Wines made from Marsanne grapes of England
Discover the best wines made with Marsanne as a single variety or as a blend of England.
Marsanne is a white grape variety that originated in Montélimar in the Drôme, several centuries ago. Marsanne is also found in Cassis, Savoie, Languedoc-Roussillon and Saint-Péray in the Ardèche, where it produces remarkable sparkling wines. The warm, sunny climate of the Rhone Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, as well as the dry, stony soil, are ideal conditions for its development. Its bunches are quite large and provide small, juicy berries that are sensitive to grey rot and strong winds. These two grape varieties complement each other perfectly: together they give light wines with little acidity, aromas of yellow fruit, white fruit and flowers with notes of honey and liquorice. This is for example what the appellations Saint-Péray, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Joseph, Côtes-du-Vallée du Rhône, Corbières, or Cassis express... which represent about 700 hectares.
England, although more famous for gin and beer, has been producing wine since Roman Imperial times (100 – 400 AD). Historically the country has not been known for the quality of its winemaking, inhibited by its northerly latitude and resulting cool Climate. However the last decade or so has seen considerable progress and expansion, and increases in planting of noble Grape varieties. Significant chaptilzation to off-set the high Acidity of under-ripe grapes was once common practice but since the 1970s and particularly since the turn of the millennium natural sugar levels have increased in the Vineyard and wines have increased in quality and reputation.
At a national committee meeting held on Thursday 8th September, members of the Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) voted unanimously to ratify the change to the appellation guidelines to allow white wines into AP Gigondas. A working group of growers and négociants has been pursuing the amendment for 11 years. The amendment states that white Gigondas must contain a minimum 70% Clairette. Other permitted varieties include Bourboulenc, Clairette Rose, Grenache Gris, Grenache Blan ...
Find Matt Walls’ 22 top-value northern Rhône whites below, and look out for his top 52 northern Rhône reds under £30 which will be published on 11th October. The northern Rhône produces just 5% of the total volume made in the broader Rhône Valley growing area. As demand for these wines increases, it’s not surprising to see prices ticking up. But it’s still possible to find some excellent wines retailing under £30 a bottle in the UK. Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 22 great val ...
I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...