Rhone Wines - Discuss Cooking

PanchoHambre · 01-10-2009, 10:10 PM

Never messed with the Rhone Wines before.... really not so much with the French at all (except for that couple of franc stuff sold in gas stations and guzzled in hostels) tonight had a really nice syrah-grenache blend with my fillet... Very soft and bright. So what do I need to know about the Rhone?

chefnaterock · 01-11-2009, 12:58 AM

Lots of grapes grown in the Rhone. Chateauneuf-du-Pape is my favorite Southern Rhone, and Crozes-Hermitage for the North, red or white (although a good Crozes Blanc is a wild ride!) I am usually not a fan of Rose wines, but I recently had a Rose from the South that was beautifully superb.
The region is divided between North and South. Grapes of the North include Syrah, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier. In the Southern Rhone valley, wine making got its start in France a couple thousand years ago, courtesy of the Romans. Grapes grown in the South include, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Counosie, Vaccarese, Picpoul Noir, Terret Noir, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, and Picardan.

When I get my nose in a Rhone, I am at my most satisfied!

PanchoHambre · 01-11-2009, 07:32 AM

thanks Nate

So what I found interesting is that this syrah-grenache was quite different from others I have had which were not French. So what makes it different.

For the price (Low 20s) other Cali or Aussie wines of the same blend seem harsher/sweeter.

Is there a difference between Syrah and Shiraz?

chefnaterock · 01-12-2009, 12:54 AM

I would guess what really makes them different would be terroir. Climate has something to do with it as well. There are different laws that Govern the way wines can be made in each appellation, but they go into great depth, such as what percentage of which grape, crop yields, and even racking and bottling techniques. We do not have quite the same strict laws. A Sonoma wine is a Sonoma wine, it doesn't matter what methods they use. A wine can be made from grapes within Champagne, but not bare the appellation name because of the wine making method.

Shiraz and Syrah are the same thing. Only wines made from grapes grown in Australia used to bear the name Shiraz (legend says the name is taken from the "indigenous" home of the grapes in Iran), but now you see the name quite often on California wines and exceedingly on growing numbers of countries. According to most research I have read, Syrah originated in the Northern Rhone, where it became known.

So far as the balance and structure of the wine goes, what vintage was it? Could be that you had a good year. Who was the vintner?