The Rhône Valley in France is overwhelmingly devoted to red wine production.
While the Rhône River is dotted with vineyards from its headwaters in Switzerland to its mouth on the French Mediterranean coast, the Rhône Valley properly refers to two clusters of appellations along the banks of the river in Southern France. The Northern Rhône, or Rhône septentrionale, occupies a narrow band of vineyards hugging the river just south of Beaujolais, from Vienne to Valence. The vineyards of the Southern Rhône, or Rhône méridionale, funnel outward south of Montélimar toward Avignon, near the river’s Mediterranean basin. While these two separate stretches are often considered collectively, the Northern and Southern Rhône are climatically and viticulturally distinct.
The Rhône Valley and its environs boast a long history of enological importance. The introduction of winemaking in France can be traced to the Greeks, who established vine cultivation at their Massalia settlement—modern-day Marseilles—in approximately 600 BCE. At the height of Greek trade, some 10 million liters of wine in amphorae were shipped through Massalia into the heart of Gaul via the Rhône River. The Romans continued this trend with their arrival in the Southern Rhône in 125 BCE, and viticulture spread to the Northern Rhône by the first century CE. The Northern Rhône’s picturesque, hallmark terraces were first constructed by Roman workers. Vienne evolved as an important Roman provincial capital, and the Viennese vinum picatum, or "pitched wine," was exported to Rome itself. Whether vinum picatum was simply a reference to the wine’s character resulting from its mode of transport
The section on the appellations of the Roussillon includes the following text: ‘Other dry wine appellations include Côtes du Roussillon AOP, a regional appellation for red, white, and a high percentage of rosé wines. A subzone, Côtes du Roussillon Les Aspres, was recognized in 2003 for Syrah- and Mourvèdre-based red wines from the villages nestled within the area of Les Aspres and the Albères Mountains. Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOP is reserved for the red wines of 32 communes to the north of Les Aspres. Four communes may add their names to the appellation: Latour-de-France, Caramany, Lesquerde, and Tautavel.’ As noted on the Compendium page for Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOP, the designated subzone of Côtes du Roussillon Les Aspres no longer exists as the commune of Les Aspres is now a geographic designation (now one of five, not four) for the Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOP (which appears now to include a good number more than 32 communes by my count).
The section on the Languedoc AOP includes the following text: ‘The eastern half of Languedoc is dominated by the regional appellation Languedoc AOP. Formerly Coteaux du Languedoc AOC, this appellation encompasses all of Languedoc-Roussillon’. Is this accurate? My understanding is that the Languedoc AOP does not include the territory included within the Malepère AOP. And indeed, if one searches for the communes identified in the Aire géographique section of the Cahier des Charges for the Malepère AOP, one will find they are absent from the same section of the Cahier des Charges for the Languedoc AOP (some of the communes do show up in the Aire de proximité immédiate section, but my understanding is that is where the wine is vinified and produced, not where the grapes are grown).
The section on grape varieties found within appellations of the Languedoc includes the following text: ‘Cabardès AOP and Malepère AOP produce red and rosé wines only. Cabardès wines maintain a balance between Grenache, Syrah, and the major Bordeaux red varietals.’ Word choice: ‘major Bordeaux red varietals’ should read ‘major Bordeaux red varieties’.
The section on producers of Provence includes the following text: ‘Domaine de Triennes—the most noteworthy producer in Coteaux Varois—chooses to release wines as Vin de Pays.’ As with many other producers (and as noted in the GuildSomm Expert Guide to Wine Law), Domaine de Triennes now bottles their wines as IGP in lieu of using the traditional term of Vin de Pays (at least on all the bottles I’ve encountered). It’s been my observation that IGP has become so common on labels and Vin de Pays so infrequent that it would be appropriate to update the language here (for example, also in the section on the Languedoc-Roussillon) to use IGP in lieu of Vin de Pays, except for those cases where it is being used in a historical sense and IGP would be anachronistic. My two centimes.
The section on the Bandol AOP includes the following text: ‘The wines must spend 18 months in oak prior to release and often need years in the bottle to demonstrate their full potential.’ Is the restriction to oak élevage accurate? The Compendium page for the Bandol AOP only makes mention of 18 months in wood (without specifying the type of wood) and the Cahier des Charges mentions ‘18 mois en fûts ou en foudres’, but I haven’t found a requirement that they be oak in composition.