Sprinkled along the banks of Southern France’s Rhone River, two spectacular wine regions, The Northern Rhone and the Southern Rhone are well-known for producing large quantities of high-quality white, rose, and red wines (second to Bordeaux at over 37 million AOC cases annually). That’s a lot of wine!
Cold winters and hot summers grace the steep hillsides of the Northern Rhone and its 8 little sub-regions (including the famous the Côte Rôtie or “roasted slope”) AOCs. The steep slopes of the Northern Rhone are terraced which provides enough sunlight to allow the grapes to grow and facilitates drainage. The soil is lower in nutrients on hillsides, but the slopes allow the roots to grow deeper in search of nutrients. The result? Happy, healthy, and powerful fruit! It’s Syrah — which is the only red grape produced in the Northern Rhone — tends to be delightfully tannic with luscious aromas of black fruit, spicy white pepper, and sometimes violet. The Northern Rhone also produces 3 white grapes: Roussanne, Marsanne, and Clairette. Northern Rhone’s wine is spectacular, but the number of cases annually amounts to only 5% of the Rhone Valley’s production, while its sister produces 95% of the Rhone Valley’s total production.
The much-larger Southern Rhone produces also produces Syrah, Roussanne, Marsanne, and Clairette; however, they also produce well-over two dozen grape varieties as opposed to The Northern Rhone’s 4 varieties. Among others, the grapes produced in the Southern Rhone are (reds) Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, and (whites) Muscat, Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Clairette, and more! The Mediterranean climate of the Southern Rhone with long warm summers and relatively calm winters, as opposed the Continental climate of the Northern Rhone, can produce wines that are less tannic, yet still high in alcohol.
Grenache is the regional darling of the Southern Rhone and is a key variety in most blends– most famously and my personal favorite, the GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) blend of the renowned Chateuaneuf-du-pape. This blend tends to have medium to full body, medium high tannin, and medium acidity. The flaroma (flavors and aroma) are off-the-charts spectacular with notes of raspberry, blackberry, cedar, backing spices, and herbs like Rosemary.
With the history lesson out of the way, let’s get to last night’s Rhone-Inspired tasting at The Wine Crush!
The flight began with a Central Coast 2021 Sans Liege Cotes du Coast blend of Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Clairette Blanc for the Rhone-Inspired theme. While Roussanne and Marsanne and Viognier are the key white grapes of France’s Northern Rhone Valley, the Southern Rhone is well-known for the aforementioned grapes and the Grenache Blanc and Clairette Blanc in this blend, so this would be classified as a Southern Rhone-inspired blend. Yum! With crisp acidity and a nice body, this wine was medium straw in intensity and hue and presented aromas of stone fruit, lemon, gardenia.
Next up, we had the 2019 Jaffurs Roussanne (sourced from Stolpman Vineyards). A fan of Roussanne, I enjoyed this selection so much that I didn’t even get a chance to snap a pic before I finished it. Leaping from the glass were aromas of stone fruit, honey, lemon, floral notes, and my favorite, yet odd, essence of a brand-new pool toy. Think of the nostalgically awesome new plastic smell when you rip open the package of a new beach ball or floatie. Seriously! It’s there. This wine was medium yellow in intensity and hue and favored a mouthwatering acidity and hefty body at 13.5% ABV.
The 3rd selection in the flight brought me back to my old favorite with the 2017 Quivira Dry Creek Cuvee which was a GSM-style blend with the added zest of Zinfandel. Southern Rhone-style blends are complex with multiple grapes complimenting each other with a nice balance of acidity, tannin, and body and featuring aromas from oak aging along with both black and red fruit along, and a spicy pepper that bites — in a good way.
While the 3rd selection was delightful, the 4th on the list, the 2020 Margerum M5 Blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Couoise, and Cinsault was phenomenal. The blend of grapes allowed for smooth tannins and medium body with an aromatic party of red fruit. herbs, and a kick of pepper and spice. To say I loved this one is an understatement. I adored it!
Next, we have the 5th, and I will not be silent about it. Another GSM blend, and it would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any. Delicious, delicious, delicious. Like its predecessors, it was rich with a peppery aroma and the usual GSM aromas; however, the complexity of this wine was off-the-charts. A bouquet of floral aromas and winter underbrush set it apart from the rest. Unfortunately, at this point in the evening, I was so immersed in discussions of musical theatre, food, and wine regions that I neglected to take structural notes on the 5th and 6th selections. (I’m returning tonight, so a follow-up to this story is coming.
This brings us to the 2019 Nelle The Bedlam blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Petit Syrah to cap the evening as the 6th and final wine. With weighty body and rich berry aromas, the finish on this glass gave me something by which to remember. A fabulous glass of Rhone-Inspired goodness!
Catch me next weekend for their Syrah theme tasting!
Angela R. Thompson, BA English, WSET 1
