Côtes du Rhône AOC

As early as 125 BC, the Romans founded the town and vineyards of Vienne, and Inter Rhône calls the Gallo-Roman villa of Molard, near the Rhône at Donzère, the most important Roman winery identified to date. Planting restrictions to protect quality applied from 1615 in the district then called 'la Côte du Rhône', set on the limits of the former civil diocese of Uzès, and in 1650 regulations were introduced to ensure the wine's authenticity and safeguard its quality. In 1737 an order of the Conseil d'Etat required the letters 'CDR' and the vintage to be marked on the barrels of about ten communes, among them Roquemaure. The name became 'Côtes du Rhône' in the mid-19th century, when it was extended to the left-bank vineyards, and the district courts of Tournon and Uzès legally validated its reputation in 1936. The AOC was recognised by the decree of 19 November 1937, and the Villages tier followed with the decree of 2 November 1966.

• Baron Le Roy, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape grower, advocated for Côtes du Rhône wines in the 1930s; he presided over the INAO from 1947 to 1967
• In 1864 the agronomist Jules Guyot, reporting to Napoleon III, used 'Côtes du Rhône' in the plural for the vineyard running from Saint-Gilles to Tournon
• Côtes du Rhône became an AOC in 1937, and INAO's national committee later approved delimitations in February 1994, September 1996 and November 2014
• The Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation was established by decree on November 2, 1966, with a further decree on August 25, 1967

The geographical area is the natural region of the Rhône Valley, stretching between Vienne and Avignon across six départements on both banks of the river. Those départements are Ardèche, Drôme, Gard, Loire, Rhône and Vaucluse, while the commune list in the modified cahier des charges approved by INAO's national committee in 2025 also includes three communes of the Isère: Chasse-sur-Rhône, Seyssuel and Vienne. Production is concentrated in the south, from Avignon to Donzère, while the northern part is more oriented toward the crus, and north of the Montélimar parallel (44°33') the rules adapt the grape mix and ripeness requirements. The climate is Mediterranean in the south, with hot, dry summers and low annual rainfall, and temperate continental in the north; rain falls mainly in autumn and late winter. The Mistral, an often violent and always drying north wind, blows on average 120 days a year, clearing the skies and favouring sunshine of more than 2,500 hours a year, and it protects the vines from fungal disease. Soils include soils on river terraces, soils on marl and soft limestone, and erosion soils of marl, sand, sandstone or molasse.

• The producing area covers 172 communes, and the vineyards stretch from Vienne to Avignon
• The Mistral blows on average 120 days a year, and the mountains and hills framing the valley create a corridor (venturi) effect that strengthens it
• The appellation has five main soil types; rocky clay soils, pebbles and stony deposits on hills and slopes release stored heat at night and suit wines with good ageing potential, while loess and sandy soils suit red and rosé wines and some lighter reds
• Inter Rhône describes the climate as Mediterranean, refreshed by the Mistral, with hot, dry summers, sometimes violent storms, low rainfall and rare snow

Red and rosé wines rest on three principal varieties: Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Each estate's red and rosé plantings must be at least 70% principal varieties, with Grenache at least 30% (except for estates north of the Montélimar parallel) and Syrah and Mourvèdre together at least 20%. In the blend, the wines combine at least two principal varieties, always including Grenache, with principal varieties at 60% or more; north of the Montélimar parallel a wine may come from a single principal variety. Grenache noir tends to bring fruit flavours, warmth and body, while Syrah and Mourvèdre typically give spicy flavours, good colour and firm structure. White wines draw on six principal varieties, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier, which must make up at least 80% of the white plantings. The appellation allows 23 varieties plus four VIFA adaptation varieties, which as of 2024 may make up to 10% of the final blend. Reds account for 93% of production, rosés 4% and whites 3%.

• Grenache: at least 30% of an estate's red and rosé plantings south of the Montélimar parallel, and a mandatory part of the blend there
• Syrah and Mourvèdre: together at least 20% of red and rosé plantings; they typically add spice, colour and firm structure
• White wines draw on Bourboulenc, Clairette, Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier as principal varieties; they tend to be floral and round, sometimes with exotic notes
• The four VIFA varieties are Rolle (Vermentino), Carignan blanc and the disease-resistant hybrids Vidoc and Floréal; they are also capped at 5% of an estate's declared Côtes du Rhône area

More than 1,000 private estates and nearly 5,000 growers grouped in 65 cooperative wineries produce the appellation, and JancisRobinson.com calls co-operative wineries extremely important in the southern Rhône. A significant proportion of southern Rhône wine is shipped north in bulk to be sold with a Tain or Tournon address on the label. Cooperation has deep roots: in 1929 Cairanne set up its own cooperative cellar, the same year the Syndicat Général des Vignerons des Côtes du Rhône was founded. In the north, Maison Guigal was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in Ampuis, at the heart of Côte-Rôtie, and its Côtes du Rhône red is a blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre aged 18 months in foudres. Many producers make a Côtes du Rhône alongside a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and Château de Fonsalette is Rayas's Côtes du Rhône label.

• More than 1,000 private estates and nearly 5,000 growers in 65 cooperative wineries produce the appellation
• Cairanne's cooperative cellar dates from 1929
• Maison Guigal (founded 1946, Ampuis): its Côtes du Rhône red blends 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre
• Château de Fonsalette is Rayas's Côtes du Rhône label

Côtes du Rhône AOC covers 172 communes, and its rules require Grenache Noir to make up at least 30% of an estate's red and rosé plantings south of the Montélimar parallel, with Syrah and Mourvèdre combined at a minimum of 20%. Côtes du Rhône Villages AOC (established 1966 to 1967) covers 95 communes in four southern departments and imposes stricter yield limits and higher minimum alcohol requirements. Within that appellation, 21 villages have reached a standard of quality that allows them to add their name to the label. The appellations known as the Crus des Côtes du Rhône lie in both the southern and northern parts of the zone; Laudun became a standalone cru in 2024.

• Base AOC: yield 51 hl/ha, with a ceiling (rendement butoir) of 60 hl/ha; minimum natural alcohol 11% south of the Montélimar parallel and 10.5% north of it; white wines at least 80% principal varieties in the plantings
• Côtes du Rhône Villages: 44 hl/ha, or 41 hl/ha for wines with a geographical name; minimum natural alcohol 12%, rising to 12.5% for reds with a geographical name; Grenache at least 40% of red and rosé plantings
• The 21 geographical names include Séguret, Sablet, Plan de Dieu, Valréas, Visan and Signargues; Cairanne, formerly a Côtes du Rhône Villages with its own name, became a cru on 29 June 2016 and is not among the 21 geographical names in the current Villages rules
• Red and rosé Côtes du Rhône may carry the mention 'primeur' or 'nouveau', and such wines must show the vintage on the label

Much of the appellation's history can be traced on the ground. The Dentelles de Montmirail, a huge bar of worn and scalloped limestone, is one of the southern reliefs formed from layers of river and marine sediment, alongside Mont Ventoux. In Avignon, Benedict XII, the third of the Avignon popes, ordered the building of the Palais des Papes, and John XXII, the second, had a summer residence built at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. At Laudun, the Camp de César, a major archaeological site on a vast fortified plateau, was the Romans' vantage point over the Rhône. Pliny praised the wines of the many hillsides along the Ouvèze, where villages include Rasteau, Roaix, Vaison-la-Romaine, Séguret, Sablet, Beaumes-de-Venise and Gigondas.

• The Dentelles de Montmirail and Mont Ventoux are reliefs formed from river and marine sediments in the southern Rhône
• Avignon's Palais des Papes was built on the order of Benedict XII, the third Avignon pope
• Laudun's Camp de César is a major archaeological site on a vast fortified plateau overlooking the Rhône
• The 95 Côtes du Rhône Villages communes run from the Drôme Provençale to the banks of the Durance and from the Ardèche to the Pont du Gard

Primary sources (INAO, Inter Rhône and Maison Guigal): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO2026AOPCotesduRhone.pdf, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO2026AOPCotesduRhoneVillages.pdf, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/rhone-valley-vineyards/appellations/aoc-cotes-du-rhone, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/aoc-cotes-du-rhone-villages, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/wine-school/history-vineyards, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/territory-and-terroir, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/cotes-du-rhone-cru-aoc-laudun, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/cotes-du-rhone-cru-aoc-cairanne, https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cotes-du-rhone-red/, https://www.guigal.com/en/maison-guigal/our-history/. Secondary sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/wine-regions/france/southern-rhone, https://www.decanter.com/wine/wine-regions/rhone-valley/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/rhone/e-guigal-cotes-du-rhone-rhone-france-2019-66754/. Last verified 2026-10-05