Rhône Part 3: Southern Rhône,
Between the Northern and Southern regions is an area called Die which makes a sparkling wine called Clairette de Die with a very individual method of fermentation. It undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle although no yeast is added. This method is called methode Diose and it relies upon the natural sweetness of the juice of the Muscat and Clairette grapes which are used to make the wine – the wine is not filtered and so when it enters the bottle fermentation can continue.
The Southern region is named ‘Méridionales’. When looking at the AC appellations in this area it can get somewhat confusing because there is a large area called Côtes du Rhône (and as mentioned before this is the AC title for wine from the entire Rhône region). The area of this AC stretches right across the river and takes up a huge portion of the Southern area. Within it there are some village appellations but not a great deal. Because of the expanse there are a number of different soils and microclimates and therefore quite a range of wines and styles. Again Syrah is the grape of choice for the reds, but is accompanied by a dozen other permitted grapes.
For a lot of wine lovers, the Southern Rhône region means Chateauneuf du Pape. This is the most famous AC from the Méridionales region and has a lovely history. In the 14th Century the village name was coined, meaning “new castle of the Pope” – this particular Pope was Gascon Pope Clement V who moved into his castle and ordered planting of vines. Chateauneuf became quite the winegrowing region, suffering and recovering from the Phylloxera disaster along with everyone else. And in 1923 Baron Le Roy de Boiseaumarie of the region set down some viticultural and winemaking rules for the continuation of Chateauneufs success and these exact rules made Le Roy the pioneer of the AOC regulations! My particular favorite piece of Chateauneuf history is a little more whimsical. In 1954, when the notion of UFOs was rife and fear about them was real, the village of Chateauneuf du Pape passed a law, which in no uncertain terms, forbade any such alien craft landing on the village and thus disturbing the precious vineyards! In France UFOs are not referred to as flying saucers but as flying cigars – and today this whole even can be seen in the label of Bonny Doon’s Rhône style wine “le Cigar Volant” which displays a picture of such an offending cigar!
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