Comtés Rhodaniens is a regional PGI title that covers the red, white and rosé wines of a large area along the Rhône River in Southeastern France. The PGI catchment area includes the wine regions of Savoie and the Northern Rhône, as well as Part of Beaujolais. The PGI is most often used for wines produced in Vineyards outside the boundaries of the many AOC-level appellations: from Vin de Savoie to Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. The territory of the Rhone Counties covers parts of nine separate departments on the way to the Rhône.
Beginning on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, the boundaries of the PGI extend south beyond Lyon to the prestigious wine regions of the northern Rhône Valley. The permitted vineyard area also includes the thin strip of farmland between the Rhône and Loire rivers in the Loire department (although the famous vineyards of the Loire Valley are hundreds of kilometres to the north). As this is the Comtés Rhodaniens, it is not surprising that the Terroir here is very varied. The continental peaks of the Alps in the northern part of the region give way to the mountains of the lower Massif Central in the south, which have a warmer and drier MediterraneanClimate, due to their proximity to the coast.
Savagnin is a white grape variety originating from the Austrian Tyrol. It arrived in Franche Comté and quickly became the flagship variety of the Jura. Cousin of the gewurztraminer, it gives small white bunches. Its berries have a thick skin which resists well to grey rot and to diseases in general. Savagnin thrives on marl soils and is a very aromatic grape variety. It is used in the elaboration of yellow wine, the AOC Château-Châlon is the most representative. This grape variety also produces vin de paille which is a sweet wine for which the ripe grapes are dried on a bed of straw for at least 6 weeks before being pressed. The best known AOC straw wines are: Arbois, Côtes-du-Jura and Etoile. Savagnin is also used to make Macvin du Jura, a liqueur wine, and to make Crémants du Jura.White wines made from Savagnin have great aging potential. They have a powerful and complex aroma with notes of walnut, almonds, hazelnuts, flowers, honey and green apple.
white wines from the region of Comtés Rhodaniens go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, shellfish or poultry such as recipes of roast pork with milk, yakisoba (fried noodles) or traditional buckwheat pancake dough.
On the nose in the region of Comtés Rhodaniens often reveals types of flavors of tree fruit, citrus fruit or earth and sometimes also flavors of cream, grapefruit or oaky. In the mouth in the region of Comtés Rhodaniens is a .
