North Rhone - Hermitage to Southern Rhone Gigondas and everything in between
Sunday 30 June - Wed 3 July
Northern Rhone to Southern Rhone and Gigondas and more
A few catch phases _ that stuck
Could we please have the salad dressing on the side.
Do you really need another map?
Hey look, there's a boulangerie, is it open?
We certainly learnt you need to get your baguette early.
Hermitage the spiritual home of Shiraz!
“This is the magic and part of Burgundy.” – Marlene, Domaine Melody, on rules and prestige.
Notes from the North
The hills or terraces here are properly steep, and the vines are trained low with no trellising. Hermitage is considered the spiritual home of Syrah. Some growers still use horse and cart alongside hand harvesting, and the gradient is genuinely unbelievable to stand on. Hermitage itself has the best aspect, north facing into the sun.
Roussanne is the softer, more delicate variety, precious and harder to work with. Marsanne is easier going, the backbone of a blend, adds structure, tougher all round. Cote Rotie is the only appellation where you can blend in Viognier. In Crozes-Hermitage you can only plant Roussanne and Marsanne, but you can blend them in any proportion you like, even 100% of one.
Irrigation is forbidden across France unless there is a scientific reason, or the vines are very young, we actually saw baby vines being irrigated right at the top of Hermitage hill. Up here in the north there is no mention of climat or terroir on the label, just the name of the wine or the street or plot it comes from.
Covid, apparently, was very good for the French wine business. And Saint Joseph, Cornas and Saint Peray are all old villages that feel very similar to one another, especially seen from the top of Auberge de Crussol.
