Côte-Rôtie AOC

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Location of the Côte-Rôtie AOC among the major in wine regions of the Northern Rhône.
Location of the Côte-Rôtie AOC among the major in wine regions of the Northern Rhône.

Côte-Rôtie is a French wine Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of France. The vineyards are nestled around the tiny town of Ampuis just south of Vienne. The vineyards are unique because of their vertical slopes and their stone walls. Côte-Rôtie can be rendered in English as "the roasted slope" or "the burning coast" and refers to the long hours of sunlight that these steep slopes receive. The wines are red, made with Syrah grapes and up to 20% Viognier, a white grape used for its aroma. According to appellation rules, Syrah and Viognier must be fermented at the same time, a process known as cofermentation. Côte-Rôtie wine typically exhibits an almost paradoxical combination of meat aromas (including bacon) and floral aromas. However, even Côte-Rôtie from 100% Syrah can smell floral.[1]

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[edit] History

The Roman emperor Probus may have introduced Syrah vines from Sicily to the Côte-Rôtie in the 3rd century AD
The Roman emperor Probus may have introduced Syrah vines from Sicily to the Côte-Rôtie in the 3rd century AD

The earliest record of viticulture in the region dates to the 2nd century BC when the Romans first encountered the Allobroges tribe whose territory included the regions around Vienne. While winemaking continued to have a long history in the region, the Côte-Rôtie didn't receive much recognition until the 18th century when Parisians began discovering the wines of Beaujolais and Rhône. Around the same time, the British also discovered the wines with the purchase logs of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol providing one of the earliest English records of "Côte-Rôty" (sic) wine.[2] There were added considerations with the transportation of Côte-Rôtie wine, with the region using 20 gallon (76 liters) amphora-like vases for transport instead of barrels or early wine bottles.[3] The origins of the Côte-Rôtie most famous planting-Syrah, is not as clear. While it is possible that the grape maybe indigenous to the region, competing theories include the possibility that the Roman emperor Probus brought the vine to the region using cuttings from the Sicilian province of Syracuse. Another theory, though less plausible, is that Persian traders introduced the grape from Shiraz.[4]

[edit] Climate and geography

The Côte-Rôtie has a continental climate that is very different from the more Mediterranean climate of the southern Rhône. Winters are wet and marked by the cold le mistral winds that can last into the Spring. During the late spring and early autumn, fog can settle on the vineyards making ripening of the grapes a challenge.[4] The wine region covers nearly 500 acres (202 hectares) along the western bank of the Rhône River near the village of Ampuis. In the Côte-Rôtie, the Rhône flows southwest for 6 miles (9.7 kilometers). To maximize the amount of sunshine that the vines receive (especially with that fog that often develops near 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 sub-divided into two main sections of varying soil compositions-The Côte Brune ("brown slope") in the north on dark, iron-rich schist and the Côte Blonde with its pale granite and schist soil.[1] Erosion is a common viticultural hazard with the steep vineyards because 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 terraced to try and counter the issues. Some vineyards owners will even gather the eroded soils and rocks in buckets and carry them back up the slope to the vines.[4]

[edit] Grapes and wine

Syrah and Viognier are the two main grape varieties of the Côte-Rôtie. While many of the region's wines are made of 100% Syrah, up to 20% of Viognier can be added to the wine. Most wines from the region tend to have around 5% Viognier. Legend has that the two sub-regions of the Côte-Rôtie, Côte Blonde and Côte Brune, where named after the blonde and brown hair colored daughters of a local lord that had two very different personalities. Similarly, the wines of both regions also have different personalities. Wines of the Côte Blonde are often more balanced, elegant and meant to be consumed earlier. Wines of the iron-rich Côte Brune are much more tannic, 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 of that vineyard.[1] Marcel Guigal was an early pioneer in single vineyard bottling.[5] Some of the most prestigious vineyards in the Côte-Rôtie include-[4]

  • La Chatillone
  • La Chevalière
  • La Garde
  • La Landonne
  • La Mouline
  • La Turque

The wines are often meant to be consumed 5-6 years after the vintage 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, raspberries, violets, and even meaty bacon.[1] Other flavors commonly associated with Côte-Rôtie wine include white pepper, blueberries, blackberries, plums and leather. The vines of region are very old, with 40 years being an average and some vines being over a 100. This produces low yields of very flavor concentrated fruit.[4] Most of the vineyards used to make wine of the Côte-Rôtie AOC are planted on the slopes of nearly 60° degrees incline. The appellation does extend to the flatter plateau above the slopes but the wine there is generally of lower quality and is sold with the more generic Côtes du Rhône AOC.[5]

[edit] Winemaking

The Côte-Rôtie is one of the few red wine appellations that allow white wine grapes to be used in the blend. (The southern Rhône region Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC is another.) The region was also one of the first Rhône regions to make use of new oak barrels for aging, though the practice did fall out of favor in the late 19th century following the phylloxera epidemic. Négociants revived the practice in the 1980s and today its use varies from producer.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan "French Wine for Dummies" pg 127-128 Wiley Publishing 2001 ISBN 0764553542
  2. ^ H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 89, 283 & 299 Simon and Schuster 1989 ISBN 0671687026
  3. ^ H. Johnson & J. Robinson The World Atlas of Wine pg 131-132 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 ISBN 1840003324
  4. ^ a b c d e f K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pg 235-239 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1563054345
  5. ^ a b J. Robinson Jancis Robinson's Wine Course Third Edition pg 186 Abbeville Press 2003 ISBN 0789208830

[edit] External links