{"id":349,"date":"2009-06-29T11:29:12","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T15:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/2009\/06\/29\/wines-of-the-southern-rhone\/"},"modified":"2009-06-29T11:29:12","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T15:29:12","slug":"wines-of-the-southern-rhone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=349","title":{"rendered":"Wines of the Southern Rhone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viticulture first appeared in the Rhone Valley around 600 BC; but it wasn\u2019t until the 13th<\/sup> Century when the Papal See moved from Rome to Avignon that production of wine significantly expanded. In contrast to the Northern Rhone which is characterized by a continental climate with its harsh winters an infamous mistral<\/em> winds, the South enjoys a Mediterranean climate with milder winters and hot summers. And unlike the North, where Syrah is the only planted red varietal, the varied terrains and micro-climates of the South provide a welcome home a wide assortment of both red and white grape varietals.\u00a0 Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Marsanne and Syrah are some of the varietals that fill the nooks and crannies of vineyards in the South.<\/p>\n

There are four quality levels of wine within the Rhone. At the simplest level is Cotes du Rhone<\/strong>. \u00a0Grapes can be sourced from any of the 171 communes located in the entire wine region. Both reds and whites are produced and offer great value for every day drinking.<\/p>\n

Cotes du Rhone Villages<\/strong> is the next designation.\u00a0 Grapes from 95 communes are permitted to carry this higher classification and the wines produced here have a higher minimum standard of alcohol level.\u00a0 Accordingly, the wines have greater strength and definition.<\/p>\n

In 1967 a new level of Cotes du Rhone Villages was created to separate individual Villages of superior quality from the Villages AOC.\u00a0 Wines produced from 17 Villages are allowed to add their Village name to their label.\u00a0 Wines such as Chusclan <\/strong>and Laudun <\/strong>on the left bank of the Rhone, and Cairanne <\/strong>and Vinsobres <\/strong>on the right bank are Cotes du Rhone Villages of singular distinction.\u00a0 These wines are enjoyed by savvy wine buyers who recognize the great \u201cquality to price\u201d ratio they represent.\u00a0 Spend less than you would for a \u201cCru\u201d; but without a significant drop off in quality.<\/p>\n

The Cru <\/strong>wines of the Sothern Rhone are the finest wines produced in the region.\u00a0 Their names are associated with the best red wines of France (although small amounts of terrific white wine is also made). Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, Lirac, Rasteau <\/strong>and Vacqueyras<\/strong> are appellations of highest reputation and in great vintages the wines produced have great aging potential.<\/p>\n

Of the Southern Rhone Cru wines, by far the most famous is Chateauneuf du Pape.\u00a0 Within the appellation there are 13 approved grape varieties: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Picpoul, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarese, Picardan, Cinsault, Clairette, Rousanne and Bourboulenc. Each Estate has its \u201crecipe\u201d based on the most appropriate varietals within their holdings, and in any given year the final blend is a reflection of the success in the vineyard. Clos des Pape<\/strong> is a blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and with smaller amounts of Syrah, Muscardin, Vaccarese and Counoise. <\/p>\n

Aside from the 2002 Vintage, which was a wash out in the entire appellation, the last 10 Vintages of Clos des Papes has earned unparalleled critical reviews in Wine Advocate<\/em>: 1998: 90pts, 1999: 94pts, 2000: 95pts, 2001: 95pts, 2002: 88pts, 2003: 97pts, 2004: 95pts, 2006: 98pts, 2007: 98-100pts.<\/p>\n

Success in Chateauneuf du Pape goes well beyond the notoriety of a single producer.\u00a0 Chateau de Beaucastel<\/strong>, Cuvee du Vatican<\/strong>, Le Vieux Donjon<\/strong>, Usseglio<\/strong> and Chateau Fortia<\/strong> just to name a few make wine at the highest level vintage in and vintage out.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, the wines of the Southern Rhone remain in the shadow of both Bordeaux and Burgundy in prestige.\u00a0 Which is why the wines are of such great value\u2026 whether it\u2019s the everyday drinking wines of the Cotes du Rhones, the more premium styled wines of Vacqueyras or the cellar worthy Chateauneufs, each level of quality produces excellent wines.\u00a0 Hands down, France offers no better bang for the buck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viticulture first appeared in the Rhone Valley around 600 BC; but it wasn\u2019t until the 13th Century when the Papal See moved from Rome to Avignon that production of wine significantly expanded. In contrast to the Northern Rhone which is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}