Côte-Rôtie () is a
French wine
French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...
''
Appellation d'origine contrôlée
In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...
'' (AOC) in the
northern Rhône wine region of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The
vineyards
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
are located just south of
Vienne in the communes of
Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône,
Ampuis, and
Tupin-et-Semons.
[Inter Rhône: Côte-Rôtie](_blank)
Retrieved 19 January 2010 The vineyards are unique because of the steep slopes facing the river and their stone walls. ''Côte-Rôtie'' can be rendered in English as "the roasted slope" and refers to the long hours of sunlight that these steep slopes receive.
[E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pg 127-128 Wiley Publishing 2001 ]
The wines are red, made with
Syrah
Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...
grapes
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
and up to 20%
Viognier
Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...
, a white grape used for its
aroma
An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive v ...
. According to
appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...
rules, Syrah and Viognier (if used) must be fermented at the same time, a process known as
cofermentation. Because of this combination, Côte-Rôtie wine typically exhibits an almost paradoxical pairing of meat aromas (including bacon) and floral aromas.
Climate and geography

The Côte-Rôtie, and more generally the northern Rhône, has a
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...
that is very different from the more
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
of the southern Rhône. Winters are wet and marked by the cold ''
mistral'' winds that can last into the spring. During the late spring and early autumn, fog can settle on the vineyards making the ripening of grapes a challenge.
[K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 235-239 Workman Publishing 2001 ] The wine region covers along the western bank of the
Rhône River
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf ...
near the village of Ampuis. In the Côte-Rôtie, the Rhône flows southwest for . To maximize the amount of sunshine that the vines receive (especially with the fog that often develops near the
grape harvest time), vineyards will more often be planted on the south- or southeast-facing slopes along this part of the river. The Côte-Rôtie is subdivided into two main sections of varying
soil compositions - the Côte Brune ("brown slope") in the north on dark, iron-rich
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
and the Côte Blonde with its pale
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
and schist soil.
Erosion is a common viticultural hazard on these steep vineyards. The granite and schist soils are vital in retaining heat throughout the day to protect the vines from the chilly temperatures during the ''mistral'' seasons. Stone walls are built around the lands, and the hillsides are often heavily
terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
d to try to counter the issues. Some vineyard owners gather the eroded soils and rocks in buckets and carry them back up the slope to the vines.
Grapes and wine

Syrah and Viognier are the only permitted grape varieties of the Côte-Rôtie AOC. While many of the region's wines are made of 100% Syrah, up to 20% of Viognier can be added to the wine. The wines are often meant to be consumed 5–6 years after vinification but well-made examples can need 10–15 years to fully develop their flavors with some wines having the aging potential of over 20 years. The most distinctive characteristic of all Côte-Rôtie wine is the aroma. The fragrant notes of these wines often include green olives, raspberry,
violets, and meaty bacon.
Other flavors commonly associated with Côte-Rôtie wine include black pepper, white pepper, blueberry, blackberry, plum, and leather. The vines of the region are very old, with 40 years being an average and some vines being over 100. This produces low
wine yields of very flavor-concentrated fruit.
Most of the vineyards used for producing Côte-Rôtie AOC are planted on the slopes of nearly 60° incline. The appellation extends to the flatter
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
above the slopes but the wine there is generally of lower quality and is sold with the more generic
Côtes du Rhône AOC.
Legend has that the two sub-regions of the Côte-Rôtie, Côte Blonde and Côte Brune, were named after the blonde and brown hair colored daughters of a local lord who had two very different personalities. Similarly, the wines of both regions also have different characteristics. Wines of the Côte Blonde are often more
balanced, elegant and meant to be consumed earlier. Wines of the iron-rich Côte Brune contain more
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...
s, are full-bodied and meant to age longer in the bottle prior to being consumed. Traditionally, most Côte-Rôtie wines are blends of grapes from the two sub-regions, incorporating both sets of distinctive qualities.
In recent years, more
single vineyard designated wines have been produced that emphasize the ''
terroir
(; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
'' of that vineyard.
Marcel Guigal was an early pioneer in single vineyard bottling.
[J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 186 Abbeville Press 2003 ] Some of the most prestigious vineyards in the Côte-Rôtie include,
La Chatillone, La Chevalière, La Garde, La Landonne, La Mouline, La Turque.
Winemaking
The Côte-Rôtie is one of the few wine appellations that allow white wine grapes to be used in a blend of red wine. (The southern Rhône region
Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC
Châteauneuf-du-Pape () is a French wine, an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) located around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône wine, Rhône wine region in southeastern France. It is one of the most renowned appellations ...
is another.) The region was also one of the first Rhône regions to make use of new
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
barrels for aging, though the practice fell out of favor in the late 19th century following the
phylloxera epidemic.
Négociant
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:
*Cooperating with viticulturists
*Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
s revived the practice in the 1980s and today its use varies according to the producer.
History

The earliest record of
viticulture
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...
in the region dates to the 2nd century BC when the Romans first encountered the
Allobroges
The Allobroges (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman period.
The Allob ...
tribe whose territory included the regions around Vienne. While
winemaking
Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...
continued to have a long history in the region, the Côte-Rôtie did not receive much recognition until the 18th century when Parisians began discovering the wines of
Beaujolais
Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine in the Burgundy wine, Burgundy region. Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in grape tannins, tannin, but like most ...
and Rhône. Around the same time, the British also discovered the wines with the purchase logs of
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was an English Whig politician.
John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridg ...
providing one of the earliest English records of "Côte-Rôty" (sic) wine.
[H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 89, 283 & 299 Simon and Schuster 1989 ] There were added considerations with the transportation of Côte-Rôtie wine, with the region using
amphora
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
-like vases for transport instead of barrels or early
wine bottle
A wine bottle is a bottle, generally a glass bottle, that is used for holding wine. Some wines are fermentation (wine), fermented in the bottle while others are bottled only after fermentation. Recently the bottle has become a standard unit of ...
s.
[H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 131-132 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 ]
Until a few decades ago, Côte-Rôtie was not a serious competitor to
Hermitage, which was the best-known northern Rhône vineyard internationally. Demand for Rhône wines began to grow in the early 1970s, and this growth accelerated from the late 1970s/early 1980s. For Côte-Rôtie it was the wines of
Marcel Guigal which gave the appellation increased attention from the early 1980s. This included top marks from international wine critics for Guigal's wines ''La Mouline'' and ''La Landonne''. This increase in demand led to new vineyards being created. From 1982 to 2005, the area with planted vines increased from to .
The origins of the Côte-Rôtie most famous planting—Syrah—is confirmed to be indigenous to the Rhone valley. Syrah has been genetically shown to be a cross between
Mondeuse Blanche
Mondeuse blanche () is a variety of white grape almost exclusively found in and around the Savoy wine, Savoy (Savoie) wine region in France. With just of plantations in 1999, it leads a dwindling existence and is used primarily in the VDQS wine ...
and
Dureza
Dureza is a dark-skinned French wine grape variety from the Ardèche department of south central France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The grape is most widely known for being the father vine of Syrah—a discovery that confirmed that the ...
.
Bowers, J.E., Siret, R., Meredith, C.P., This, P. and Boursiquot, J.-.M. (2000). ''A Single Pair of Parents Proposedfor a group of Grapevine Varieties in Northeastern France.''
Acta Hort. ISHS 528:129-132 Retrieved 19 January 2010
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cote Rotie AOC
Rhône wine AOCs
1940 establishments in France