Rhone Valley Flashcards
CDP and Pope history?
In 1309, the Southern Rhône suddenly became the center of Christian Europe as Pope Clement V moved his court from Rome to Avignon. His successor, Pope John XXII, began construction of the now-ruined summer papal palace, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and planted the surrounding vineyards. The Roman Catholic popes presided in Avignon until 1378, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape remained property of the papacy until 1791. However, the wine sourced from the papal vineyards—vin d’Avignon—was not bottled as Châteauneuf-du-Pape until the 19th century.
These rules became the prototype for the Appellation Contrôlée system, and in 1936, (blank) became the first AOC (now AOP) in France.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
What is the climate of the Northern Rhone?
Continental
What is the climate of the Southern Rhone?
Mediterranean
What is the wind called in the Rhone Valley?
Mistral Wind
What does the Mistral Wind do for the Northern Rhone?
Although the wind is strong enough to strip the vines—many trees in the valley grow leaning southward, bent by the wind—it dries the vineyards, preventing mold and mildew from taking hold.
What are the soil types of the Northern Rhone?
Heat-retaining granitic and schistous soils define much of the north: the steeply sloped vineyards of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, and Hermitage are carved out of this bedrock.
Fine sand and loess topsoil throughout the Northern Rhône are prone to erosion, a threat partially mitigated by terrace construction.
What topsoil is in Condrieu?
Near the commune of Condrieu, the thin topsoil is rich with powdery, decomposed mica, known locally as arzelle.
What are the soils in Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, and Saint-Péray?
The soils become heavier with clay
What is the main grape of the Northern Rhone?
the Syrah grape achieves its classic status. The wines are full-bodied, firm, and savory, and they manifest a host of signature secondary aromas including smoke, grilled meat, olive, lavender, and peppercorn.
What is aging like in the Northern Rhone?
The wines are typically fermented and aged in large oak foudres, although some producers are now experimenting with new barriques.
What are the appellations of Syrah in the Northern Rhone?
Cote Rotie AOP Saint - Joseph AOP Hermitage AOP Crozes - Hermitage AOP Cornas AOP
In Cornas, Syrah is bottled as a (Blank %) varietal wine
100%
White grapes can be blended or often fermented together in the Northern Rhone. What are the legal percentages allowed?
Côte-Rôtie - 20% Viognier
Hermitage - 15% Marsanne and Roussanne
Crozes Hermitage - 15% Marsanne and Rousanne
Saint-Joseph - 10% Marsanne and Roussanne
Cornas - 100% syrah
Why would a co-fermentation of the white and red grapes happen?
Co-fermentation offers the almost counterintuitive advantage of stabilizing red wine color and moderating tannin extraction. Generally, a smaller percentage of white grapes than the allowable maximums is used, if any.
Who is the largest producer in Cote Rotie?
E. Guigal
What is the topography like in Cote Rotie?
Côte-Rôtie, the northernmost appellation in the Northern Rhône Valley, is home to some of France’s steepest vineyards. On parts of the slope, the gradient is a precipitous 55 degrees or more. Côte-Rôtie, the “roasted slope,” rises up a southeasterly aspect behind the riverside town of Ampuis, home to E. Guigal
What are two vineyards near Ampuis that are considered the heart of the appellation’s terroir?
Côte Brune
Côte Blonde
What are the characteristics of Côte Brune and Côte Blonde?
The wines derived from these two hillsides are said to mirror their feminine namesakes: Côte Blonde yields softer, alluring wines, whereas the wines of Côte Brune are stronger and more assertive.
What are the principal soil types of Cote Brune and Cote Blond?
Côte Brune (north): mica-schistous rock
Côte Blonde (south): gneiss
What is the minimum potential alcohol for Cote Rotie AOP?
10.5% abv
What are the communes of Production in Cote Rotie?
Saint-Cyr-sur-Rhône
Ampuis
Tupin-Semons
What are the LaLa’s (also known as the Big Three), where are they located, and who is famous for them?
Vineyards in Cote Rotie
La Landonne (in Cote Brune) La Turque (Cote Blonde) La Mouline (Cote Blonde)
E. Guigal
Name some producers of Cote Rotie?
E. Guigal
Jamet
Rostaing
Vidal - Fleury
Name the producers that dominate Hermitage?
the singular Jean-Louis Chave
and the négociants Delas
M. Chapoutier,
and Jaboulet
What is Jaboulet’s premier wine?
“La Chapelle”
What is Jaboulet’s La Chapelle named after?
Jaboulet’s premier wine, is named for a small hillside chapel that stands in commemoration of Gaspard de Stérimberg, the legendary Crusader-turned-hermit who lived a life of asceticism atop the hill. The chapel is located within the climat of L’Hermite.
What are the important climates of Hermitage?
West to East les Bessards L’Hermite le Méal Gréffieux Beaume Péléat
Behind the hill of Hermitage are the vineyards of (Blank).
Crozes-Hermitage
What style of wine does Crozes-Hermitage make?
The red wines of Crozes-Hermitage are generally lighter and less ageworthy, although the better wines can approach Hermitage in quality.
Which vineyards are the warmest in the Northern Rhone?
Cornas
What is the soil in Cornas?
The sun’s warmth is magnified by the naked granite soil (gore) in the vineyards, and the appellation is shielded from the Mistral wind.
There are 4 noteworthy Lieux-dits in Cornas. What are they?
Les Chaillot
Les Mazards
Les Reynards
La Côte
Which appellation is the smallest in the Northern Rhone?
Cornas - just over 100 hectares
Who is considered the most traditionalist producer from Cornas?
Auguste Clape
eschewing destemming for whole-cluster fermentation and new oak barriques for the old demi-muids of the region.
Which appellations in the Northern Rhone only produce red wines?
Cornas and Côte-Rôtie
Which appellations in the Northern Rhone produce a small amount of white wine?
Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, and Hermitage also produce small amounts of white wines, from the Marsanne and Roussanne grapes
In Saint-Peray AOP, what kind of wine do they make?
Near Valence, the cool Saint-Péray AOP exclusively produces Marsanne and Roussanne wines, which may be made in méthode traditionelle mousseux style. Often but not always blended, the more delicate Roussanne adds acidity and waxy minerality to Marsanne’s broader, oily texture and marzipan character.
What is Vin de Paille?
In Hermitage, producers have the traditional option of drying either grape for the rare dessert wine vin de paille, a style revived by Gérard Chave in the 1970s and again by Chapoutier in 1990.
Is Condrieu AOP a white wine only appellation?
yes , Viognier
Who are the high quality producers of Condrieu AOP?
Georges Vernay, Yves Cuilleron, and André Perret
What is the monopole in Condrieu called?
Chateau Grillet AOP
a monopole within Condrieu, enjoy historical acclaim but are perhaps more notable today for their scarcity than their intrinsic value. Château Grillet is often incorrectly cited as the smallest appellation in France; this distinction belongs to La Romanée in Burgundy.
Southeast of Valence, four minor appellations of the Northern Rhône lie on the Drôme River, a tributary of the Rhône. What are they?
Coteaux de Die AOP
Cremant de Die AOP
Clairette de Die AOP
Chatillon-en-Diois AOP
Coteaux de Die AOP and the sparkling wine appellation Crémant de Die AOP offer whites based entirely and partially, respectively, on (blank).
Clairette.
Clairette de Die AOP provides two styles of sparkling wines:
méthode traditionnelle and méthode Dioise ancestrale. While Clairette is the sole grape in the traditional method wines, the méthode Dioise ancestrale requires its rustic sparkling wines to contain, confusingly, a minimum 75% Muscat à Petit Grains.
The méthode ancestrale is an old technique of sparkling wine production in which the wine is bottled without dosage before fermentation has concluded.
The wines are disgorged into pressurized tanks and rebottled without liqueur d’expédition. A minimum 35 grams per liter residual sugar remains, implying demi-sec sweetness.
Méthode traditionnelle wines are basically brut in style, with a maximum 15 grams per liter of sugar after dosage.
Near Die, Châtillon-en-Diois AOP is an anomaly for what kinds of wine?
Gamay-based reds and rosés and whites based on Aligoté and Chardonnay.
The Southern Rhône accounts for about (Blank %) of all wine produced in the Rhône Valley and it is overwhelmingly devoted to red wine.
95%
What are the main red grapes of the Southern Rhone?
Grenache—a Spanish import—is the most planted red grape, offering richness of body, sweet fruit, and warmth.
Mourvèdre and Syrah constitute a significant percentage of plantings, adding structure and depth of color to the blend.
Cinsault provides finesse and freshness, and is often utilized for rosé wines as well.
Carignan is the last major red grape of the Southern Rhône, but acreage is on the decline.
What is the topography of the Southern Rhone?
flat
What are the soil types of the Southern Rhone?
A wealth of alluvial soils exists in the Southern Rhône, deposited over limestone subsoil in the river’s course.
Sand, gravel, and clay have been left in the river’s wake, and larger stones have been dumped in the valley’s mounds by post-ice age glacial melt.
In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, these deposited “pudding stones” are called galets. Made of quartzite and smoothed by the river, the galets store heat, releasing it to warm the vines at night.
What do the galets do?
the galets store heat, releasing it to warm the vines at night.
What is the minimum alcohol for CDP?
12.5% abv
How many grapes can be in a Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend?
18
What is the blend for Beaucastel wines?
While Grenache is generally the principal variety in red wines from the appellation, Château de Beaucastel Rouge includes a significant proportion of Mourvèdre and is famously produced from a blend of every authorized variety.
What does Chateau Rayas do with their blend?
On the other end of the spectrum, Château Rayas often releases their Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge as a 100% varietal Grenache.
Additionally, AOP regulations mandate that producers declassify or discard at least (blank) of harvested grapes (le râpé), a process that serves as a safeguard against underripeness.
2%
Who and when released the first estate-bottled Chateauneuf du Pape?
Château La Nerthe
1785
How large is CDP?
he appellation’s size is a factor: in comparison to Cornas’ 100 hectares, Châteauneuf-du-Pape has over 3,000.
What is CDP’s soil type?
Thus, the soil of the appellation is vastly varied beyond the iconic galets; distinct pockets of alluvial sediment exist for gravel, calcareous clay, and sand.