FrenchDuck’s databank
Côtes du Rhône

Rhone Exaltation is the second Festival of Wine and Food from the Rhône Valley to be held in the historic Palais des Papes (Pope’s Palace) in Avignon (84 Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur).
Here you’ll have the opportunity to taste more than 200 wines, check out some food and wine matching and learn more about Côtes du Rhône wines and local gastronomic specialties - all in the grand surroundings and heritage of Avignon’s most famous buildings.
For more info see www.inter-rhone.com

Vinsobres is one of the named Côtes du Rhône Villages – entitled to include the name of the village on the label – indicating a generally higher quality from vines grown on the hillsides on the edge of the southern Rhône Valley. This festival and ceremony marks the official start of grape picking (vendanges) and includes a tasting of the best vintages from Vinsobres wines.
For more info see http://www.vinsobres.fr/

Vinsobres, Cotes du Rhone-Villages AC is one of the crus of the southern Rhone, and celebrates the beginning of the Harvest (Ban des Vendanges du Cru)

For more info see http://www.vinsobres.fr

Veraison wine festival at Chateauneuf-du-Pape. As this is the most prestigious wine of the southern Rhone valley, then it should be well worth a visit.

It is a ”traditional” medieval  festival with joustings, horse riding, jugglers, fire eaters, sword fights and a medieval style carnival centred around a winemakers “village” (village vigneron)

“Veraison” refers to the point in grape development when the process changes from growth to maturing - the berries change colour - and this point is usually a good early indicator of the date of the harvest.
For more info see www.chateauneuf.com/

One of the most important Côtes-du-Rhône Villages holds its annual Festival - lots of music, Provencal market stalls and the opportunity to taste the wines of Cairanne.
There is an excellent co-operative and a large number of indpendent growers - for more see www.frenchduck.com

Evening Jazz concerts in the vineyards of the Southern Rhone

1 September 2007 – Cairanne

27 October 2007 – Visan

17 November 2007 – Cairanne

For more info see www.frenchduck.com

For some Canadian friends we put together some ideas from our experience to demonstrate how best to do a few days wine touring in the southern Rhône Valley. This is such a rich area to visit - scenically, historically and from a wine (and food) perspective.

We chose to base the tour in St Remy de Provence (13, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence) a few miles south of Avignon for easy access to Les Baux de Provence, Beaumes-de-Venise, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Cairanne, Lirac, Tavel and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Others will choose different start points and other vineyards - importantly we think wine tours need to be paced, as an over-indulgence can dull the senses and diminish the enjoyment. And there are so many other things to do in the region, as well as just relax in the delightful climate and atmosphere of Provence.

For more info see www.frenchduck.co.uk

The Domaine la Fourmone and its sister vineyard l’Oustau Fauquet produce top quality Vacquyras AC, Gigondas AC and Côtes du Rhône wines -
More info about the domaine
see map (more…)