Rhône Valley

France · Wine Auction Prices

The Rhône Valley runs 200 kilometres from Vienne in the north to Avignon in the south, splitting into two distinct wine regions with almost nothing in common save the river that links them. The Northern Rhône is a landscape of near-vertical granite terraces, where Syrah produces its most serious expressions in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Cornas, and Saint-Joseph. E. Guigal's single-vineyard 'La La' Côte-Rôties — La Mouline, La Landonne, La Turque — have become the region's most iconic auction lots, aged 42 months in new oak and released only in great vintages. Jean-Louis Chave's Hermitage, blended from seven parcels across the granite and limestone hill, is the Northern Rhône's standard-bearer for age-worthiness. The Southern Rhône, centred on Châteauneuf-du-Pape, allows up to 18 grape varieties and produces a completely different wine: lower altitude, galets roulés (heat-retaining rounded stones), Mediterranean warmth, and Grenache as the dominant variety. Château Rayas, farming sand-rich soils with 100-year-old bush vines of pure Grenache, has achieved cult status disproportionate to its tiny output. Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Château Beaucastel, and Domaine du Pégau anchor the Southern Rhône's auction presence. The 1990, 1998, 2007, 2010, and 2016 vintages are the benchmark years for both zones.