Wines made from Roussanne grapes of Sonoita
Discover the best wines made with Roussanne as a single variety or as a blend of Sonoita.
Roussane is a white grape variety, planted on an area of more than 700 ha. Originally from Montélimar, it is also found in Savoie, Languedoc and Roussillon, and grows very well in calcareous, poor, stony soil. It prefers to be pruned short. Roussane is also called fromenteau, barbin or bergeron. The young leaves are bubbled with fine down. When adult, they become thicker. It flowers in June and matures in mid-September. The grapes are cylindrical in shape, the berries are small and turn red when ripe, and the wine produced from pure Roussane is of extraordinary quality. It has a delicate aroma reminiscent of coffee, honeysuckle, iris and peony. The taste of this wine improves with age. It is part of the blend of the appellations Vin-de-Savoie, Côtes-du-Vallée du Rhône or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
The wine region of Sonoita is located in the region of Arizona of United States. Wineries and vineyards like the Domaine Canelo Hills or the Domaine Callaghan produce mainly wines red, pink and white. The most planted grape varieties in the region of Sonoita are Mourvèdre, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Tempranillo, they are then used in wines in blends or as a single variety. On the nose of Sonoita often reveals types of flavors of non oak, earth or vegetal and sometimes also flavors of oak, spices or red fruit.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...