Côtes du Rhône Villages is an appellation that groups together the red and white wines of certain villages in the Rhône region of France. All are located in the southern half of the region, immediately east and west of the town of Orange. Wines produced under this appellation must meet higher standards than the Generic Côtes du Rhône title. They come from vineyards located in areas that have the potential to produce distinctive, good quality wines.
The Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation was introduced in 1966 and now covers 22 villages. Links to the regional pages for each of them are to the left of this text. Each of these villages can add their name to the standard AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages label on their wine. If a wine is produced from grapes grown in more than one village, the names should be omitted from the label.
Gamay is a Burgundian grape variety that has existed since the 14th century. For fear of competition with the pinot noir of Burgundy, gamay was finally uprooted and planted in the Beaujolais region, from Mâcon to Lyon. These siliceous and granitic soils suit it perfectly, and it gives its best here. But it is also planted all over France, such as in Lorraine, in the Loire Valley, in Bugey, in Savoie and in Auvergne. Gamay is early and very productive and needs to be limited so that quality prevails over quantity. Short winter pruning of the shoots and high density of vines per hectare are the methods that allow it to produce very fruity, fresh and greedy red wines. Gamay is also very popular in red wine futures, and produces wines from the Beaujolais region with very interesting character and ageing potential. The AOCs Crémant-de-Bourgogne, Mâcon, Anjou, Touraine, Rosé de vallée de la Loire, Côtes-d'Auvergne, Saint-Pourçain, Bugey, Gaillac, Côtes du Luberon... and many vins de pays are proud of it. Today, about 36,000 hectares of Gamay are cultivated in France, including 22,000 hectares in Beaujolais.
wines from the region of Coteaux du Lyonnais go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or vegetarian such as recipes of ham and cheese cake, tuna and mayonnaise onigiri or quiche with bacon and gruyère cheese.
