Northern Rhône

Rhône Valley · France · Wine Auction Prices

The Northern Rhône stretches 70 kilometres from Vienne south to Valence, a dramatic landscape of near-vertical granite terraces above the river where Syrah — and only Syrah for reds — produces the world's most complex expressions of the variety. Six appellations form the Northern Rhône's hierarchy: Côte-Rôtie (roasted slope) at the northern extreme; then Condrieu and Château-Grillet for white Viognier; Saint-Joseph on the west bank; Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage on and around the great granite hill; and Cornas to the south. Hermitage — a single south-facing granite hill above Tain l'Hermitage — is the region's pinnacle: 136 hectares producing less than 500,000 bottles per year of red and white that can age 50+ years. Chapoutier and Jaboulet share the Hermitage hill with a dozen other proprietors; Chave alone blends seven different parcels into a single red and single white Hermitage. Guigal's three single-vineyard Côte-Rôties — La Mouline, La Landonne, La Turque — known as the 'La La La' — represent the most celebrated and most collected Northern Rhône wines at auction, aged 42 months in new oak and released only in exceptional vintages.