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 grape varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape includes the following text: ‘While Grenache is generally the principal variety in red wines from the appellation, Château de Beaucastel Rouge is dominated by Mourvèdre and is famously produced from a blend of every authorized variety.’ As has been noted previously in the comments below, Beaucastel’s Rouge is roughly equal parts Grenache and Mourvèdre (confirmed on the producer’s website)–it is the prestige bottling Hommage à Jacques Perrin that is ‘dominated’ by Mourvèdre. It might be more illustrative to highlight the estate’s embrace of a grape variety that many of their neighbors historically shied away from (I found a profile on Vinography helpful in that regard).
The section on the Southern Rhône includes the following text: ‘Many growers to plant their vines at an angle so that the wind will blow them upright over time’. Minor typo: ‘Many growers to plant’ should read ‘Many growers plant’.
The section on Cornas includes the following text: ‘The land is divided among four quarters, or lieux-dits: Les Reynards, La Côte, Les Chaillot, and Les Mazards.’ I’m curious about the phrasing on this, as when I glance at a map of the lieux-dits of Cornas (such as that produced by Fernando Beteta or this French map), it doesn’t look like those four particular lieux-dits divide up all the vineyard land as they appear to be clustered in the northeastern sector of the appellation (this was previously alluded to in another comment on this subject below). Given the degree that John Livingstone-Learmonth discussed them at length in his book on the Northern Rhône, they do, however, appear to be worthy of note.
The section on the history of the Rhône Valley includes the following text: ‘Vienne evolved as an important Roman provincial capitol, and the Viennese vinum picatum, or "pitched wine," was exported to Rome itself.’ Minor typo: ‘capitol’ should read ‘capital’.
Hi Mark, these type of statements are a bit difficult, since it depends on exactly what areas are included, and whether we're talking planted or producing acres, etc. I"ll change the language above to reflect this. I'm seeing 154k ha for just DO La Mancha in 2020 (though I've seen other references of 160k-190k online). I'm seeing 224k ha for the Languedoc-Roussillon region in 2016. In more recent descriptions, I'm seeing the claim that Languedoc produces more wine (in hL) than any other region instead of by acreage. Either way, Languedoc is very large!