Whenever the Rhone Valley is talked about as a wine region, the most obvious reference is to the area south of the city of Valence and the Drôme River, commonly called the Southern Rhône.  One of the reasons for this is that one of the most famous of all Rhône wines, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is situated in the south.  However, there is a whole new world of stunning Rhône wines that are produced in the north.

While the southern Rhône basks in the warm, sometimes scorching heat of the Mediterranean, the Northern Rhône is characterized as being of a ‘continental climate’, meaning it is marked by very diverse weather changes that occur during the growing season, from very hot temperatures during the summer to very cold winters, somewhat like the Okanagan.

This fluctuating climate is influenced by the Mistral wind, a strong, cold and usually dry wind, which comes from the north or northwest, accelerating up to 90 km per hour as it passes down through the Rhône Valley.  The Mistral brings colder air from the Massif Central, the large range of mountains and plateaus in central France, which covers 15% of France.  The region is therefore cooler than southern Rhône, meaning that the mix of planted grape varieties and wine styles are slightly different.

Syrah is the only red grape variety permitted in this region.  It was thought that the grape originated from the Iranian city of Shiraz and was brought to southern France by a returning crusader, Gaspard de Stérimberg or by the Greeks, depending on which story you are reading.  It is also thought to have acquired its name from a story that the Romans brought the grape to the Rhone Valley from Syracuse, in Italy, during their occupation.

However, DNA profiling performed by Professor Carole Meredith at the University of California at Davis and Jean-Michel Boursiquot at the wine research facility at Montpellier, France in 1998, determined that Syrah is indigenous to the Rhone valley of France.  It is a natural cross of Dureza from the northern Ardèche region, west of the Rhone and Mondeuse Blanche, native to the Savoie region, to the east of the Rhone.

The vineyards of the northern Rhône have much in common with the Rhine valley in Germany and the Douro in Portugal.  It is a land of very steep slopes that are carved from granite and terraced, with the vines clinging to near vertical surfaces. The climate is also significant here. The rainfall is regular, the heat moderate and the risk of drought is less than elsewhere.

Starting in the north and traveling south, the first region is Côte-Rôtie, meaning literally ‘roasted slope’, referring to the long hours of sunlight that these steep slopes receive and is certainly one of the regions that are most representative of the Rhône Valley.  Here the wine is produced exclusively from the Syrah grape, renowned for its intense black pepper aromas.  The region covers about 500 acres and the best vineyards of the Côte-Rôtie, are situated on steep hillsides where the incline can reach up to 60º and are on a southeast and southwest facing.  Inside this are two famous production zones, Côte Brune and Côte Blonde, the former named for the dark coloured soil and the latter for the lighter coloured soil.  Legend has it that these areas were named after the daughters of a local feudal lord who were brunette and blond.

Côte Brune is generally the more tannic and fuller of the two while Côte Blonde is elegant and refined.  Despite the wines being produced from Syrah, a small amount, usually 5%, of Viognier is allowed.  Viognier adds an exotic aroma to Syrah and in some cases, smooths out the rustic character of the grape.

Condrieu (con-dree-ooo) is a region where the wine is made solely from the Viognier grape.  There are 300 acres under vine here and due to Viognier’s unpredictable nature, the yields in Condrieu are kept low and the grapes are carefully tended.  This in turn leads to low production and high quality, not to mention high prices.

At its best, Condrieu is heady and intense but it maintains balance with fresh acidity and sensible alcohol something New World Viognier tends to have a lot of.  Unlike many wines of the Rhône, Condrieu is best enjoyed young, within a few years of bottling.

Further south is the commune of Saint Joseph.  Larger than the previous regions, Saint-Joseph has less than 1500 acres under vine.  Red wine dominates here with 90% of the production coming from Syrah with the balance from the white grapes, Roussanne or Marsanne.  The styles of red wines are generally lighter than other areas but are delicate and perfumed.  The whites are also lighter than others.

Probably the most important region of the Northern Rhône and the one that garners all the praise is Hermitage (Ehr-me-tahj).  According to legend, the Knight Gaspard de Stérimberg, who is rumoured to have brought Syrah to the Rhône,  returned home in 1224 from the Albigensian Crusade and was given permission by the Queen of France to build a small refuge to recover in, where he remained living as a hermit (ermite in French).

This famous area takes its name from the hill of Hermitage above the town of Tain and like Cote-Rôtie, the best vineyards in Hermitage are exposed to the south.  The wines are historically regarded as the most “manly” of French wines as they are deep, richly coloured wines with an expression of violets, leather, blackberries and smoke.

With just 300 acres planted, the wines of Hermitage are produced from Syrah and are amongst the most long-lived wines in the world, developing very slowly and are capable of lasting up to 40 years in the bottle; sometimes surpass its American and Australian cousin, Shiraz.

The largest of the northern Rhône appellations, Crozes-Hermitage produces 10 times the volume of Hermitage and over half of Northern Rhône’s total production.  Like St-Joseph, the wines are softer and are for relatively early consumption, perhaps within a decade of the vintage, although some can certainly last much longer.  Mainly produced from Syrah which is sometimes blended with Roussanne or Marsanne, the region is known for the large amount of cooperative wine.  Cave de Tain, takes half of the grapes grown while another large producer, Jaboulet, takes a big part of the other half.

One of the most spectacular regions, in my humble opinion is Cornas, probably because all they produce is red wine using Syrah.  The name Cornas comes from the Celtic or Gaullic tribes and means “burnt earth”, and the first written sources mention the wine in the region as early as 885 AD.  Unlike other areas in the Northern Rhône, by law no white grapes are allowed to be added in Cornas.  The wines produced are intense and full flavoured and in excellent years, require numerous years of aging before they are ready to consume.  The prices are not cheap but relatively speaking, compared to wines from Bordeaux of the same class, Cornas is a steal.

Weekend Wines:

The 2006 Chapoutier Ermitage le Pavillon is very youthful with beautiful, vibrant purple/red colour, loaded with blackberry, black cherry, menthol, licorice, toasted bread, baked earth, roasted meat, soft velvety acidity and ultra firm tannins.  An ultimate wine experience.  Here’s what Parker has to say…“The inky/purple-hued 2006 exhibits a gorgeous perfume of crushed rocks, white flowers, crème de cassis, blackberries, graphite, and a subtle touch of oak. Exceptionally full-bodied, multilayered in concentration, extraordinarily pure, and long, this is a prodigious young Hermitage that should be at its finest between 2018-2050+.”

A Gold Medal winner at the 2011 British Columbia Wine Awards, the 2009 Church and State Coyote Bowl Syrah is spectacular with its classic Northern Rhone aromas of smoked meat, saddle leather, rich blackberry, cassis, black plum, roasted tomato, tobacco leaf and licorice with hints of menthol, olive, chocolate and roasted coffee. The juicy palate is full of rich blackberry, smoky/grilled sausage, black pepper spice with dried herbs and a long concentrated finish. Soft acidity and very firm tannins mark this as a wine to cellar for 6 months and enjoy over the next 5-8 years.