Powerful, Long-Lived, Steeped In History
Home to some of France's oldest continuously farmed vineyards, the Rhône produces powerful, long-lived Syrah from single, terraced hillside plots, some farmed by the same family for centuries.
CLIMATE
The northern Rhône has a semi-continental climate, tempered by the mistral, a strong, dry wind that funnels down the valley. That wind helps keep vineyards healthy and disease-free, but it also shapes how growers train and stake their vines on the valley's steep slopes.
TERROIR
Hermitage's steep granite hill is divided into a mosaic of named plots, or lieux-dits, each with its own character. Domaine Jean-Louis Chave farms across five of the most important, Les Bessards, L'Hermite, Méal, Péléat and Les Rocoules, harvesting and vinifying each separately before blending them into a single wine each vintage, a practice the family has followed for generations.
1. Côte-Rôtie's Micro-Terroirs: E. Guigal's three single-vineyard Côte-Rôties, La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne, each express a different soil and exposure within the same appellation.
2. La Chapelle's Origin: Paul Jaboulet Aîné's flagship takes its name from the Saint-Christophe chapel above Hermitage, acquired by the family in 1919.
HISTORY
Wine in the northern Rhône dates to Roman times, when Hermitage's slopes produced what the Romans called the wines of Vienne. The hill took its modern name in the thirteenth century, after a knight named Gaspard de Stérimberg returned from the Crusades and lived there as a hermit. Further south, the papacy's move to Avignon in 1309 later gave Châteauneuf-du-Pape its name.
REGION SNAPSHOT
Key Sub-Region
Northern Rhône
Key Varieties
Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne
Classifications
Hermitage AOC, Côte-Rôtie AOC, Crozes-Hermitage AOC
PORTFOLIO ADVICE
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