The Rhône is one of the oldest and most soulful wine regions in France — a single great river that grows two utterly different wines, planted first by the Greeks and perfected by everyone since.
Follow the Rhône river south from Lyon toward the Mediterranean and you pass through one of the most ancient vineyards on earth — and one of the most misunderstood. “The Rhône” is really two regions with almost nothing in common but a river, and its story reaches all the way back to the ancient Greeks who first carried the vine to these shores.
Greek vine, Roman valley
Wine came to the Rhône with the Greeks, who introduced vineyards to this corner of France around the 4th century BC, planting near their colony at Marseille.[1] The Romans followed in 121 BC, sailing up the river and taking the town of Vienne, and by the first century AD some of the world’s oldest vineyards were established in the steep Northern Rhône.[1] Few places have been making wine longer, or more continuously.
The Northern Rhône: Syrah on granite
The north is small, cool, and dramatic — steep, often terraced hillsides on hard granite soils.[1] Here Syrah is king, the only permitted red grape across most of its great appellations: Côte-Rôtie (the “roasted slope,” named for its sun-facing hills), Hermitage (whose granite makes some of France’s longest-lived reds), and Crozes-Hermitage.[1] These are wines of pepper, smoke, and iron — the purest expression of Syrah in the world.
| First planted | By the Greeks (~4th c. BC) near Marseille; Romans from 121 BC[1] |
|---|---|
| Northern Rhône | Syrah on steep granite; Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage[1] |
| Southern Rhône | The GSM blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre); Mediterranean climate[1] |
| The scale | The south makes ~95% of the region’s wine[1] |
| The jewel | Châteauneuf-du-Pape — the popes’ wine[1] |
The Southern Rhône: the GSM blend
Travel south and everything changes. The Southern Rhône is vast — some 95% of the region’s production — sun-baked and Mediterranean, and built on blending rather than a single grape.[1] Its signature is GSM: Grenache for warmth and fruit, Syrah for structure, Mourvèdre for depth. And at its heart sits its most famous appellation, Châteauneuf-du-Pape — the “new house of the Pope,” whose vineyards grew up in the 14th century around the papal court at Avignon.[1]
The Rhône is not one region pretending to be two. It is two regions that happen to share a river — and both were old before Bordeaux was born.
One river, two souls
What makes the Rhône endlessly rewarding is exactly that split personality — the austere, mineral north and the generous, sun-drenched south, both born of the same ancient river. It is a reminder, echoed everywhere from Burgundy to the Willamette Valley, that in wine, geography is destiny.
Related reading: Châteauneuf-du-Pape · wine in ancient Greece · the Burgundy wine region · the Wine History Timeline
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Northern and Southern Rhône?
The Northern Rhône is cool and steep, with granite soils and Syrah as the dominant (often only) red grape — think Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. The Southern Rhône is much larger and warmer, with a Mediterranean climate and blended reds led by Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre (GSM), including Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
How old is winemaking in the Rhône?
Very old. Greek colonists introduced vineyards around the 4th century BC, and the Romans expanded them from 121 BC, making the Northern Rhône home to some of the oldest vineyards in the world.
Sources
- “Rhône Valley” (Greeks introduced vineyards ~4th century BC near Marseille; Romans from 121 BC and Vienne; Northern Rhône Syrah on granite — Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage; Southern Rhône GSM blend and Mediterranean climate, ~95% of production; Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Avignon popes), Wine Enthusiast; and “Rhône wine,” Wikipedia. wineenthusiast.com
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper on wine history.
The World Atlas of WineHugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
Wine from Grape to GlassJens Priewe
Wine Folly: Magnum Edition — The Master GuideMadeline Puckette & Justin HammackAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
