GRAPE ESCAPES - RHONE WINE TASTING TOURS

Wine Tasting Holidays and Trips for Wine Lovers

Grape Escapes is a specialist French wine tour operator, offering a broad range of wine tasting tours and trips to the vineyards in the main French wine regions: Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, The Rhone and The Loire.

Rhone Wines

This part of France is most famous for its big red wines; in particular the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape can be superb. However, the less famous wines found in the villages surrounding the Dentelles offer some very attractive wines at a fraction of the price. In particular, some of the winemakers in the villages of Gigondas, Vacqueryas and Rasteau are currently producing some excellent wines.

Whilst the majority of wine produced in the region is red, there is also a small production of rosé and dry white wines. The region is also responsible for several sweet / fortified wines including the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise and some sweet Rasteau’s.

The French AOC rules about which grapes can be used in the region are at their most broad in the southern Rhone; for example up to 13 varieties can be used in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and 22 varieties in Gigondas. However, the principal variety used across the region is the Grenache grape. This produces rich and warm wines with a particularly high alcohol content. Other important varieties include Syrah (Shiraz) & Mourvedre.