The Rhone Valley is a key wine-producing region in Southeastern France. It follows the North-south course of the Rhône for nearly 240 km, from Lyon to the Rhône delta (Bouches-du-Rhône), near the Mediterranean coast. The Length of the valley means that Rhône wines are the product of a wide variety of soil types and mesoclimates. The viticultural areas of the region cover such a distance that there is a widely accepted division between its northern and southern parts.
They are separated quite clearly by a 40 km gap between the towns of Valance and Montélimar, where vines are hardly ever grown. This division is reflected not only in the geography and preferred Grape varieties, but also in the quality and quantity of the wines produced. The smaller, more quality-oriented north focuses almost entirely on Syrah for red wines and Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne for whites, while the larger, more prolific south employs a much longer list of grape varieties. Most notable are the red varieties Grenache and Mourvèdre, which are combined with Syrah to produce the "GSM" blend so characteristic of the southern Rhône.
Bourboulenc is mainly grown in the southern part of France. It is a white grape variety that ripens quite late. It can only be harvested around 25 September and for an average of only one month. Bourboulenc is particularly fond of low-lying, but at the same time warm and dry locations. The aroma of this grape variety is not very pronounced, but it has a certain exotic fruit and floral aroma such as broom. The result is a low alcohol wine with subtle and fleeting aromas. Blanquette, bourboulanc, bourboulenque, doucillon, clairette dorée and clairette blanche are all names that can designate bourboulenc. This grape variety is very sensitive to diseases common to all vine plants such as magnesium deficiency, mildew and oidium. Bourboulenc can be used as a table grape. Most French people keep the bunches until Christmas in order to present them on the festive table as desserts.
red wines from the region of Rhone Valley go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of beef kidney, oriental stew with couscous or aiguillettes of duck with auvergne blue cheese.
On the nose in the region of Rhone Valley often reveals types of flavors of iron, blackberry jam or red fruit and sometimes also flavors of black fruit, wood smoke or cherry cola. In the mouth in the region of Rhone Valley is a powerful with a nice balance between acidity and tannins.
Decanter attended Tesco’s spring/summer 2022 portfolio tasting at the end of April where over 140 wines were on show, 38 of which are new to the range. In anticipation of the full list of top buys, to follow soon, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourites to get you in the mood for spring. Tesco’s wine buying team highlighted 24 wines as their must-try buys, and five of these have featured in our initial spring roundup below. We think they showcase the diversity of the Tesco range and the value t ...
Part of the auction house’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the sale runs until next Tuesday, 14 June, and also includes one-off collaborations with artist Ini Archibong and photographer Trey Ratcliff. The two refill American oak hogshead casks, supplied from Diageo’s Casks of Distinction VIP private cask purchase programme, both have pre-sale estimates of £700,000-1.2m. The Port Ellen cask was filled on 15 February 1979, has a current strength of 52.9% abv and is estimated to hold 102 bottles. T ...
Do growers make wine – or do markets? Growers, of course. Yet markets define the scope of the grower’s creative efforts by what they reward or sanction. When markets are neglectful and unresponsive, there’s little the grower can do but conform. It’s a problem the world over. Here’s an example. The river Moselle/Mosel rises to the wet west of the Vosges mountains, then curves in a long green arc heading north through Epinal, Metz and (along the left bank) Luxembourg’s Grand Duchy, turning east at ...
