The French like to name their wine producing areas, so, thinking goes it’s easy to understand the style of wine in a bottle, because wines made in a certain area should be similar (in grape, style, etc.) This was of course before the age of printed reviews and Internet posts on what to expect from certain bottles. Back then the wines of the southern Rhône developed a reputation for being powerful red wines—to the point that strong southern Rhône wines used to be mixed with Bordeaux wine when Bordeaux had a bad year. That practice is of course long gone, but the powerful red wines of the southern Rhône are still enjoyed across the world.

The southern Rhône is segmented into several unique areas based on local climate and soils, which have been granted their own appellation. The most famous is Châteauneuf-du-Pape—which deserves its own post—but there are several other AOC areas in the southern Rhône that produce excellent charismatic wines that have a tendency to be overlooked in favor of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We’re going to look at four of them: Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac and Tavel.

Gigondas isn’t really about delicacy. The wines are all red and are crafted to be powerful, tannic and in the best cases worthy of cellar aging. The region is located northeast of Châteauneuf along a little set of mountains called the Dentelles de Montmirail. Gigondas is mostly made from Grenache and only produces red wines. Look for bottles to be in the $15 to $25 range.

Vacqueyras is situated between Gigondas and Châteauneuf, but stylistically it tends to be much more like Gigondas. Vacqueyras was granted AOC status in 1990, but has produced wines for centuries. The output is almost all red wines, similar to Gigondas, very powerful, with lots of structure and less finesse. Vacqueyras is produced from Grenache, but uses more Syrah than Gigondas.

Lirac lies across the river Rhone from the famous Châteauneuf and can produce wines in a similar style. Lirac wines are made in a more blended style than Gigondas and Vacqueyras, which result in wine that is more subtle than the power of the Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

The grapes for red and rose are Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault and for the whites are Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Bourboulenc.

Tavel is a very unique AOC in that permits only rosé wine to be made. The wine is made from Grenache and Cinsault, with some Syrah and Mourvèdre. Those are all red grapes, which are gently pressed and kept with the red skins for a brief period of time to dye the wine a light pink color. Tavel wines were a favorite of Kings of France and are still a favorite around the world today.

Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine Gigondas, Lirac, Rhone Vally, Southern Rhone, Syrah, Tavel

Petite Sirah is not Petite Syrah.

Durif is Petite Sirah and Syrah is Petite Syrah. Confused? Well let’s clear up what the heck are Petite Sirah and Petite Syrah.

Let’s start with the old world. Petite Syrah was the name given to some Syrah plants in the Rhone that produced smaller berries. Pretty simple there, petite = small.

Now, the first immigrants to bring Syrah to California in the 1870’s noticed that the grapes were smaller than they were used to—probably owing to differences in climate, exposure and soils—so they called these Syrah grapes Petite Syrah. Petite = small. Then, no one thought about it much for 100 years.

Okay, so petite means small, that’s fine. Does Sirah = Syrah? Nope. Petite Sirah is actually Durif. (Aren’t French words supposed to be lyrical and pretty?) Anyways, Durif is an accidental cross of Syrah and Peloursin that occurred in a field in France somewhere and was discovered by a guy named Durif. He named the new grape after himself and released it to the world.

The resulting grape was noted to be vigorous and resistant to mildew. So they planted some more. Then some immigrants brought it to California. Durif grew well in California and around the turn of the century was widely planted. From there on out Petite Sirah ebbed and flowed in popularity, hitting a peak in 1976 and a low in 1990.

Currently, Petite Sirah is enjoying some popularity. There are a lot of old plantings, which mean that the vines are older and producing great juice. Also, that means the plantings are paid off and the wine can be sold for a pretty nice value. Petite Sirah is some great wine for the price. It’s got some big tannins, a very lively acidic backbone which has blueberry, plum and black pepper on the nose. The wine has a firm structure, but generally only a medium finish.

The French more or less abandoned Petite Sirah, which means that most of the planting are here in America. If you think about it, it’s kind of a great American wine: it’s tough, it’s strong, it’s unpretentious and it has an ambiguous cultural heritage. Oh, it’s pretty inexpensive. So, it’s not Syrah, it’s just good wine and you can get a great bottle of it for under $15.

Now just memorize these fun facts and recite it at a wine party, you’ll sound really smart.

California Wine, Cheap Wine, Red Wine California Wine, petite sirah, Petite Syrah, Red Wine, Syrah

They say the Southern Rhone is separated from the Northern Rhone by a no-man’s land for grapes. Despite this gap in wine production, the Rhone is still one of the world’s legendary wine regions. The south is known for its red and roses from Grenache and the north is known for its whites from the Viognier grape and its reds made from Syrah.

There are several legends as to how the Syrah grape made it to the northern Rhone river valley; most involve the Romans bringing it at some point in time in antiquity. Modern DNA analysis however, has shown that grape most likely is a native of the Rhone area. In its homeland of the Rhone, the Syrah grapes can reach its full potential. The area of the northern Rhone is home to several appellations including Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage.

The northernmost Rhone wine region is the legendary Côte-Rôtie—the roasted slope. The name refers to the steep hillsides where the vines are planted and to the long hours of sun they receive each growing season. The wines of Côte-Rôtie are made from Syrah and up to 20% Viognier—a white grape. Blending white grapes to make red wine is a very unique practice, and produces a very unique wine. Côte-Rôtie wines exhibit a very floral nose as well as savory notes of meat and bacon, the wines are concentrated—from low grape yields—intense and deep.

Condrieu is just south of the Côte-Rôtie and produces wine from only one grape—Viognier. The wines of Condrieu are luscious, viscous, floral and ethereal with aromas of anise, melon, peach and white flowers. The entire area produces only about 350,000 bottles of wine annually—compare that to the 400 million produced in all of the Rhone! This rarity, and the difficulty in growing Viognier, account for the price tag on Condrieu. If you can find it, look for Chateau Grillet—a single vineyard with its own AOC and perhaps the pinnacle of Condrieu wine.

Perhaps no other name evokes power of the northern Rhone as Hermitage. This tiny appellation is named for the single hill on which the grapes are grown; on the hill of Hermitage, most of those grapes are Syrah. The wines of Hermitage are powerful, with strong aromas of earth, leather and berries. The wines are rich with tannins and structure that allow the wines to age for up to 40 years. The area of Crozes-Hermitage lies all around the hill of Hermitage, for several miles to the north, east and south. The wines are also made from Syrah, and can be similar to Hermitage at their best. Though they rarely live up to their namesake appellation, the wines of Crozes-Hermitage can still be great examples of old world Syrah.

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Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of those French words that look horribly unpronounceable and cause terror in those attempting to pronounce it. It’s really not too bad, here’s how it goes: sha-tow-noof-do-pop. It means “the Pope’s new castle,” if you were curious. The intriguing name comes from an era in history when the Pope relocated his administration to a town in the area called Avignon. Apparently the Pope, Clement V, had been living in Bordeaux before he was christened and felt a little homesick in Italy. The papacy returned to the Vatican of course in good time—but while they were there, the Popes of Avignon worked to better the wines coming from the area we now call Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

In the subsequent rulings of later Popes in the area, the wines were called Vin du Pape, then in the 18^th century the wines were called Vin d’Avignon. The wine we call Châteauneuf-du-Pape today, was born out of the areas plethora of grape varieties and a set of unique climatic and geographic nuances.

The most famous aspect of the geography of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the galets. These are smooth, round stones of golf-ball size that cover the clay soils in some areas of the AOC. These rocks are glacial remnants smoothed over by the river Rhone. These stones act to absorb the plentiful heat of the day and then radiate that heat back to the vines at night. This process helps to ripen the grapes in the vineyards with galets faster than other areas that lack them.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape produces both red and white wines, though production of red wine greatly exceeds that of white. There are 18 grapes permitted to make both red and white wine in the AOC (this was changed from 13 recently). There are no restrictions on the amounts of any grape that go into a Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend, so producers are left to mix as they see fit. Most producers in the area make red wines with a dominant percentage of Grenache, along with much smaller amounts of Syrah and Mourvèdre. The only producer that consistently uses all the grapes in the blend Château de Beaucastel.

Red wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape usually exhibit a earthy, gamey nose (sometimes referred to as “barnyard-y”) along with leather and fresh or dried savory herbs. The wines are generally strong and tannic and can age very well.

When buying Châteauneuf-du-Pape look for the raised seal on the bottle. This will be stamped into the glass. In an era (long ago) when paper labels were expensive and fell off, this stamp was a way for producers to mark their product as being genuine Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Though the practice isn’t really necessary anymore, it’s now a tradition and is recognized the world over.

Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine Châteauneuf-du-Pape, French Wine, grenache, rhone, Syrah, Wine

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to go awry? Today was one of those for me; car trouble, work stuff not on sched, wife went out of town… the list goes on, but, as with most days, if you keep a positive attitude, something will happen to straighten it out and make it all worthwhile!

We were supposed to chat about Chardonnay today, but I’m going to take a small departure to share a great find!

While waiting five (5!) hours for my car to get fixed (started as “45 minutes… no probs”) I was invited by my dear friend Debbie of Idaho Wine Merchants to the grand re-opening of Pilgrims Market – www.pilgrimsmarket.com – which has expanded from their original 4000 sq ft to a beautiful 15,000 or so! They offer the best in organic, natural and healthy food, and are doing a wonderful job! They also have a top-notch wine department… and I mean top-notch!

Master Sommelier Sam Lange and his beautiful partner Sara have built up a terrific supply, and have regular tastings on Friday. With the big opening today, they invited one of the inland Northwest’s best “new” wineries to come and pour. New is only relative, since Mike and his partner Greg Lipsker – both attorneys (thus the name!) have been making wine since 2001.

Mike White of Barrister Winery – www.barristerwinery.com- brought a wonderful compliment of wines to share, and we were not disappointed! Now, to digress slightly, I was one of their first tasters after they opened, and even then, their wines – especially the Cab Franc – showed great promise. Well, promise delivered!

I tasted a Klipsum Vineyards Sauv Blanc that was crisp and refreshing, and the moved on to the reds, starting with the ’06 Dwelley vineyard Merlot (smooth, even for being so young) and then getting a chance to re-visit the Cab Franc – this time the ’06. What a wine! Elegant, powerful… everything you would hope for in a Cab Franc! The Syrah is blended with a hint of viognier, giving it a nice acidity. Their Cab is a Big Boy, let me tell you, coming from the famous Bacchus vineyard; rich, tannic, but not overbearing.

Finally, I got to sample the brand new “Rough Justice,” a Merlot, Cab Sauv, Syrah, Cab Franc blend that knocked my socks off! Smooth, jammy, but somehow rich… eminently drinkable, and promising to get better! (I bought 3… 2 survived the evening…:) )

I’ve mentioned Barrister once or twice before, but after this tasting, I must say that they have arrived as one of the best wineries in the northwest; lots of wines, most single vineyard, fairly priced, well-crafted, great fruit, caring vintners… turned my day right around, and I’m looking forward to doing a wine maker’s dinner with Mike and Greg so I can try some more Barrister wines!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, USA Wine, Vineyards, White Wine, Wine Bar, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Barrister Winery, blends, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Idaho Wine Merchants, Merlot, Pilgrims Market, Syrah, Wine Club