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The Rhône valley yields many incredible treasures, both in the North, and South. These food wines are complex, yet are easy to pair, fruity, yet not rich, and warm, yet not overbearing. Whether you prefer a juicy Napa Cabernet, or the lean acid of a Barbaresco, the Southern Rhône in particular has something for everybody, and every meal.
When I’m out to dinner with a group, or just a few family members, I know that whatever the tastes at the table, and whatever we order, these wines will pair deliciously. There could be a guest at the table who orders filet mignon: a Rhône can handle that. Another in the party orders asiago flatbread: a Rhône can handle that. Another just decides to stick to charcuterie, well no big deal, we ordered Rhône.
As far as modern wine lists are concerned, if you read my article on wine list value, generally these wines are the better priced on a list, because they almost never get ordered. Such a shame! Though southern Rhône wines go great with just about anything, below are four incredible wines that are fairly common on restaurant menus, and I’ll be informing you on how to maximize your entrée selection for the best pairing. We will pair with different appetizers, and we will discuss the flavor profiles, and how to be selective about the fitment.
First a little background on the southern Rhône. The most well known southern Rhône wine is of course, the ever-delicious Châteauneuf-du-pape. These wines are a reference to the Avignon papacy, at a time where Pope Clement V had moved the Papacy from Rome, to beautiful Avignon, France. Thus, all of the vineyards in the area were used to service the Catholic Diocese. The name of the wine literally translates to “New Castle of the Pope.”
These wines are world renown for being fruit-forward with ripe acidity, rough tannin, hot alcohol flavors, with earthy undertones of mushrooms, and soil. All of this brashness is complimented by balanced, mouthwatering acidity to provide the wines with lightness, and pair-ability. Even though this is the most famous of the southern Rhône appellations it’s not the most common and certainly not the cheapest on a wine list.
The Rhône valley is plagued by the Mistral wind that blows from the alps of Switzerland, down into the valley. In the high vineyards of the Northern Rhône, the howling wind requires building terraces and trellising to keep the vines upright, and allow workers to prune and pick. In the southern Rhône, this wind can be quite a welcome invader, as the wind cools the vine, and slows ripening in the summer heat.
Soils here are a well-draining granite underbelly, and, the pride of the locals here: galets roulé stone. The galets are a top-layer of, smooth, reflective granite stones that were deposited in the southern Rhône by the river, thousands of years ago. Because they are granite, they have quartz fusions all over the outside of the rock, and their smoothness allows them to reflect the sun directly onto the fruit during the fall months before harvest, softening the tannins.
The majority grape here is Grenache, a higher-acid, fruit-forward, hot blending grape referred to as Garnacha, in Spain, where it is believed to have originally hailed from. Grenache is blended with Syrah, the prize of the Northern Rhône, a peppery, inky, dark-fruit laden grape that adds notes of cracked black pepper, and green tapenade. Mourvèdre is the last blending grape, a floral, tannic, and round blending partner that is used to add perfume to the final product. Blends of these grapes are often strengthened with white grapes, particularly small amounts of Marsanne, which makes the color a deeper red. These blends are GSM: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre.
Turning our attention to the wine appellations themselves, I think the most common cost-effective wines from the Southern Rhône to see on a list at a restaurant, would likely be the village level Rasteau, Gigondas, Lirac, and Vacqueyras.
Rasteau is a lesser-carried appellation, and is a GSM blend. Generally speaking, it has the most soil variation being the northernmost of the following Rhône appellations. The soils in Rasteau are granite gravel deposits, this adds drainage to the soils and means the wines tend to be a little hotter as the soil doesn't retain cooling water. The southern part of Rasteau does have a lot of Galets, and is closet to the temperature regulating nature of the Rhône river. These tend to be a hidden gem because their fruit is far darker, drier, and smokier tasting than typical blends. They have a rich blackcurrant, rosemary, and black olive flavor.
If in case you’re planning to BYOB, at a restaurant with a sparse wine menu, my favorite from Rasteau is Dom. La Collière Esprit d'Argiles Rasteau. This wine comes from an incredible winemaker in the Rhône valley, and is very smooth drinking. As mentioned above, this is a dry fruit wine, but predominantly evident is its undertone characteristics of brown mushroom, and Carolina-like smokiness. In fact, it’s flavor reminds me a lot of smoked salmon in particular. There's a meatiness to it, and gravel tannin with a nice oregano backbone. Minimal overtones of black cherry are also noticeable here.
When looking at pairing, your best bet would be with a red fish, perhaps a doughy flatbread or pasta, this wine has the acidity to cut through fattiness in an almost Nebbiolo-like manner, but with the heat of Grenache. You could also pair this with veal nicely, or smoked brisket, if you were looking to compliment the flavors in the wine rathe than contrast them.
If Rasteau isn’t your style, try the incredible wines of Gigondas. These are far more common, and have a lot more selection. It’s a little larger of an appellation, so there is a little more variability as well. though one thing remains consistent, these wines must be made of eighty-five percent Grenache with only about fifteen percent Syrah, and Mourverdre, as per AOC standards. This wine is often referred to as a mini-Châteauneuf, as they age very well when stored properly and display a lot of the same characteristics. Gigondas, though, is a bit hotter in most places than it’s bigger brother. This additional heat brings more alcohol to the blends, sometimes resulting in a near fortification.
When pairing, these wines make your life easy. They go amazing with red meat, specifically lamb, but they also go very well with salads, and fresh vegetables, as they have the rich round body to compliment the acid of cucumber, tomatoes etc. You can get away with white fish, if it’s fried, but best stick to something else, as this wine may be a bit overbearing.
If you are looking to BYOB, or if by some miracle the restaurant carries it, Lavau Gigondas is an amazing product. By far more black-fruit flavors than other regional wines, specifically blackberry jam, fresh blueberry, and cedar. This wine is very complex though, and you can expect a nice minerality, slate-like concentration and even some chocolate and tobacco. This wine drinks more like a well-balanced Bordeaux, with extra intensity.
My favorite appellation is next, that is the ever-delicious Lirac - also an amazing value-wine. Lilac is nestled on the other side of the river Rhône, situated in the lower hills. It lies right to the north of lovely Tavel, a rosé appellation, which if you recall we paired with Taleggio a while back. This appellation is more exposed to the wind of the Mistral, and is slightly cooler than the prior two appellations. It also has very different sandy soils than the rest of the appellations. Being a up-and-coming area you are seeing newer vintners opting to import the galets roulé onto their land to heat the grapes.
Because of their sandy soils, Vintners in Lirac produce complex, floral blends of GSM. The thin soil results in a higher water table, and better access to nutrients, and cooling temperatures, again from the winds. Noticeably these wines are far more Burgundy-like in texture, softer tannin, and nice minerality with striking acid, and fruit-forward palette, but with strong non-fruit undertones. These wines tend to be earthy and gamey as well, with the typical alcohol finish of Grenache.
The wine I would recommend, whether you’re entertaining at home, or dining out, is Domaine des Carabiniers Lunar Apogé Lirac Rouge - an ode to traditional winemaking. This wine is a biodynamic offering, meaning it’s grown in a sustainable manner, using the techniques of following the natural rhythmic ecosystem of the vineyard, and the phases of the moon. It as stunning minerality, and dark-fruit flavors of blueberry and black cherry, with a punch of acidity on the mid-palette. It’s smoky, like the Rasteau, but has less creaminess to the smoke, and is lighter with more of a brisket-flavor.
As far as pairing Lirac, I’d look at pairing with roasted meat, to bring some acidity and smokiness, perhaps a roast of beef, or even chicken. It’s strength would make it an excellent candidate for any pasta with beurre blanc, and I can see it working nicely with scallops, or Arugula salad. This wine would be a killer next to a charcuterie board, especially with hard saline cheeses - an absolute beauty. The nice tannin, and the sharp acid, and red-fruit flavors would peel back the gritty mouthfeel on a hard Gouda, and compliment the smoke.
Lastly, but certainly not least, there’s Vacqueyras, another departure back to the right bank of the Rhône, this wine stylistically is very similar to the Gigondas. The major difference is in the bland, while Gigondas is only allowed fifteen percent of the blend to be Syrah, there is no such requirement for Vacqueyras. Most vintners choose to use large amounts of Syrah, adding to the acid profile, and depth of color, and darker fruit flavors of this region. Soil-wise, this area is slightly on the lower plain, than Gigondas, resulting in a lower water-table, though this has little affect on the power of the wines. Unlike in Lirac, these wines are not known for their elegance, and floral flavors. Their brash power is what is more highly considered here.
I personally enjoyed Domaine la Fourmone Le Poète Vacqueyras, when I had it last year, it’s a delightful wine that’s a bit more reserved, and complex for the typical Vacqueyras. It’s also cheap at only twenty dollars a bottle. The bottle I had was a 2015, I found it brash and interesting with great herbal undertones. It definitely was not too green, though. Flavors that were predominant were all fruit, particularly blackcurrant jelly, fresh black cherry, clove, and cinnamon. There is undertones of peat moss, chocolate, and espresso.
The pair ability here is good, if you’re looking to pair this wine with an entree I would suggest savory light-meat dishes like oven-roasted chicken, or turkey. This would be a wonderful thanksgiving wine as well, the richer palette-feel of this wine and savory herb flavors would make an excellent edition to the table. The wine has the body and the acidity to handle richer food. I would avoid pairing with pork, I think the fat would make the wine taste too sweet and rich, but leaner meats would be an excellent fit.
The southern Rhône wines are a staple for me when it comes to entertaining, because it’s hard to go wrong. This is a region where there is truly something for everybody, but still much to explore. If these aren’t on the menu, perhaps something similar is. GSM blends are common everywhere and increasingly so - then again, you can always just bring your own.
That's all,
~K
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