Rivesaltes is an appellation for the historic Sweet wines of eastern Roussillon, in the DeepSouth of France. The natural sweet wines produced in this region have been revered since at least the 14th century. The technique used to make them is one of many techniques used for sweet wines. Unlike botrytized wines or ice wines, natural sweet wines are made by Mutage, a process that involves stopping the Fermentation of the must while a high level of natural sweetness remains.
With their high levels of residual sugar (at least 100 g/l) and Alcohol (between 15 and 17% ABV), these wines are sweet and relatively viscous. Understandably, Rivesaltes wines are often confused with Muscat de Rivesaltes wines, which are similar in style and come from the same region. The main difference is that Muscat de Rivesaltes is made from Muscat Grapes, whereas Rivesaltes is made from Grenache in all three forms (Black, White and Grey). Rivesaltes wines are produced in several forms, which are Distinguished by their colours (the result of the grape varieties and the ageing processes used to make them).
Grenache noir is a grape variety that originated in Spain. It produces a variety of grape specially used for the elaboration of wine. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by medium to large bunches, and grapes of medium size. Grenache noir can be found in many vineyards: South West, Cognac, Bordeaux, Provence & Corsica, Languedoc & Roussillon, Rhone Valley, Loire Valley, Savoie & Bugey, Beaujolais.
natural sweet wines from the region of Rivesaltes go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of traditional flemish carbonades, tunisian macaroni or indian style coral lentils.
The Roussillon is home to a range of wine styles, at varying price points. Sweet fortified wines (vin doux naturel) used to dominate production, with still dry wines (vin sec) in the minority. In the last 30 years, however, this has completely changed, and vin sec now makes up the majority (80%) of the Roussillon’s output. The recent Wines of Roussillon tasting, held in London, not only highlighted many good quality dry wines being produced, but also cemented the idea that Roussillon whites are ...
The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...
At the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards, the world’s largest wine competition saw its biggest year to date, with 18,094 wines tasted from 56 countries. Over 15 consecutive days in June 2021, almost 170 expert wine judges, including 44 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers, awarded 50 Best in Show, 179 Platinum, 635 Gold, 5,607 Silver and 8,332 Bronze medals. Join Decanter at our Fine Wine Encounter NYC this June, where you will have the opportunity to sample 23 of these top awarded Gold, Plati ...
