Southern Rhône

The Western bank of the Rhône around the village of Tavel has limestone and sandy soils. The Eastern bank with Châteauneuf-du-Pape near Avignon, where the Pope use to have a residence, has sand and rock soils. These diverse soils and various grape varieties produce abundant wines with unique characters. Wines of Côtes du Rhône AOC and Côtes du Rhône Villages AOC are mostly produced in the Southern Rhône and are often called ‘wines of the sun’ being produced by the natural climate of the South of France. Côtes du Rhône Villages are wines produced close to nearby villages that are considered of higher quality than the surrounding areas. Some of the notable AOC include Châteauneuf-du-Pape, named after the 9th castle of the Pope, which makes world class blends. Its famous for the small boulders that litter the vineyards, known as galets, that absorb the heat from the sun and release it at night helping the grapes to fully ripen. Gigondas is thought of as the ‘poor mans’ Châteuneuf-du-Pape, it has similar alluvial soils with galets to warm the vineyards at night. The wines of Gigondas are less sought after but often equally as good as the wines from its more famous neighbor. Beaumes de Venise produces a sweet wine from the Muscat grape. These late harvest style wines never become infected with Botrytis due to the constant drying effect of the mistral wind. The valleys of Ventoux and Luberon to the South produce higher yielding vines that make less expensive higher volume wines, mostly for the French market.