In the northern Rhone, the valley is narrow and the river flows between slopes that are almost perpendicular. Such steep hillsides mean that agriculture can only happen in extremely narrow terraces. The cultivation of the vine (mostly Syrah) is almost entirely done by hand. Consequently the dry, full-bodied reds produced here are very expensive.
The appellations of Cornas, Hermitage and Cote Rotie (the roasted slope) all produce limited quantities of great red wine. Hermitage was for long considered the greatest wine in the world. Its greatness is, unfortunately, reflected in its price. Cote Rotie has some of the oldest vineyards in France (some date back to 70 A.D.). The best vineyards in this appellation are La Turque, La Landonne and La Mouline. The northern Rhone is also home to some fabulous white wines. The wines from Condrieu compare with the best of Burgundy and located within its boundaries is an extremely small vineyard called Chateau Grillet, which has its own appellation. This too produces wine from the Viognier grape. Due its small size its output is low and the wine is very rare.

Chateauneuf-de-Pape

The southern Rhone has only the river in common with its northern neighbour. The land is much flatter and the entire area is very Mediterranean. While they make small quantities of very fine wine in northern Rhone, here they make large quantities of easy drinking wine of mostly average quality. The exception is the legendary Chateauneuf-de-Pape - the big, beautiful red wine that owes its name to the new palace built by Pope John the XXII in the hills north of Avignon in the 14th century. 13 grape varieties are permitted - the four most common are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault.The other appellations in Rhone are Gigondas, Coteaux du Tricastin, Lirac and Tavel.