rhone map

Last week, I described the northern Rhône. This week it’s time for the southern Rhône. The Rhône valley runs north to south for about 230km which allows for a big variation in climate and soil type.

Where the north has a continental climate, the southern Rhône has a hotter Mediterranean one. Where the northern Rhône has granite soils, the south has sandy rocky soils.

Where Syrah is the predominant grape in the north, the warmer climate of the south can accommodate Grenache, Mouvedre and Cinsault the most well known to join Syrah. And there’s more, up to 13 grapes are allowed to be put into the wines here.

Chateauneuf du Pape

No discussion of the southern Rhône would be complete without a hat-tip to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the most famous of the southern Rhône red regions.

Interestingly, in Chateauneuf du Pape the blend can have from one all the way to thirteen so really there’s no such thing as a “typical” Chateauneuf du Pape.

Chateauneuf du Pape is a village in the southern Rhône valley, near Avignon, about 100km north of Marseille (see it all on a Google map).

For those of you interested, the full thirteen grapes permitted in the blend are:

  1. Grenache (red),
  2. Syrah (red),
  3. Mourvèdre (red),
  4. Cinsault (red),
  5. Counoise (red),
  6. Terret Noir (red),
  7. Muscardin (red)
  8. Vaccarèse (red),
  9. Clairette (white),
  10. Roussanne (white),
  11. Picpoul (white),
  12. Picardan (white)
  13. and Bourboulenc (white).

Chateauneuf du Pape on a budget

Vacqueyras and Gigondas are two villages near Chateauneuf du Pape which can match it in terms of power, spiciness but which won’t hit your wallet as much so they’re worth a look, particularly Vacqueyras.

Elsewhere in the southern Rhone, 80% of production is Côtes du Rhone, so again, something for everyone’s wallet and palate.