Northern Rhône

A northern Rhône cru between Côte-Rôtie to the north and Saint-Joseph to the south, covering seven communes in the Rhône, Loire and Ardèche departments on the river's right bank. Recognised in 1940, the appellation makes white wine only, entirely from Viognier, on steep slopes cut into narrow terraces known locally as "chaillées". The wine is usually dry, sometimes off-dry; in years that allow it, a small amount of medium-sweet or sweet wine is made from overripe grapes picked in successive passes.

A northern Rhône cru confined to the single commune of Cornas, in the Ardèche, on the Rhône's right bank. Only one grape is authorised, Syrah, and only one wine is made, a dark, full-bodied red, on steep, terraced granite slopes.

The northernmost cru of the Rhône Valley, spread over three communes south of Vienne, Côte-Rôtie probably takes its name from slopes "roasted" by the sun. Syrah heavily dominates the vineyard (at least 80% of plantings), with a long-standing right to interplant and co-ferment up to 20% Viognier, which can bring violet notes and more roundness.

A northern Rhône cru on the river's left bank, opposite Tournon and north of Valence, covering eleven communes in the Drôme, Tain-l'Hermitage among them; to the north, its area borders that of Hermitage. Recognised in 1937 for the commune of Crozes-Hermitage alone, the appellation, which may also be spelt "Crozes-Ermitage", was extended to eleven communes in 1952. It makes mainly Syrah reds, plus whites from Marsanne and Roussanne. In the north, terraced granite slopes much like those of Hermitage; in the south, the larger part, broad and flatter stony terraces, among them the one called "Les Chassis".

A hill on the Rhône's left bank, overlooking Tain-l'Hermitage (Drôme), a fragment of granite massif that the river cut off from the Ardèche uplands, Hermitage makes powerful Syrah-based reds with an accessory share of Marsanne and Roussanne, and full-bodied whites made solely from those two grapes, Marsanne leading. Recognised as a controlled appellation in 1937, following a 1936 ruling of the Valence court.

A northern Rhône cru stretching some sixty kilometres along the river's right bank, between Condrieu to the north and Saint-Péray to the south, across 23 communes in the Ardèche and 3 in the Loire. Recognised in 1956 on six communes around Tournon, the appellation takes its name from a lieu-dit in that commune; its area was extended in 1969. It makes Syrah reds, which account for most of the output, and whites from Marsanne and Roussanne, on slopes, some of them very steep, worked in narrow terraces.