Over the course of a typical year, I’m lucky enough to visit the Rhône around six times, and I often think to myself how enjoyable it would be to share my travels with like-minded wine lovers.

So this year, I developed a week-long tour of the Rhône Valley from north to south, to showcase the very best that the region has to offer. And what a week it was!

On Sunday evening, our group met up in Lyon, the capital of French gastronomy, where we kicked off the tour with a meal at one of my favourite local restaurants, Armada. We shared a raft of different dishes and some serious wines, including a beautiful bottle of Yves Gangloff Côte-Rôtie La Barbarine 2022 – impossible to find in the UK. A full and firm iteration of this sought-after cuvée that smelt of church incense.

On Monday morning, we set off to explore the Northern Rhône, with two winery visits per day making for an unhurried pace. We started at Domaine Jasmin in Côte-Rôtie, where we met Patrick Jasmin, who’s in the gradual process of passing the reins to his daughters Coraline and Elodie. Aged bottles of Jasmin are a rare treat, and their 2005 was in great shape; it still had dark fruits and tannic grip, and had developed gamey, menthol depths. Amazingly youthful still.

We had a fine lunch at Les Gagères overlooking the terraced hillsides of Côte-Rôtie, with bottles from Domaine du Monteillet, Domaine Monier-Perréol and Maison Stéphan before making our way to Domaine Pierre-Jean Villa, an estate making exceptional wines in every appellation they turn their hands to. Which is a lot!

After checking into Hotel de la Villeon in Tournon, some of us made our way through their terraced gardens up to their swimming pool, with its views over the hill of Hermitage. That evening, we walked to one of my favourite restaurants in the Rhône, Le Tournesol. Chef Cyril turned out a succession of delicious plates (his truffled croque monsieur being a perennial favourite) and Hea brought out some special bottles, including wonderful whites from Domaine Bernard Gripa and Christelle Betton.

It was a real treat to compare what are arguably the two greatest of all red Saint-Josephs: Domaine Gonon and Jean-Louis Chave’s Clos Florentin. Both were exceptional, and proved that the very best of Saint-Joseph can rival serious bottles from Côte-Rôtie.

On Tuesday, we explored the southern pole of the Northern Rhône, starting with a look at Emmanuelle Verset’s new plantation on the ruggedly beautiful slopes of Cornas. Back at her winery, we tasted through her range, including the Cornas Signature 2023 – Cornas elegance personified.

We continued the Cornas theme with some open-fire cooking at the Auberge de Crussol, comparing a crunchy, young 2022 Brise Cailloux from Domaine du Coulet and a deliciously mature 2016 Les Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Alain Voge.

Our next stop was Domaine Combier, one of the most iconic and forward-thinking producers of Crozes-Hermitage, now using glass globes and amphorae to great effect. We all had our favourites: mine were a perfumed 2024 Clos des Grives and a very elegant (and extremely rare) 2023 Hermitage.

Dinner at Le Cerisier never disappoints. All bottles were on song: Fayolle’s Clos les Cornirets 2019 showed the potential of Crozes’ granite terroirs, and Sorrel’s 2023 white Crozes showed what Larnage’s kaolin soils can do. Philippe Belle quietly makes some of the very finest white Hermitage. And Faurie’s Bessards-Greffieux 2015 was the summit of red Hermitage finesse.

On Wednesday we travelled to the Southern Rhône, where we spent the morning in the picturesque mountain vineyards of Gigondas, with Jean-Baptiste Meunier of Moulin de la Gardette as our guide.

He’s in the process of handing over to his daughter Zoë Meunier, who, it turns out, is also an excellent cook. It was too hot to eat in the vineyards, so we all ate together in the cool of the cellar, with some delicious older vintages. Their wines are highly vintage-expressive, and their 2017 in particular was on great form.

Then we ambled over to Rasteau, where Madeline Ferran of Domaine des Escaravailles filled us in on the other main appellations of the Vaucluse. It takes some elaborate equipment to draw out sweet Rasteau Vin Doux Natural from an amphora, and it was worth it to taste this fascinating style. She also let us taste her 2023 Rasteau ‘Heritage 1924’ from a 99-year-old plot of vines that was pulled out (not by them) last year. A bitter-sweet moment.

We checked into our Avignon hotel, La Mirande, with views over the Palais des Papes and live Portuguese fado echoing through the halls. Its reputation as the best hotel in the city is well deserved.

On Thursday morning we crossed the Rhône River to the west bank where we met with Ralph Garcin, Philippe Guigal’s man in the south, who manages Château de Nalys in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and their latest purchase – the historic Château d’Aqueria in Tavel.

We tasted their new vintages in the gardens among singing cigales. Progress here has been swift thanks to Ralph’s depth of knowledge and attention to detail – their new Heritage range of Tavel and Lirac is outstanding. We all learned a lot.

Over lunch, we compared Château d’Aqueria’s Tavel with that of Domaine l’Anglore; two contrasting styles that both had their fans. Afterwards, we shared a bottle of 2013 Château Rayas. It has all the classic markers from this incomparable estate: blood orange, caramelised strawberry, paprika and rosemary. Then so fresh and saline, with huge drive and power on the palate. An unforgettable moment.

After lunch, we visited an altogether more modern Châteauneuf estate – Domaine Mayard. Arthur talked us through his new ways of working in the vineyard and the cellar, and it was clear from tasting why this estate has become so popular so quickly.

Dinner in the garden at La Mirande started by comparing two whites: Le Bastide du Claux’s crisp Odalisque 2022 and Domaine de Beaurenard’s opulent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard 2022. Then we moved onto reds; an established cult classic, Gourt de Mautens, from 2012 was deep, intense and gamey. A future star, Gour de Chaulé Gigondas No.7 2023, excelled in an opposing style; light, bright and vibrant.

We finished the trip on Friday with an outstanding visit to Domaine de la Solitude. It’s a historically important Châteauneuf estate, but also one of today’ most experimental.

Florent Lançon is planting a dizzying array of other plants among his vines: juniper, Szechuan pepper, pears… he’s aiming for 40 different species per hectare. It’s good for the health of his vineyards and will give him a range of new products to play with, from gin to tea to eau de vie. A highlight was tasting his newest project – a perpetual reserve of his iconic Vin de la Solitude direct from wine globes.

We finished the tour with an excellent lunch at La Mère Germaine with young whites
and older reds: a glittering Clos du Caillou Les Safres Châteauneuf blanc 2024, and a nailed-on classic, Château de Beaucastel 2009, was a great note to end on.

Overall, we managed to pack in 100 wines during our week together, and enjoyed some of the best food in the region. Mission accomplished!

I’m going to run another tour around the Rhône in 2027 – if you like the sound of it, here are the details:

– Sunday 27th June to Friday 2nd July
– Maximum 14 guests
– To keep things interesting, most of the visits and wines will be different – but just as good

To apply, email Matt at mw@mattwalls.co.uk

Coming to Rhône Roots next week? Click on the link below to download a PDF of the full tasting booklet! (2mb)

Rhône Roots 2005 Tasting Booklet Spreads

See you there!

Time spent daydreaming is never wasted. And staring out of a train window is particularly conducive, I find, to letting your mind wander. Travelling back and forth to the Rhône several times a year has given me lots of time to mull things over.

There has been one idea that I’ve particularly enjoyed rolling around my head for several years – if I could organise the ideal Rhône tasting in London, what would it look like?

– It would have to feature leading estates from the Northern and Southern Rhône. Not just the Crus, but top Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, the best Côtes-du-Rhônes, and some satellite appellations too.

– I’d want all the stands to be manned by the owner or winemaker of each domaine.

– They’d have the freedom to bring anything they wanted, even Vin de France as long as it’s grown in the Rhône.

– It would be great to be able to taste older vintages as well as the latest releases.

– To encourage some cross-pollination of ideas for everyone involved, I’d also want to invite a handful of top estates from outside France that excelled in working with Rhône varieties.

Well, after a few years of embellishing and polishing the idea, it appears to have manifested itself… It’s called Rhône Roots, and it’s taking place on 30^th April at Lumière London!

For a full list of which estates are attending, and to buy tickets, click here.

This year’s Decanter Rhône Readers Trip is now open for bookings!

This is the third year in a row that we’ve put together a Rhône Tour for Decanter readers, and I’ve added a few new estates to keep it fresh. We’ll be vising some of the greatest estates in the region as we travel from Lyon down to Avignon, eating at some of the best restaurants and basking in the Provencal sunshine.

We keep numbers strictly limited so it’s worth registering your interest straight away – check out this link for the full brochure and booking details. The past two years have been great fun (with some guests booking every year) so give it some thought!

The result of three weeks in the Rhône and tasting over 1,200 wines, my full report on the 2022 vintage is now available on decanter.com.

It contains a general introduction to the vintage in both the Southern and Northern Rhône, and more focused sections on all the different crus. Not to mention full tasting notes and scores on the 400 most notable wines of the year, across a variety appellations, styles, colours and budgets.

The 2022 vintage broke several weather records – it was one of the hottest and driest since records began. But if you’re expecting jammy, boozy monsters then think again. Vines often went into ‘security mode’ due to the extreme conditions and stopped ripening – so often the wines are less ripe and alcoholic than a typical year.

Both the south and north faced similar conditions, making for a very mixed year in terms of quality… but some brilliant wines.

If you’re considering buying some 2022s, it’s worth knowing which wines excelled and which ones didn’t – subscribers to Decanter Premium can click here, or you can read edited versions on the Northern and Southern Rhône in the February and March editions of the magazine.

Photo credit: Luke Carver

Last year, Decanter asked me to imagine the perfect trip to the Rhône Valley, including the very best winemakers, the finest restaurants, and a smattering of other fun visits and sights. So I put it down on paper – and they turned it into reality for a group of readers.

It was a great success, so we’ve decided to do it again this year! I’ll meet you in Lyon, and we’ll work our way down the Rhône, stopping off at producers including Pierre Jean Villa, Domaine Alain Voge and Chapoutier in the north; Clos du Caillou, Domaine Montirius and Domaine des Bosquets in the south.

Needless to say we’ll be staying in some beautiful hotels and eating at some of the region’s best restaurants along the way.

You can find out more about it, download a detailed brochure and book tickets here.

We’re limiting numbers to no more than 20 people. It was great fun last year, so if you like the sound of it, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Interview with Jean-Louis Grippat at his home in Tournon, 20th March 2020.

Edited for clarity and brevity.

Can you tell me a bit about the history of your estate?

I took over from my parents. My father died when I was relatively young. But the domaine continued; my mother carried on with a member of staff, and after my studies I joined her in 1956. There were still some fruit trees but I specialised in wine. I had parcels in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Very little Hermitage, a hectare and a half in Les Murets. Mostly white, I had very little red. And 6ha in Saint-Joseph; the lieu-dit Saint-Joseph, the Vignes de l’Hospice and Le Clos. I retired in 2001.

You sold your parcels to Mr Guigal didn’t you? Why did you choose the Guigals?

Yes. Firstly because they offered a good price! You only sell once. But it’s not the main reason. The main reason is the quality of their work, and also to open up the market a bit.

Talking about Saint-Joseph, does the appellation have a leader of sorts?

You’d have to go back. There was a group that made some studies to improve the quality of the wine – bottling, tasting, we’d taste and criticise the wines between us with a consultant oenologist. And we progressed a lot. In Cornas there was Clape, Voge; in Mauve, Bernard Gripa, Maurice Courbis, Pierre Gonon, Gustave Coursoudon, Raymond Trollat, and some others whose names I forget.

What were the faults that you found at the time?

Volatile acidity. Lack of cleanliness. A lot of faults!

And brett?

We still didn’t recognise it. Identifying brett is very recent, we didn’t know what it was. The same as malolactic – that was the 1970s, very recent. Our wines would referment in spring, we didn’t know what it was. You’d just keep the wines a year or two in barrel to stabilise it naturally. Now we know it’s malo.

Even 15 years ago people talked about Cornas as having an animal side.

Yes, horsey. That was part of the perfume, the clients accepted because they were used to it.

Now when I taste Cornas, I taste brett very rarely. Are we actually missing something now? Was it the real Cornas, or was it a fault?

No, it wasn’t a fault, it was part of the aroma, people liked it! Now it’s more on the fruit than these more unusual aromas.

Now the style is to be totally clean, to have no brett at all.

But if you continue like that, you’ll end up with a sterile wine. Now commerce dictates a wine must be stable, that it can withstand transport. Clients rarely have cellars so it needs to be drinkable young. Wines need to be easier to drink, not too acidic, not too tannic. The opposite of what it was before. The way of life of today’s consumer has changed the way in which wine is made.

It’s a bit of a shame.

Yes, in a certain sense. But we’ve gained in finesse, in perfume, in subtlety.

Your wine was known for its finesse.

Well I don’t like wines that are too alcoholic and I don’t like new oak. And we make the kind of wines we like ourselves, right? Unconsciously. The point at which a son takes over from his father, the wine is no longer the same.

And the style of wine here, is it going in a good direction?

It’s good, but it’s getting a bit standardised, there’s not much difference between one wine and another. Before, there was a lot more difference. Even between appellations, between Cornas and Saint-Joseph the wines would be completely different.

To buy a copy of my latest book, Wines of the Rhône, please click here.

Philippe Cambie, who sadly died on 28th December 2021, spent his life working in wine and was the best-known winemaking consultant in the Rhône, having worked at ICV Groupe since 1998. He lived in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and worked with some of the biggest names in the appellation. He also co-owned Domaine Calendal in Plan de Dieu with Gilles Ferran of Domaine des Escaravailles.

The following is an interview I conducted with him on 21st May 2020 via Zoom, and is edited for clarity and brevity. Rest in peace, Philippe.

Have you noticed a change in style over the course of your career?

The evolution of the appellation is also the evolution of the people. Before, there weren’t many vignerons who had travelled and discovered the wines of the world. Now there’s a lot of young people that have studied, worked in wine elsewhere. They have discovered great wines, experienced them. And the new generation of winemakers – all of whom want to do better, to improve their viticulture, to improve their winemaking – have produced even more great wines and further revealed the quality of the appellation. And Robert Parker – he opened people’s minds. He didn’t change the wines. He simply changed the impression that vignerons had of their own appellation.

Does getting a good score with critics such as Robert Parker increase prices?

Less and less now, that was mostly in the 2000s; in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 it really helped sales. Today it’s not the same but it does boost things a bit. In Châteauneuf we’re distant from the capital, from Paris. And we’ve never had a big commercial presence in Paris, unlike some regions that are closer, so we’ve always relied more on export markets.

Ten years ago, we didn’t talk much about the importance of the oenologist, but it seems we hear more and more about them these days.

I think because the job has evolved. The first oenologues were just pharmacists that helped winemakers manage any problems. It’s a bit like medicine; originally it was to treat, but now it’s more about prevention. Oenologues today are there to accompany the winemaker, to walk alongside them. And now domaines all have in-house winemakers, whether children of the owners or staff, so there’s already a scientific base. I’m not there to say do this or do that, the role is more to offer advice, to give opinions and to accompany them along their own path.

I suppose there are different levels at which you can work with a consultant winemaker, starting just with sample analysis.

Yes, that’s obligatory now. Everybody works with a lab and an oenologue on that level – or you can work more closely, like a member of the domaine. But it’s not the same work with someone starting out as with someone that has 30 years’ experience. I’ve learnt a lot from the older generation of Châteauneuf winemakers myself. André Brunel was someone that taught me the most. I teach and guide, but I’m still learning.

Is it true to say that all oenologues have their own particular style of making wine?

If it’s a smart person with a good relationship with the winemaker, he’ll accompany the vigneron to develop their own identity. Not all oenologues are the same. Some can be dictatorial. That’s not my philosophy. I’ve always said if you look in my cellar, you’ll see 200 different wines. It’s like a taster or a journalist, they’ll prefer one style of wine over another. It’s human. The closest style to what I like is Calendal.

So is that the Cambie style?

It’s not the Cambie style, it’s the style of wine I like. If you taste Calendal, it’s got nothing to do with any other wine. Elegance, finesse, not too concentrated. But I like all styles of wine, California, Washington, Spain, Burgundy… Cabernet isn’t my thing so much, but old Bordeaux can be magnificent. What I don’t like is brett, anything animal. That I can’t stand. Or very oxidative styles, outside of Jura.

Do winemakers say to themselves ‘I want to work with Philippe because I like his winemaking style,’ or is there no such thing as the Cambie style?

No, I don’t think so. I’ve worked with most of my domaines for 20 years or so, it’s a collective effort. And if you taste the wines that I work with, Clos du Caillou, Clos Mont-Olivet, Vieux Donjon, Vaudieu, they’re not at all the same style.

Some people say that oenologues can have something of a standardising effect on wines.

There are some oenologues that choose the same recipes in terms of barrique, extraction, élévage. My estates won’t necessarily make the wine the same way every year – different maceration time, different extraction. I’ve seen some Bordeaux oenologues give vinification instructions in April – but by that time the grapes aren’t even out yet. Work will be different at yields of 10hl/ha or 30hl/ha, one parcel might have mildew, it might have to be sorted differently, it might not be possible to use whole bunches… that’s why I’m not taking on new clients. You can’t perform well if you’re not always available.

Interview with Elodie Balme via Zoom 5th June 2020.
Edited for clarity and brevity.

How did you find yourself working in wine?

I was born into it; my parents took their grapes to the cave co-operative. I always knew I wanted to work in wine, but I didn’t see myself only working in the vineyard for my whole life, so I studied the commercial side of wine for 2 years after the BAC, then I did a diploma in winemaking. After that we decided to build a small winery, to work on 3 or 4 hectares, and to continue with the cave co-operative at the same time.

So the vineyards that you work today, they are family vineyards that belonged to your parents?

It’s the vines that my father worked himself, and since then I’ve bought a hectare and a half in Rasteau when it passed into Cru. But it’s mostly the 27ha that my father had.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I have a sister; she has a bookshop in Vaison. The vines, the cellar, they’ve never interested her.

Have you ever felt responsible to take on the family vineyard?

I was lucky because I’m passionate about wine, it’s interested me since I was very young. But I felt responsible too, because it’s a family business, even if it was taking grapes to the co-operative, these are vines that were worked by my grandfather, my parents, and even further back, and I didn’t want to be the generation that sold it all off, it would break my heart. My parents always supported me because I was interested, but they never pushed me, it was my own choice.

Most winemakers I know are men. Why is it more common for men to work in wine, to make wine?

It’s a historical thing, it’s because the job is difficult, physically difficult. But the job that I know is nothing like the work my grandparents knew. Everything they did was by hand, they didn’t have the tools we have today, they didn’t have tractors, the means to hire staff. But there are lots of jobs done in the vineyards that were always done by women, pruning, debudding, taking care of young plants, things like that, not physically challenging. But for women to take on an estate, to give it their name, to say ‘it’s my estate, it’s not my father’s, not my husband’s, not my brother’s, it’s mine’ – that’s a bit more recent, as culturally… it would have drawn attention to them, it would have been unusual. It was more of a male setting. A woman would be more likely to feel judged.

Have you ever felt that people have been prejudiced against you, as a woman winemaker in the Southern Rhône?

Personally, I’ve never felt that I’ve been prejudiced against for being a woman. I’ve never felt that from neighbouring winemakers. People are more likely to be prejudiced when you’re young, like you don’t know what you’re doing or you have no experience. And also if you’re from elsewhere; if you’re a foreigner and you buy a domaine, people are more likely to watch what you’re doing. And because I was from a local family, it was logical that I should take it on, it didn’t shock anyone.

In France, I still hear people describing wines as ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’, whereas in England it’s no longer as common as it was.

When I first started out everyone would ask me the same question, ‘do you think you make feminine wines?’, and really this question irritated me! I don’t make masculine wine or feminine wine; I just make wine! My wine! Simple as that. But now, I think I know what they meant by asking me that – because it’s true, it is a feminine style of wine after all. For me, feminine wines – which can be made by men too – are wines which are less extracted, less austere. We know what it means.

And how could we describe your style of wine compared to others wines of Rasteau?

You could say it’s feminine, it has fine tannins, it’s less extracted, it has less heat, it’s better balanced – I’m not saying others’ aren’t good, it’s not a quality judgement! – but I think my wines are more accessible than lots of others from Rasteau. With Rasteau terroir, you can quickly have a lot of heat in the wine, quite marked tannins, great quality but pretty massive wines, and with feminine wines – like mine perhaps – there’s a bit less of that, they’re less pushed in that direction. In Rasteau there are some other women winemakers that make wines in that style, a bit like mine, more accessible, more on the fruit, less austere. But there are men who make wine in a feminine style in Rasteau as well – so is it in fact a more modern style, more than something that’s feminine or masculine?

For example, Domaine Mikael Boutin, it’s a small domaine in Rasteau, and a bit like mine, his wines are very accessible, velvety, without coarse tannins – so I find his style rather feminine. There’s nothing particularly feminine in his manner… is it a question of character or generation? That’s possible too. And Domaine Gramiller – lots of depth, but freshness at the same time, that drink well in their youth, you don’t need to keep them. So perhaps it’s more a question of generations than of men and women.

To buy a copy of my latest book, Wines of the Rhône, please click here.

Interview with Denis Alary at Domaine Alary, Cairanne 10th June 2019.

Edited for clarity and brevity.

Tell me how you went about promoting Cairanne from named village to cru.

We had to make a delimitation of the growing area, and put together a cahier des charges that reflected our history and an idea of how we made wine. We made the decision in 2006. In 2007 we put together our dossier. It took a year and half, we did it all ourselves. We put together a number of working groups with 7 or 8 people in each: History, Technical, Terroir, Wine, all to characterise our appellation. We presented it to the INAO in 2008. It was accepted straight away.

In the minds of many winemakers we were already a cru.

We put together a cahier des charges that wasn’t entirely economically-based. Normally they’re based on making the appellation economically viable, but we didn’t do it that way. We said ‘we have a product, and we want to keep it this way. We have soils and vineyards like this and we want to keep this tradition.’

We based our cahier des charges around this. It did cause problems. We didn’t want to destroy the hillsides with our old bush vines, and to do this there’s only one solution – to ban machine harvesting. Firstly, the vineyards aren’t set up for that. And we didn’t want to pull out trees so the machines can turn around. It’s to protect our landscape.

We wanted keep things as close as possible to how our ancestors made wine.

And why did you restrict the level of sulphites permitted?

We discussed this for a long time. eventually we agreed to take the maximum amount for organic viticulture. If you treat the grapes well, you don’t harvest with machines, so there’s no juice you can use less sulphites. Ten or fifteen of the domaines had been trying this for a long time, I’d been using small doses for a long time since going organic, so knew it could be done.

But why is it important to decrease sulphite levels?

Because when you put in too much sulphur you lose fruit, you dry out the wine, and one thing I notice straight away is that it gives me a headache, and it burns my stomach. And I’ve met a lot of people who are allergic. So we decided to be an example to other appellations. It’s to be as natural as possible.

We have three rules in fact. The first is for the health of the vineyard – reducing herbicides. The second is for the health of consumers – less sulphur. And the third is for quality and our landscape.

And thirdly, reducing herbicides?

Yes, it’s forbidden to spray herbicides over the whole vineyard. Around 13 years ago when we started the process we envisaged a 100% organic appellation. But we realised it would be a bit complicated, and we’d risk not succeeding. But it’s important for the microbiological life in the soil. In Cairanne there’s now 30% of the surface is in organics. In Côtes-de-Rhône it’s 10%. And several more estates are moving in that direction.

We’re a village that compares our work a lot. There’s a wine bar called the Tourne au Verre. Thirty years ago, we used to do a tasting every Friday, three domaines each time. everyone would come and taste, and we taste all the tanks – the best and the less good ones. And then we’d discuss. And we’ve always done a lot of parcel selections, lots of small ferments. And that helped us see which variety, which year, which terroir, which vinification, to see what worked and how it was done. And we discussed blending a lot. Cairanne is a bit of a mosaic of terroirs, and each terroir has its own particularity and can work well in the blends.

To begin with, did the INAO cut a lot of the terroir out of the appellation?

Yes, they cut a lot. To start with. 500 hectares. But we had to defend it as much as possible. We weren’t allowed to meet the experts from the INAO though, I met them twice during the entire process. There was lots of discussion for nearly 5 years. Eventually we went from 1300ha to 1088ha. The delimitation was the hardest bit, I knew on a human level it would be hard.

Were there some growers that were hit particularly hard by this?

We had to find a solution so that everyone could make a living. Those who were particularly affected were labelled as priority cases for buying vineyard land with the SAFER… And all the vignerons know each other. When you don’t know people personally it’s easier… when you know people personally, it’s more difficult.

And for 5 years we had a derogation – it gave people the chance to replant if they didn’t have the correct varieties to secure the appellation.

And how would you describe the style of Cairanne just in a few words?

We tend to use the word elegance. We don’t overextract. We try to have a wine that’s fruity, supple and elegance, with silky tannins. That’s why kept at least 50% of Grenache. It’s good, it’s silky, it’s round, it’s supple. That’s what makes Cairanne great.

It’s a bit like Rasteau, but they’re more concentrated.

And is there a difference in the viticulture and vinification between Rasteau and Cairanne?

There’s more extraction in Rasteau, more infusion in Cairanne.

Why?

They already made VDNs [Vins Doux Naturels], and that’s one of the great riches of Rasteau. But making VDNs obliged them harvest later, to get the right percentage of sugar. This gave them a generous, powerful style of wine. Some are starting to dial it back now, like Domaine La Soumade. It’s a lot of old vines, a lot of extraction, and it’s also habit.

We’re more used to work on the finesse, on the silkiness. Our terroir gives us less concentrated wines, and it obliged us to concentrate more on finesse. And lots of us in Cairanne love Burgundy!

And what’s the future for Cairanne?

Me I’m an optimist. We need to stay passionate, pushing further in quality without quality without looking for overly technical solutions. But that’s up to the younger generation.

To buy a copy of my latest book, Wines of the Rhône, please click here.