Beaumes-de-Venise
Sablet
Touring some of the villages and vineyards that make the Côtes du Rhône Villages wines that we see on the wine lists and supermarket shelves. The actual villages and locations are as varied as the wines. It’s easier to relate the taste and labels to the wines having seen the geography, maybe also understanding a little more about which are the more favoured locations. The Côtes du Rhône Villages are a varied lot, small producers and vast vineyards seemingly stretching to the banks of the Rhône or the rocky limestone crags of the Dentelles de Montmirail.
There is scope for complex and varied wines within the Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation and more specific descriptions, which makes the wines interesting. The grape varietals (Merlot, Grenache, Cinsault, Mouvèdre etc) and limits on the proportions are defined by the Appellations for the assemblages but are interpreted by a variety of proprietors and organisations of vinification.
Whilst there are traditions for particular villages, these vary slightly from year to year according to the crop. Domaines, Caves coopératives and Châteaux as well as roadside and retail outlets all have their own styles and therefore labels and descriptions. Some are dryer in taste, some more tannic etc; so lots of opportunities for tasting and buying to a far greater level of detail than a bottle labelled Côtes du Rhône Villages on a supermarket shelf.
Our tour route started and ended at Séguret and we visited Sablet, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Beaumes-de-Venise, Violès, Cairanne, Rasteau and Roaix. The road signs read like a wine list! There are cycle routes which avoid the main roads but we used a car.
Gigondas
Gigondas
Gigondas
Vacqueyras
Vacqueyras
Beaumes-de-Venise
Violès and Dentelles de Montmirail
Cairanne
Cairanne
Cairanne
Rasteau
Roaix
Séguret