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I’ve talked about France’s Rhône region in a few previous posts—rosé winemaking, carbonic and semi-carbonic maceration, and of course Southern Rhône red blends. So I think it’s time for an overview of the Rhône and it is, in my mind, easier to do so by separating out the North and South. So, let’s start at the top and work our way down of this very narrow French wine region. Here we go…
Red wines from the Southern Rhône are often a blend of grape varieties. State the stylistic and practical reasons why a winemaker in this region might choose to blend.
In a recent post discussing carbonic maceration, I briefly mentioned a bit about Beaujolais. And in my Wine Regions of Burgundy post I completely ignored Beaujolias, which is, in fact, the southern-most portion of Burgundy. Yet, so different is Beaujolias from its northern neighbor that few associate the two together. And even textbooks—from the WSET to Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible—break the two areas out into separate chapters. So, let’s dive in and find out what exactly makes Beaujolais so unique.
Much red wine labelled Côtes du Rhône is produced using semi-carbonic maceration. Answer the following questions about the process.
Pop Quiz, and this time it’s all about rosé winemaking. The original question, borrowed from my WSET tutoring, was quite a simple and straight-forward one. I, of course, am going to go out of my way to make it, as my dad would say, more interesting.
Original Question: Name and describe TWO methods for making rosé wines.
Stacy’s Version: Name and describe THREE methods for making rosé wine. Then, let’s go on a tour of rosé wines around the world. Which method is traditionally used in each region.
Ouch…I am a glutton for punishment… 😉