Southern Rhone

The Rhone Valley is in Southern France encompassing a large collection of wine-making appellations that can be divided into the Northern and Southern Rhone Valley respectively. Large volumes of wine known simply as Cotes du Rhone or Cotes du Rhone Villages comes from the Southern Rhone where one can also find famous names such as Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas. Well known appellations in the North include Cote-Rotie, Condrieu and Crozes-Hermitage. Red wines in the north are made solely from Syrah (Shiraz) while Southern reds can be a blend of many varieties, although in practice this is normally Grenache, supplemented to varying extents by Mourvedre, Cinsaut and Syrah. White wines are made from several varieties, with Viognier being perhaps the most important, plus significant contributions from Marsanne and Roussanne.