Côte Rôtie

The southern Rhône by contrast is flatter and wider, has a Mediterranean climate and is home to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Beaumes-de-Venise. It also plays host to the icy Mistral wind, which can reek havoc in the vineyards. Whereas the soil in the north is primarily granite and schist, the south is famous for its flat circular stones, called 'galets' or pudding stones - these have the effect of retaining the heat by day, and reflecting it onto the grapes by night, almost like a storage heater.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Wine styles also vary considerably between the north and south. The Syrah is responsible for the big, full bodied, peppery reds of the north which, at their best e.g. Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, can fetch similar prices to top Bordeaux.

White wine is of lesser importance but here the Viognier grape is used to produce quite stunning wines in, for example, Condrieu and Chateau Grillet. Harvesting is much more difficult and labour intensive owing to the steep terracing, which precludes mechanical means.

Down south the emphasis is on blended wines using a plethora of permitted grape varieties. The most well known appellation, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, for example, permits the use of up to 13 different grapes. In practice, though, a lot fewer are used, the main varieties being Grenache, Carignan, Cinsaut and Mourvedre. Co-operatives play a big part in the wine making process and indeed much southern wine is still purchased by the big negociants in the north for blending and bottling, primarily as Côtes-du-Rhône.

Many people associate Rhône wines with the ubiquitous Côtes-du-Rhône which, at worst can be thin and insipid and, at best fresh, upfront and very good value. Unfortunately the appellation applies to such huge tracts of vineyard, primarily in the south, that quality cannot be guaranteed on the appellation alone.