The Winery Salata Venitia of Rhône méridional of Rhone Valley

Discover the great wines of the Rhône!  Following popular demand, Decanter will be heading back to the Rhône Valley with its regional expert, Matt Walls. Given that this year’s trip was a huge success with five-star feedback, we couldn’t wait to get the next one planned.  While next year’s trip will feature some new vineyards both iconic and lesser known, there will be plenty of opportunity to enjoy lunch in the vineyards, talk candidly with the winemakers and go into the cellars of some of the ...

You don’t need a state-of-the-art winery to make wine. You don’t need rows of pristine oak barrels. One thing you do need to make good wine is good vines. Have you ever asked yourself where all these vines come from? How do they find their way into the ground? It used to be easy. In the past, winemakers simply took cuttings from their vineyards, propagated them, and planted them in the ground. But phylloxera put a stop to that. What was a simple process acquired layers of complexity: winemakers ...

When asked which is the most exciting appellation in the Rhône, there’s one that currently springs to mind before all others: Tavel. I have to be honest with you: I don’t buy much rosé. So, given that Tavel is, according to The Oxford Companion to Wine, ‘one of France’s few all-rosé appellations,’ my response might be unexpected. The Oxford Companion is technically correct, of course – the wines made here are paler than a typical red wine. But compared to other rosés, that’s where the comparison ...