The Wines Côtes du Rhône AOC

1 wines

1.1 côtes du rhône
1.2 côtes du rhône-villages
1.3 côtes du rhône villages (named village)
1.4 crus

the wines
côtes du rhône

at generic level, official aoc côtes du rhône region stretches 200 km vienne in north avignon in south , foothills of massif central in west fore-slopes of vaucluse , luberon mountains east of town of orange. 171 communes in french departments of ardèche, bouches du rhône, drôme, gard, loire, , vaucluse concerned production 83,839 (2008) hectares of vineyard. average yield 52 hectolitres per hectare. wines of 3 colours must have minimum alcohol content of 11%. average annual production of cdr of around 3.3 million hectolitres - 419 million bottles - (2005/2006), assured 5,292 concerns including 5,202 growers, 875 private producers, 70 co-operative wineries, , 20 merchant/producers , blenders, making 1 of largest single appellation regions in world.

red , rosé wines made grenache noir, syrah, cinsault, carignane, counoise , mourvèdre grapes varieties. maximum of 20% white varieties may used in rosés. reds grown south of montélimar must contain minimum of 40% grenache, , may contain 5% white grapes. red anywhere in appellation must contain minimum of 15% syrah and/or mourvedre. whites must contain minimum blend of 80% clairette, grenache blanc, marsanne, roussanne, bourboulenc, , viognier. ugni blanc , picpoul blanc may used secondary varieties.

a white côtes du rhône wine, in case dominated viognier , roussanne.

there 2 sub regions of rhône wines:

1. côtes du rhône septentrional in northern part of region vienne valence. vines cultivated on steep slopes making harvest extremely arduous. grapes manually picked , have hauled hillside on trolleys, feature adds price. syrah dominant red grape in area.

2. côtes du rhône méridional montélimar avignon in southern latitudes, produced 123 communes. great majority of these cultivated on eastern side of rhône between river bank near town of orange, , vaucluse-luberon chain of mountains. wines here anchored grenache noir typically include other grapes such syrah , mourvedre. reds range in color deep crimson , ruby purple , full-bodied rich smooth tannins, though lirac , others right bank tend lighter. go game , other rich meat dishes.

the whites range dry tang of citrus fuller, rounder wines can consumed aperitif. condrieu, septentrional, 1 of rarest white wines in world , produced 100% viognier - notoriously difficult grape vinify.

year of production : in general, year-to-year climate of region remains constant although there may rare occasions of spring frost may damage buds, reducing overall yield. drought may affect quantity of production. sunlight levels average expected. year of production on label therefore not sign of particular quality due exceptionally favourable wine growing weather; more indicative of how wine can expected have matured on number of years.

côtes du rhône-villages

further scale côtes du rhône aoc côtes du rhône-villages aoc produced 95 authorized communes in departments of ardèche, drôme, gard, , vaucluse. appellation includes 95 communes, total of approximately 3,000 hectares under cultivation. average yield approximately 38 hectolitres per hectare. grenache grape required present @ not less 50%, 20% syrah and/or mourvèdre. maximum of 20% of other authorized varieties permitted. minimum required alcoholic strength 12%.

côtes du rhône villages (named village)

next in hierarchy, 18 of côtes du rhône village appellations authorized include village name on label. approximately 6,500 hectares under cultivation, average yield approximately 37 hectolitres per hectare. current regulation includes following villages: cairanne, chusclan (red , rosé only), gadagne, laudun, massif d uchaux (red only), plan de dieu (red only), puyméras (red only), roaix, rochegude, rousset-les-vignes, sablet, saint gervais, saint maurice, saint-pantaléon-les-vignes, séguret, signargues (red only), valréas, visan.

crus

at demanding level of distinction, total of 17 crus allowed recognized village name without requiring mention of côtes du rhône on label. unique exception of château-grillet, white septentrional within aoc condrieu, feature of nomenclature of cdr wines @ top level named after villages, , not after châteaux usual bordeaux wines. tavel rosé only, light , dry, drunk chilled. beaumes de venise aoc, château-grillet aoc, châteauneuf-du-pape aoc, condrieu aoc, cornas aoc, côte-rôtie aoc, crozes-hermitage aoc, gigondas aoc, hermitage aoc, lirac aoc, rasteau aoc, saint joseph aoc, saint péray aoc, tavel aoc, vacqueyras aoc, , vinsobres aoc.

cairanne aoc