Rhône

It would be the Greeks who would have brought the vineyards around 600 BC, planting syrah and viognier, the two grape varieties that make up the region. This is not surprising given that this valley concentrates the most important corridor of communication routes in France. A true corridor in which a continuous and incisive wind rushes, the mistral, from which the vineyard must protect itself.

The vineyards of the Rhone valley are spread on the banks of the river, rushing down several departments: Rhône , Ardèche, Vaucluse, Loire, Drôme, and Gard, from Lyon to the Camargue

The Roman Empire exploited to the maximum this commercial section. Traces of this occupation still reappear sometimes, and some are exposed at the headquarters of the Guigal house, thus testifying to regional origins.

From north to south, roads and highways now run along large hills, where one can regularly admire the terraced vineyards, sutrut between Vienne and the Péage de Roussillon.

When we cross this region by train, whose course sticks to the river, the image that is given to us is finally fair enough. First you can see the terraced vines that sometimes compete with the fruit trees until they completely supplant them. Then, the landscape reveals a series of hills covered with vineyards, each one more beautiful than the others, announcing in a certain way the Provence . Arriving south of the Rhone Valley , we do not find much in common with the northern part. But just as the Loire has formed a "terroir", the Rhône has created its own: it is he who makes the coherence of his disparate terroirs.

The valley of the Rhone is distinguished at least in two parts: the north and the south. Southern production, for example, is quantitatively much larger than that of the north. So much so that the coasts of the Rhones come in third position after the production of the Bordelais and Languedoc-Rousillon .