Northern Rhone
Northern Rhone
Located in the vast Rhone Valley wine region, the northern Rhone is a famous French wine producing region whose northern point is just below the city of Lyon, and southern point around the town of Valence. Separated from the more prolific southern Rhone by the 45th parallel (and a gap of about 40 kilometres) the northern Rhone is responsible for less than 10 percent of the greater Rhone Valley output, but most of the focus is on premium quality wines. Wine made in the northern Rhone is typically red and almost exclusively produced from Syrah. Even though the output is small the three white wine varieties of the northern Rhone, Marsanne, Viognier and Roussanne, all play a part, either on their own or as a minor blending component in the Syrah. Historically the appellations of Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Cote-Rotie make the most highly regarded red wines of the northern Rhone, while Condrieu is a distinctive white wine appellation, making both sweet and dry wines from Viognier.
