Friday, March 14, 2025

A Tour through the Rhône Valley, March 9th, 2025, at the Northern Loudoun County (NoLoCo) Chapter of the American Wine Society, Presented by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours

Annette led a tasting of 8 wines from the Rhône Valley on March 9th, 2025, at the Northern Loudoun County (NoLoCo) Chapter of the American Wine Society.

The NoLoCo chapter meets at the private home of a member. This time, it was at our house in McLean, Virginia. There were 25 participants.

The event always starts with a social hour and ends with a pot-luck dinner.

Invitation

A Tour through the Rhône Valley, March 9th, 2025, at the Northern Loudoun County (NoLoCo) Chapter of the American Wine Society, Presented by Annette Schiller

Annette Schiller will guide us on a tour through the Rhône valley; we will taste eight wines:

Two entry level Côte du Rhône (a white and a red)
A classic Condrieu
Two Northern Rhône Syrah from top producers
Two Southern Rhône reds (one village and one cru level)
A full-bodied classic Châteauneuf-du Pape

Annette and Christian will host the meeting at their house in McLean. The per-person tasting fee will be $25. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by March 4th -- using the SignUpGenius link you will receive shortly in a separate email. If the slots are full, please send me an email and I’ll put your name on the waitlist.

On the 5th, I will send out a confirmation email, with the address, to those listed in SUG. That will also serve as a reminder to make a comment (if you have not already done so) in SignUpGenius about your planned potluck dish.

Annette has provided some background on the Rhône Valley, which is the second largest, and one of the oldest, wine regions in France. The Greeks, the Romans, and the Papacy (which moved to Avignon in the 14^th century) all influenced Rhône Valley wines.

The Rhône Valley is divided into two distinctively different regions.

The Northern Rhône is 60 miles in length and produces just 5% of Rhône wines. The region has a continental climate with pronounced seasons. The soils are granitic and schistous and the vineyards are located on very steep terraced slopes. The red grape of the Northern Rhône is 100% Syrah. Depending on the appellation, the red wines are often blended with 5 – 20% of the white varietals Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne.

In the Southern Rhône region, the valley is wider and the climate is more Mediterranean (long, warm summers and mild winters). The Southern Rhône accounts for 95% of the Rhône wines produced. Grenache is the principal variety in most red wine blends, and other varietals include Syrah, Mourvèdre, (“GSM” blends) along with other red and white grapes. The landscape is much flatter, with a variety of soils: alluvial soils, limestone subsoils, sand, gravel, and stones. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape region is famous for the “galets roulées,” (large, rounded stones smoothed by both glacial and fluvial actions over time and deposited in the region) which give Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines their distinctive character.

Jennifer Crafts (NoLoCo Chair): Thank You

Hi Annette and Christian,

You two hosted a very memorable NoLoCo meeting on Sunday. You are professional not only at doing presentations that highlight a region’s wine-making and wines, but also at hosting and making everyone feel so welcome. As you could tell from the comments, the group really enjoyed all of the wines that you selected. And all seemed very pleased that they are available locally, so thank you for sharing that information.

Christian’s professional-quality photos showed how lovely the northern and southern Rhone areas are, and I’m sure that the attendees will be making plans to go there (or return there). (We were in the area so briefly -- travelling through with non-wineaux friends who didn’t have the interest in stopping for LOTS of wineries -- so we are vowing to go back. Plus, one of Rex’s top two or three favorite grapes is Syrah.)

On the way home, we talked about how everyone was having such a great evening that they stayed for a long time and finished the stellar wines (even though a few probably needed to get home due to working on Monday).

Thank you for all of the effort and time it took to prepare your house for the group. It was a LOT, especially since you have sooooo much going on now. Everyone really appreciated the opportunity to meet your daughter while she was in town.

With MUCH appreciation for all that you did,

Hugs and cheers –

Jennifer

Social Hour

Tasting

The Wines

Dinner

Rhône Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller

Rhône Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller took place from October 13 - October 23. The tour started in Lyon and ended in Châteauneuf-du-Pape/ Avignon. There were 8 of us including Annette and Christian Schiller.

For an overview see: Overview: Rhône Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller - Facebook Day-by-day Postings