Oak use is dependent of the winemaker, some use a high proportion of new oak where as others prefer old oak or larger barrels.
Which white grape is grown here? Is it blended with Syrah?
Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne.
Fermenting Syrah with white varieties has traditionally been practised by multiple crus, but most red wines are 100% Syrah. Some winemakers can find that the addition of white wines can help stabilise the colour extraction, and that Viognier in particular can add extra aromatic intensity to the wine.
Describe Viognier wines from Northern Rhone.
Full bodied white wines with perfumed aromas of blossom and apricots, flavours of stone fruits. Low acidity and high alcohol as grapes don’t develop their signature aromas until very late in the season when they have reached a very high level of sugar ripeness.
Need careful handling so they don’t develop an overtly oily character that can overwhelm the varietal aromas. New oak is being used more and more, but must be handled carefully as oak flavours can easily overwhelm primary aromas. VERY small number made in off-dray style from late-harvested grapes.
Describe Marsanne and Rousanne grapes.
Usually blended together, Marsanne has richness and weight whereas Roussane offers acidity and perfumed fruit characteristic. Don’t have the same aromatic intensity of viognier but they can age well and develop complex hazelnut aromas.
Where do most of the wines in Northern Rhone come from?
One of the cru appellations, but generic Cotes du Rhone can be made here too. Most of these crus of the Northern Rhone are tiny with only Sainte-Joseph nad Croze-Hermitage covering a significant area.
Describe the Cote Rotie vineyards.
These vineyards around town of Ampuis are the most northerly appellation of the Rhone valley. Roasted slope, sun facing, with only red wines produced although up to 20 per cent Viognier can be added (but limited used, usually a much smaller percentage if at all). Deeply colours wines with full bodied, spicy flavour and best ones have aromatic, floral freshness and textural elegance that distinguishes from Hermitage.
Describe the Condrieu vineyards.
White wine made from Viognier grape, with best wines coming from low-yielding old vines, grown on steep, well-exposed, terraced vineyards.
Chateau-Grillet is a single property appellation within Condrieu that produces wines in a similar style.
Describe the Saint-Joseph vineyards.
Western bank of Rhone, from Condrieu to Tournon in the south. Reds made from Syrah primarily, although some wines from MArsanne and Roussanne. Terraced vineyards near Tournon have the best wines, with flavour intensity and structure similar to Hermitage. Excellent wines produced just south of Condrieu.
Large volumes of relatively light-bodied wines, often with elements of flavour from carbonic maceration, come from the more fertile flatter sites on the valley floor and the plateau above the slopes. Lightest-bodied wines of the Northern Rhone, expressing the pepper-perfumed aspects of the Syrah grape.
Describe the Hermitage vineywards.
Steep southfacing slopes, behind the town of Tain-l’Hermitage. Divided into a number of lieux-dits, named sites, which are not part of the appellation system. They vary in steepness and aspect, which gives wines of subtly different style and body. The best Hermitage has traditionally been a blend of wines from these different sites, but some producers have started to release wines made from specific lieux-dits.
Red Hermitage is the fullest-bodied of the Northern Rhone red wines and ages well. Although up to 15% of Roussanne/Marsanne may be fermented with Syrah, this is now rarely done and instead they are made into white wines that acounnt for around 1/5 of Hermitage’s productions.
Describe the Crozes-Hermitage vineyard.
Most important in terms fo volume, whose vineyards lie on mixed terrain around the hill of Hermitage. North of Hermitage the vineyards are on slopes, whereas most of the vineyards to the south of Hermitage are on a flat lain.
The red wines are made from Syrah (with the option of adding up to 15% Marsanne/Rousanne), quality and style and price varies significantly depending on the location of the vineyards. Lighter wines are from the higher yielding flatter sites in the south. More concentrated complex and tannic wines come from vines on the steeper slopes in the north. Some of the more expensive wines may be aged in oak. However, overall the red wines of Crozes-Hermitage do not enjoy the same reputation as those from Hermitage and Cote Rotie.
Some white wines also produced.
