Syrah, Viognier and Grenache across two hundred kilometres of the Rhone
France's great north-south wine corridor, stretching from the granite Syrah terraces of Cote-Rotie and the fragrant Viognier of Condrieu to the sun-scorched Grenache galets of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the rosé vineyards of Tavel.
Every vineyard, tasting room, wine bar and cellar we cover in Rhone Valley, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The iconic bottles that define Rhone Valley.
Producer: e-guigal
One of Guigal's three single-vineyard Cote-Rotie cuvees, first vinified separately in 1966. Cote Blonde Syrah co-fermented with 11% Viognier delivers a floral, red-fruit profile with silky tannins and 20-30 year cellaring potential.
Price: EUR 400-600 at retail
Producer: e-guigal
100% Syrah from the iron-rich Cote Brune, first vinified separately by Marcel Guigal in 1978. Granite-and-iron intensity with 25-40 year cellaring potential.
Price: EUR 400-700 at retail
Producer: domaine-jean-louis-chave
The Chave family has farmed the Hermitage hill since 1481. The annual assemblage of multiple lieux-dits is built on iron mineral and old-vine concentration, and a 500-year viticultural lineage.
Price: EUR 200-350 at retail
Producer: paul-jaboulet-aine
Named for the Saint-Christophe chapel on the Hermitage hill, La Chapelle has been produced since the house was founded in 1834. The 1961 vintage is a benchmark Northern Rhone Syrah, drawn from the Le Meal and Les Bessards parcels.
Price: EUR 100-180 at retail
Producer: domaine-jean-louis-chave
Marsanne and Roussanne assembled from multiple white parcels on the Hermitage hill. The Chave family has farmed the hill since 1481, producing both the white and red Hermitage assemblage as a single bottling each vintage.
Price: EUR 200-350 at retail
Producer: georges-vernay
From the oldest Viognier vines in Condrieu, this single-vineyard white is the appellation's benchmark. Georges Vernay saved the near-extinct Condrieu AOC in the 1970s; Christine Vernay continues his legacy with this extraordinary Viognier.
Price: EUR 100-160 at retail
A handful of the estates we send friends to when they are in Rhone Valley.
Ampuis-based negociant and domaine celebrated for the single-vineyard Cote-Rotie La La La trilogy from old Syrah vines.
Signature: guigal-cote-rotie-la-mouline, guigal-cote-rotie-la-landonne, guigal-cote-rotie-la-turque
Tain-l'Hermitage negociant under biodynamic conversion since the 1990s, producing benchmark Hermitage Syrah and rare Marsanne whites.
Signature: chapoutier-ermitage-le-pavillon, chapoutier-ermitage-de-lore
Paul Jaboulet Aine, founded in 1834, is a Tain-l'Hermitage negociant producing Hermitage La Chapelle Syrah from the hill's granite flanks. Now owned by the Frey family (since 2006).
Signature: jaboulet-hermitage-la-chapelle
Mauves family domaine with Hermitage holdings tracing to the 15th century, producing assemblage Hermitage Syrah and Marsanne from multiple lieux-dits.
Signature: chave-hermitage-rouge, chave-hermitage-blanc
Auguste Clape established the domaine in 1955, farming old Syrah vines on Cornas AOC granite terraces. Pierre-Marie Clape (third generation) continues the traditional whole-cluster fermentation and old-foudre aging.
Signature: clape-cornas
Cornas artisan with cult status, producing old-vine Syrah from Chaillot (younger vines) and Reynard (centenarian-vine parcel) with zero intervention.
Signature: allemand-cornas-reynard, allemand-cornas-chaillot
Vertiginous terraced granite above the Rhone, where hand-harvested Syrah co-fermented with fragrant Viognier produces structured, aromatic red wines on the AOC's 340 hectares.
Fragrant schist terraces where Viognier grows above the Rhone, filling the air with peach blossom and apricot. Condrieu AOC was decreed in 1940; Chateau-Grillet got its own AOC in 1936.
A long north-south granite corridor where fresh, aromatic Syrah and floral Marsanne-Roussanne whites grow far from the hype and prices of Hermitage, offering some of the Northern Rhone's best value.
A lone granite hill dominating a bend in the Rhone, visible for miles, where age-worthy Syrah and Marsanne whites grow across 136 hectares of named lieux-dits.
The approachable face of the Hermitage zone: wide plateaux and alluvial flats producing Crozes-Hermitage Syrah and Marsanne at prices that make the Northern Rhone accessible.
Cornas is granite intensity at its most uncompromising, dark and brooding Syrah from an amphitheatre of vines; Saint-Peray offers the only white appellation of the Southern Northern Rhone.
Also: Saint-Peray
Peak wine-travel season in Rhone Valley is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
If you only open one bottle, open Cote-Rotie La Mouline by e-guigal. It is the wine most associated with Rhone Valley.