This period saw the building of the Gallo-Roman villa of Molard, close to the Rhone at Donzère, the most important Roman winery identified to date. In the northern part of the Rhone Valley, wine-growing developed in the first century AD… and Rhone wines soon rivalled the products of Italian vineyards. In the fourth century BC, during the Greek colonisation, grapes were grown in Marseille. The bedrock plays an essential role in the way in which the growing vines are supplied with water, determining the varied aromas and flavours of Rhone wines.
Today, the valley’s soils consists of four different types of rock: granite, sandy silica, limestone and clay. Later, the closing of the Strait of Gibraltar considerably lowered the level of the Mediterranean, with the result that the Rhone began digging itself a deeper bed, creating fluvial terraces on either side of the valley and mixing the different elements in the hillside soils: sands, clay containing flinty pebbles. The Alpine Gulf created in this way was filled by the Mediterranean, which gradually deposited a base layer of hard limestone and marl (calcareous clay). Forty million years ago, the Alps were pushed upwards, causing the valley separating the two massifs to collapse. Three hundred million years ago, volcanic activity in the Massif Central produced the granitic rocks of the northern Rhone, while in the South, successive layers of fluvial and calcareous marine sediments formed such reliefs as the Dentelles de Montmirail – a huge bar of worn and scalloped limestone – and Mont Ventoux.
In a good location in Tain-l'Hermitage you'll find Le Castel, a highly rated hotel in a very nice and convenient part of Tain.įor other places to stay, enter Tournon sur Rhone or another destination in the booking box below and choose your own hotel or apartment.The Rhone Valley was the result of an epic geological clash between the Massif Central and the Alps, creating a rift valley which was flooded by the Mediterranean. We loved the inexpensive restaurant at the Hôtel la Chaumière at 76, quai Farconet in Tournon sur Rhone.Ī popular hotel with large rooms in Tournon sur Rhone is Hôtel de la Villeon. It's about the same to drive.įrom Avignon the train takes an hour and 23 minutes, while driving takes an hour and a half.įor a rail itinerary through the great wine regions of France by train, see our Rail Map. Hermitage La Chapelle - the rise and fall of a great wineīy train from Lyon you can get to the Tain-l'Hermitage station in 56 minutes. By the 18th century red bordeaux would often be stiffened by a shot of Hermitage,a practice that continued until the phylloxera louse wiped out the Hermitage vineyards in the late 19th century according to John Livingstone-Learmonth in his magisterial new book The Wines of the Northern Rhône (University of California Press). Wines grown on the mound of granite known as Hermitage on the east bank of the Rhône south of Lyons have been famous for so long that they were mentioned by both Pliny and Martial – centuries before vines grew in the Médoc. Three towers appear on the town's crest, and you'll visit two of them (and see the third in Ruins).Īnd then there's the wine. You can even take pâtisserie classes there.Īn interesting short walk that starts at Tournon sur Rhone is the Sentier des Tours, the Path of the Towers. Marked on the map is Cité du Chocolat, which stands next to Valrhona’s historic chocolate factory.
It's marked on the map, so it's easy to visit without a car.īesides fine wine, the area is noted for its chocolate. Tain-l'Hermitage is where the local train station is, stopping at the foot of the hill entirely covered by vineyards. If you are lucky enough to come in on the train, you will see it as one of the most awesome view of vineyards you've ever set your eyes upon. The vineyards of Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage are planted on steep slopes above the Rhone, and, with the white signs marking the vineyard blocks, are among the most dramatic vineyard views in the northern Cotes du Rhone region.
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The northern Cotes du Rhone region is located between the towns of Vienne and Valence, between the larger cities of Lyon and Avignon, all worthy of a visit-or indeed a full vacation. The location map on the right shows the location of the vineyards of Hermitage and the Cotes du Rhone within France. Hermitage and the Cotes du Rhone Travel Toolbox
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