(wine pouring)

(upbeat lively music)

- Welcome to Southern Rhône.

Is there a more beautiful wine region

than the Rhône Valley in France?

Dotted along the banks of the Rhône River

is one quaint town after another,

connected by sprawling vineyards
and stunning landscapes.

The vines along this
path produce a vast array

of Côtes du Rhône wines,
from charming whites,

to fresh rosés, and supple reds.

But it's the people who make those wines

that make this region truly special.

They care about the land they cultivate,

and are working to preserve
it for future generations.

They're committed to honoring legacy,

taking care of the environment,

and innovating for the future.

And there's nothing I like
more than a Rhône road trip.

So welcome to Southern Rhône,

and welcome to "V is for Vino."

(upbeat lively music continues)

♪ Do you like that ♪

(cheerful upbeat music)

Welcome to Avignon.

Avignon is the official capital
of Côtes du Rhône wines.

Not only does it make a great home base

while exploring the region,

it also has its own incredible sites

and history worth checking out.

The most famous?

The Palais Des Papes, or Papal Palace,

which is the largest
Gothic palace in the world.

Sometime the 14th century, Pope Clement V

fled political unrest in Rome

and brought the Papal
residence here to Avignon.

Spanning seven popes, this was the seat

of Western Christianity
for several decades,

before the Pope moved
back to Rome in 1377.

But to really understand
Rhône Valley wine,

we need to go a bit further back in time.

Like, way back.

Located in the southeast of France,

the Rhône Valley was formed
from millions of years

of volcanoes and tectonic activity.

Over time, the valley was squeezed

in between the Massif Central
Mountains and the Alps.

All this wonderful history
over millions of years

made dynamic wine-making soils,

ranging from clay,
limestone, granite, sand,

and big rocks called pudding stones.

The valley stretches 125 miles

from Vienne to Avignon
(slide whistle blows)

along the Rhône River,

which is the lifeblood of the region.

It's been used throughout history

for irrigation as well as transport.

The Romans planted grapes in
this area as early as 400 BC,

but it wasn't until the 1300s
that things really took off.

The Popes in Avignon that
we spoke about earlier

wanted wine produced
locally in the region,

so they helped cultivate
vineyard land here.

(upbeat music continues)

This is Pont Saint Benezet,
a bridge made in 1185.

While only a portion of
it remains intact today,

it used to be super important.

At the time it was built,
it was the only bridge

where you could cross the
Rhône River within 200 miles.

This river is part of
what makes the region

so visually stunning.

Small towns line the banks of the water

and the hilltops nearby.

Luscious lavender and olive
trees grace the fields.

Medieval castles and Roman history

scattered throughout the region.

But we're here for the vineyards and wine,

and let me tell you, there is a lot of it.

The Rhône Valley vineyards

are the second largest AOC in France.

And while the region is split

into Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône,

and home to about 30
different appellations,

for this episode we're only
gonna talk about Southern Rhône.

95% of the wine
(slide whistle blows)

from the region comes from here.

About 75% of that is red,
(slide whistle blows)

followed by 15% rosé, and 10% white.

The climate in Southern
Rhône is Mediterranean,

and the summers are warm and dry,

which means heat-loving grapes like

Grenache, Syrah,
(bell ringing)

Marsanne, Roussanne, and
Mourvedre flourish here.

The land is mostly flat, which allows

the mistral winds that travel
through the Rhône Valley

to cool down the region.

This leads to grapes that can ripen well,

but retain freshness and
acidity due to the cool nights.

But the real star of the
region is the Rhône River,

which helps vines by
regulating temperature,

reflecting sunlight onto the grapes,

and bringing amazing soils to the area.

(upbeat music continues)

While the Rhône Valley
may make a ton of wine,

don't be fooled.

It's incredibly focused on
the quality of the wine,

and taking care of the land.

It's one of the oldest
wine regions in France,

and since the 1980s and '90s

when the wine region really
found its popularity,

winemakers have worked
hard to both preserve

the vineyards and wines
for future generations.

As you're going to see,
biodiversity is a huge part

of most winemakers' missions here.

They do things like employ
sheep in the vineyards

instead of lawnmowers,
encourage insects and animals

to help bolster the ecosystem,

pursue environmental certifications,

reduce and recycle water,
and a slew of other measures.

All in all, this helps
manage the land in a way

that both increases the quality of vines

while also preserving them for future use.

(upbeat music)
(text whooshing)

(bright cheerful music)

To help me navigate all this wine,

I needed someone who knew the area.

For that, I contacted my friend Sarkis.

Sarkis is your quintessential Frenchman.

He grew up here in the Rhône Valley.

He's cultured, he dresses great,
and he's into classic cars.

So naturally, I had him pick me up.

Look who it is, the best
dressed man in France.

He chose his 1957 Morris
Garages MGA roadster;

a classic car to explore a classic region.

(cheerful bright music continues)

At Carré du Palais we met a
fellow American and sommelier,

Kelly McAuliffe.

Kelly has been working as a
sommelier in this part of France

for over 20 years, and may be
the most well-versed American

on the planet when it
comes to Rhône wines.

- The Frenchman who moved to America

and I have the American
who moved to France.

(Sarkis laughs)
(group cheers)

- You mentioned to me you were
a male model at one point.

- Once upon a time.
(group laughs)

I was a lot thinner back then.

Yeah, I was modeling around the world,

and ran into a beautiful French woman,

and as I say to people, she harpooned me

and I was too big to throw back.

You know, and I didn't
wanna be the dumb American,

being invited to dinner all the time.

So I got "Wine Spectator," I
got Hugh Johnson's "Atlas."

It became a passion.

- [Vince] Speaking of
passion, man do the French

know how to make a cheese board.

18-month Comté, an local
ash rind goat cheese,

a soft cow cheese, plus
ham infused with truffles,

aged chorizo, and trout crudo.

We paired it all with
Domaine de la Valeriane

Côtes du Rhône rosé.

- Charles de Gaulle said,
"How do you run a country

when you have more cheeses
than days of the year?

- [Vince] (chuckling)
Starting with the rosé,

why with the charcuterie?

- We're at the end of summer right now.

They go great with charcuterie,
they don't offend anything.

This has got really nice
acidity in this wine,

so the acidity's gonna
break through the cheese.

It's gonna work very well
with the charcuterie,

and probably work excellent
with the salmon as well.

- And what I do like about
the Côtes du Rhône rosés,

is they have sometimes
a little more weight

than some of the lighter Provence styles,

so I think a little better
with food, in my opinion.

Côtes du Rhône rosés are
versatile pairing wines.

Because this wine was
a riper, fuller style

with less citrus and more red fruit,

it went great with our board.

It had the weight to match
(bell ringing)

the variety of items,

the acid to cut through the
fatty trout and cow cheese,

pair with the salty meats and Comté

and match the acidic goat cheese.

Sarkis was the one who
convinced me to come here.

I mean, he was like,
"There's so much to explore."

What gets you excited about this region?

- So much.

You know the government body, the INAO,

they came in and they
really did their due duty,

and they broke it down,

and they go by the quality of the soil.

In all honesty, the
Rhône bang for your buck,

it's almost unbeatable in France.

- Really?
- It's just a steal.

- It's good, yeah.
- Yeah.

- True pleasure wines.
- I dont talk price on the show

typically, but I will say,
anybody watching at home,

like, you can afford every
single wine we're gonna taste

on this trip.
- Yep.

- And I can't say that about
everywhere I go, right?

- (laughs) No.
- You know, obviously

there are crus you can get into,

but you can stay in the Côtes du Rhône

and the village level and
the named village level,

and just have fun.

The next course was a lot of fun.

A base of corn shrimp and onions

topped with a mandarin mousse,

and crispy shrimp tempura.

And the wine, Domaine
du Bois de Saint Jean

Côtes du Rhône blanc, which in this case

is a Viognier-based wine.

- This wine is sick.
- It's crazy.

- Oh my gosh.
- Why in the US,

we don't highlight the
white Côtes du Rhône?

Because everyone knows about
red, how to pair it with food.

But I think to be fair,

the white is one of the
highlight of the region.

- It's aromatic, it's
peachy, it can be tropical.

- Down here in the south,
we've got a ton of sun,

so you end up with these kind of, like,

high-sugar grapes.

And high sugar grapes are
gonna give you high alcohol.

So when it comes to white wine,
that's kind of unfriendly.

So you have to be really smart.

But the guys that make white
down here that are really happy

about making their whites, they're good.

- They're good.
- They're good.

- Well there's a whole
bunch of grapes down here

that they can use in their blend.

- But each one does something
different to the batch.

- You know what makes
it makes me think about,

it's like, you know, in
the perfume industry,

you have the perfumer right?

He's gonna blend everything,

all the ingredients to create something

for the nice perfume.
- Yeah, yeah.

- It's a science.

- [Vince] The fruity/floral
notes played so great

(bell ringing)
with the mandarin

and sweet corn flavors,
matched the weight of the dish,

and the acid cut through the
creaminess of the mousse.

Our last dish was a vegan pumpkin risotto

with roasted vegetables and
seeds topped with pea sprout

and basil pesto, and it
looked as good as a tasted.

We paired it with a
biodynamic Côtes du Rhône,

Mas de Libian's Khayyam GSM blend.

The Rhône cut their teeth on red.

That's what they're known for.

That's most of the wine production.

- So you can see the color already.

This is gonna be fun.

And as we see in French, "digeste".

You smell the wine, you can pick up

all of those really fun
cherry, red fruit flavors

that are coming, for me,
coming through big time.

And yet it's got a, like
a lightness of being.

There's this freshness and
like crazy drinkability.

So for those vegetarians,

those vegans with those people like that,

you've got a wine here that goes beautiful

with pretty much a 100% vegetarian dish.

- All right, so there used to
be maybe a school of thought

that these were always rich, really heavy,

really tannic wines.

I wouldn't describe this as that at all.

- No, at all.
- This is medium,

medium-plus body, it
has great acidity to it.

This is very, very pairable.

Floral, juicy, and herbal,
this fresh GSM blend

matched the weight of our
dish while still retaining

enough acid to contrast
the richer risotto.

And the herbal and floral flavors

in the wine loved the green herbal pesto

while also contrasting
the smokey roast veggies.

In general, roasty and grilled flavors

are such a great match
with Côtes du Rhône reds.

Gentlemen, thanks for
joining me for lunch.

- It is my pleasure.

It's an honor to be able to
help someone like yourself

promote the Rhône.

People need to drink more wine.

- I'm doing my best.
(group laughs)

All right, I'm gonna get
'em all on board, I promise.

Lunch was great, but if all
this talk of Côtes du Rhône

and Villages and crus is
making your head spin,

don't worry, we're gonna
chat about it right now.

(upbeat music continues)

(bright cheerful music)

You talk about places where
you can go and do a road trip

when you come to wine country.

This may be one of the top ones,

because you can see the
geology that's in the wine

in the landscape, but
you can see the slopes

and you can see these giant, you know,

mountains and you can see
the rocks and the layers

and different colors
and slate and graphite.

You can see it physically.

So it's not like you're
just going to the vineyard

and they're saying, look at the soil.

It's like, oh, you can see

millions of years of
geology in the landscape

as you drive through it.

And I think that's something
that's really unique

to this region.

(bright music continues)

(upbeat music)

What is Côtes du Rhône?

I'm sure you've seen the label before

when you've been out shopping for wine.

Côtes du Rhône is a
place, a wine, and an AOC.

Let me explain.

An AOC, or Appellation
d'origine controlee,

is a government designation similar

to AVAs in America or DOCs in Italy.

It regulates where a wine can come from,

and how it can be made.

So a Côtes du Rhône refers to the wine

made from specifications
defined by the government

and tradition, as well
as the region itself.

There are four main AOC categories

in the Rhône Valley:

Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages,

Côtes du Rhône Named Villages,

and Côtes du Rhône Crus.

The higher you go in the pyramid,

the more specific the area you
have to get your grapes from,

and the more strict
your specifications are.

Côtes du Rhône wines can come

from the largest area.
(bell dings)

while Côtes du Rhône Villages wines

must come from one of
95 different villages.

The third level is Côtes
du Rhône named villages,

and this is where things
get really exciting.

Behind me is a village called Seguret.

If you buy a bottle of wine

from the vineyard
surrounding this village,

the label would say Seguret, and below it,

Côtes du Rhône Villages.

There are 22 of these named villages

spread across their own valley,

and these wines tend to
be a bit more complex

and more age worthy than their
Côtes du Rhône counterparts.

They have their own distinct
soils, history, climate,

and therefore distinct terroir

worthy of their own designation

within the Côtes du Rhône appellation.

(upbeat music continues)

The top level are the
17 Rhône Valley Crus,

and some of the names you may know,

like Gigondas, Tavel, or Lirac.

These wines won't say
Côtes du Rhône on them.

They'll just have the cru name listed,

and it's up to you to
know that these wines

come from the Rhône.

Some of the more recent cru started out

as Côtes du Rhône named villages

and then applied to have their
specific cru appellation,

such as Rasteau and Cairanne.

(upbeat music continues)

And just like that,
I'm in another village.

This is Sablet, another
beautiful Côtes du Rhône

Named Village full of
great wines to explore.

You won't find any Cru wines here,

but here's the deal, while
the Cru wines are great

and definitely worth trying,
they represent only about 20%

of the wine produced in the Rhône.

Some of the most exciting
and value-driven wines

are coming from the other the categories.

And so that's where we're going

to spend our time this episode,

exploring the Côtes du Rhône,

Côtes du Rhône Villages,

and Côtes du Rhône named Village wines.

Because the reality is
that all the AOCs here

have great quality wines within them.

The AOC governing body does a great job

of regulating quality at
all levels for the consumer,

from setting the rules
of vineyard management,

yield levels, vinification,
aging, and even the labeling.

If its labeled Côtes du Rhône,
you know exactly what is,

and isn't, going into your
wine, and how its being made.

(upbeat music continues)

(upbeat music)

Sarkis and I drove to the eastern edge

of the Southern Rhône Valley to visit

our first winery of the
trip, Domaine de Montirius.

There, we met the Saurel family,

who specialize in biodynamic wines

and really embody the spirit
of the Côtes du Rhône.

- Eric, what was special about this plot?

- The same type of clay.

When you first came, you
didn't know any of this.

You just said this feels-

- (laughs) This feels right in my heart,

and you turned out to be right.

- It's kind of loose,
it's a dark deep brown.

(Vince inhales)

- You know what it smells
like? Is potting soil.

- Rather than,

and you mentioned it used to be

kind of almost like a gravel, like this,

pale and-

- Lifeless.

- They can't go deep.

- Sure. It's literally alive.

Cristine and Eric shared with me

all they do to maintain
certified biodynamic vineyards:

magnesium to supplement the vines

when they don't get enough naturally,

the same way we might take vitamins,

natural fertilizers, encouraging
wildlife, raising chickens,

and even peacocks, which
help attract other birds.

They recirculate the water from the cellar

through an underground
purification process

that they then use in their home.

Bees, so many bees are encouraged

to help keep the vineyard healthy.

After my tour, I met with their daughters,

Justine and Manon to do a little tasting.

(upbeat music continues)

So what do you guys both do in the winery?

What are your roles?

- I'm with the commercial part.

- I work in the vineyard.

- You know how I believe you?

Hold up your hands for
the camera. (laughs)

- Yes, I'm sorry. (laughs)

- [Vince] Most your wines I
think don't use any oak, right?

- No, no oak.
- Yeah, oak can be great,

but can also be a place to hide flaws.

If you have no oak, you're just showing

what the grapes gave you in the terroir.

- It's a mix of Roussanne, Clairette,

and white Grenache.
- Do they co-ferment?

- Yes.

- An easy wine, good for aperitif wine.

Easy drinking, you get
the acidity at the end,

you get the minerality that
comes here at the back,

and the idea is really
to be on the fresh style.

As we don't bring any
water, we don't irrigate,

the roots, they can really go down,

go into the soil deep, deep down,

and they get the freshness
from the bottom of the soil.

- Kind of gravelly,
rocky minerality to it,

mixed with some fresh citrus.

(upbeat music continues)

- We are like guardians,

guardians of the places,
guardians of the vines,

and our job is to take care
of it, take care of nature.

From that, making a wine.

- I think a lot of
winemakers in this region,

they don't think, okay,
I'm gonna make a big winery

and then in 20 years I'll
sell it and I'll retire.

They think I'm going to make a big winery

that I can pass down to my children.

Not just the brand and the
business, but the land.

(upbeat music continues)

Look at the color on the red.

Côtes du Rhône wines
often have this perception

of big, tannic, weighty wines.

I mean, this has the color
of, I dare say, a pinot.

It's cherry, it's semi-transparent.

- 60% of Grenache.

Grenache, the best place is here.

- Yeah.
- In the Côtes du Rhône,

south of Côtes du Rhône.
- Côtes du Rhône?

(Vince laughs)
- In the planet, yes!

- We think that the
key thing with Grenache

is to harvest at the right maturity.

You were mentioning before,
there is no oak, no barrels,

so it helps also to get this freshness.

A wine without oak is like
beautiful woman without makeup.

(group laughs)

- And I noticed by the way,
on the back of this label,

you're saying no oak.
- No oak.

- You're saying it's Grenache-Syrah.

You're saying it's biodynamic,

zero irrigation.
- Yep.

- What is the last one?

"Zéro entrée d'origine animale."

- It means that we don't use

anything coming from animals.

- But, I mean, the amount of information

on the label is stunning.

When you look at some other
wine labels in the world,

"red blend from France."
(group laughs)

You know? And so like,
this is really amazing.

It seems like there's transparency

as to what we're doing in the vineyard.

- I think in Côtes du Rhône Appellation,

we have nothing to hide, as you're saying,

so we just want people to
understand what is in the bottle.

- Whenever I come back here,

there's something unique happening.

It's like when I drive around,

I feel like I read a Marcel Pagnol novel.

(group laughs)
When I look around,

I feel like it's a mix
between Chagall, Renoir,

I mean, look at the landscape.

And I think there is a real
awareness here for people, like,

to respect nature.

When people come to Côtes du Rhône,

drink this wine, look around,

meet the people on this Earth,

they'll have a different experience.

- Cheers, guys.

The label of biodynamic
can sometimes carry

a voodoo-like stigma,

but if you talk to the Saurel family,

they would tell you that its to them,

its just a way of implementing
natural techniques

that work for their vineyard.

Cristine herself would
tell you that whats right

for Montirius may not be right
for the winery in Washington.

But she's proud that she
shared their 25 years

of experience with their neighbors,

and helped them mitigate problems

with natural solutions as well.

It's important to them, it's
their passion, and the wine,

well, the proof is in the pudding.

(upbeat music continues)

Hey everybody, I hope
you're enjoying the episode.

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Now, back to the episode.

(bright cheerful music)

You could literally
spend one day per village

doing your little road
trip, having a picnic,

going to the little town
in a little restaurant

that's in each village,

and do a whole vacation just like that.

The way that these villages
were constructed so long ago,

and then they just adapted
them for modern life,

not the reverse.

They left as a place that
was meant to not have cars,

and the cars just have to adapt. (laughs)

That's why the cars are
so small here. (laughs)

(upbeat music)

Southern Rhône is known for its blending

of different grape varieties.

Blending allows winemakers to
make dynamic and complex wines

each and every vintage.

There are 23 different grape varieties

produced here for the blends,
(slide whistle blows)

and three main styles of
wine: white, rosé and red.

(upbeat music continues)

White Rhône blends are some
(bell dings)

of my favorite white wines in the world.

They only account for about
10% of Côtes du Rhône wines,

but that number is growing, and winos

and somms alike love to seek them out.

The main grapes are
Grenache Blanc, Viognier,

Marsanne, and Roussane.

They usually have beautiful floral

and herbal notes with peach, lemon,

and honey or beeswax character,

and just the right amount of acidity.

They range from medium-bodied,
fruity, and zesty,

to full-bodied, waxy and rich,

to seriously complex and oak-aged.

It all depends on the blend and winemaker.

(upbeat music continues)

The best way to describe the rosé wines

from Southern Rhône is
flavorful and fresh.

They're plush and fruity,
while still being a bit spicy,

and tend to have a bit more color and body

than their Provence counterparts.

They pair wonderfully
with sauteed vegetables

like Greek-style mushrooms, goat cheese,

or even seafood curries
or tomato-based dishes.

(upbeat music continues)

Finally, no conversation
of Rhône wines is complete

without talking about the reds.

(bell dings)
Red wines are what put

Côtes du Rhône on the map,

and while there are
about a dozen red grapes,

there are three that are by
far the most common: GSM.

It stands for Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre,

and it's the blend that
made this area famous.

Grenache adds your acidity,
alcohol, red fruits,

herbs like thyme and
rosemary, and plush character.

Syrah, which is native
to the Rhône, by the way,

adds blue and black fruits,
spice, and meatiness.

And Mourvèdre adds tannin, backbone,

floral notes, and finish.

Together, they make a
complex, dynamic wine,

like a three-piece band
(horns play)

rather than a solo-musician.

For a long time, Côtes du Rhône reds

were known as richer and tannic in style.

But the new wave of producers
are using more Grenache

in their blends, picking earlier,

and making supple, balanced, fresh styles

that are higher in acid,
(slide whistle blows)

and great for drinking
immediately, and pairing,

and are a killer value, to boot.

(upbeat music continues)

(bright upbeat music)

The Rhône Valley is perfect
for a road tripping adventure,

so I was grateful to have
a fun car to do it in.

There are 14 different wine trails here,

and dozens of villages to explore.

Some, like Vaison-la-Romaine,

are built into the walls of the rock.

It looks like something
right out of a fantasy novel.

You'll find Roman ruins,
medieval churches,

and the hum of modern living,
all within a few blocks.

2000 years of history
married in a single village.

Each Tuesday they have a market,

so Sarkis and explored the town,

and got some ingredients
for a picnic lunch

to bring to our next winery.

But first...

Can we also start with
a coffee, by the way?

- [Sarkis] How many should we order?

- They always want coffee.
- So four or five,

I would think.

- [Vince] A word of advice:

don't let me loose in a French market.

- The best basil in the world.

- Best in the world?

That's a big claim.
(vendor speaks indistinctly)

Oh, that's good.
- Yeah?

- That's really good.

All right, Francisco.

Seriously, don't, don't do it.

Oh, we should get some olives, huh?

- Yeah.

You have to try this one,
it's like it's a specialty.

- Oh, it is good.
- And-

- Can you put a couple of those on top?

Look at this sausage cart!

10 Euro for four?
- For four, yeah.

- I mean, how do you
pass up a deal like that?

Ah, I like pepper, I think we should get

the pepper one.
- Oh, me too.

- Herbs, dry, Saucisson Sec.

- Four.

Well, do you wanna-
- Oh, you know what though?

I didn't see the duck.

Sorry, I like the duck.

- Cheese in France is like oxygen.

It's everywhere, and you can't
have a picnic without it.

You think this is the cheese guy?

- Do you have any preference

or something?
- No, I love everything.

- Okay.

Wow, that kind of a guy.
- (laughs) Yeah.

(Sarkis speaking French)
- Yeah, that one's great.

- Do you wanna try that?
- Let's get some of that.

- Bonjour.

Wow, so his parents
were doing the same job.

- Wow, cool.

A second-generation
jam maker. Very French.

Okay, okay. Baguettes and I'm leaving.

Ahh, but what about the nougat?

I love the original.
- Do you want some?

- Yeah, give me a small slice.

Kidding aside, I always love

how seriously France takes food.

No matter where you are,

every item we eat each and
every day had a human being,

and sometimes an animal, behind it.

France always reminds me to approach

that artistry and sacrifice
with the reverence

and the appreciation it deserves.

(camera shutter snapping)

(upbeat music)

In the oxymoron that is the
north end of southern Rhône,

you'll find Domaine de Cousignac,

a little oasis of that's been protected

by seven generations
of the Pommier family.

Raphaël Pommier is the
current guardian of the land,

and winemaker who makes what
he calls "bottled humanity,"

aka wine, on his certified organic land.

What a cool property,
how pretty it is here.

- It's very, it's vibrant.

It has a lot of nature around.

The wine, in fact itself, comes
from the terroir, you know,

and the terroir is something
sometimes we don't understand

because it seems very complex,
but in fact it's just life.

- Sure.
- And when you go somewhere,

you discover that this
life comes from, well,

the type of soil, the type of
grass, the type of animals.

See the bees here?

Look at them there.
- They love it.

- Yeah, they're drinking the water

because the water comes
from the wells, you know,

and it's nice, you can even pet them.

Oh, hello, hello you.
- (laughs) You're a brave man.

No, because they are
happy. They are drinking.

What we have to understand
is that when we have

in our fields some life,

this life has to be preserved,

has to be maintained,

and for that we need to know it.

- Sometimes we overcomplicate terroir.

What soil is it and what's
the angle of the slope?

The true meaning of terroir
is representing a place

in the best possible way and
making the vineyard alive,

because it's a living, breathing organism.

You have a self-contained ecosystem.

- For example, see this grass here.

- Yep.
- This is wild fennel,

wild peppermint.
- Oh, did you plant all this?

- No, they're growing naturally.

- It just happens naturally?
- Yes, and by maintaining that

naturally between the vines,
you create an environment

that will give the terroir taste,

because the grapes nearby,
they're going to infuse

in this aromatic.

- We say that from wines
near the ocean, right,

they get salinity,

so why wouldn't it
happen with other things?

With the plants and the herbs

that are in the field.
- Exactly.

But to get this grass, I
need the insect over there

to have that in my field.

- As we were in harvest,
Raphaël took me to the tanks

to try some recently fermented juice.

And then he told me about
something he did to his wines

during fermentation that
I hadn't seen before.

So, and where did you put the speaker?

- Over there, and inside the tank-

- In the tank?
- You have the speakers,

and it plays 24 hours a day.
- Wow.

- For the entire time of the fermentation.

- That's right.

He stimulates the yeast during
fermentation with music.

- Natural yeast. I
mean, it's alive inside.

So by using the music, I
stimulate the fermentation

and I stimulate the yeast, in fact.

The vibration are creating movements.

I'm speaking to you. I
vibrate my vocal cord.

The the air is vibrating,

and you transform that into information.

So why not?
- Why not? Why not the yeast?

- Why not the yeast?

- [Vince] I know what you're thinking,

you skeptics out there.

Does it help make better wine?

There's only one way to find out.

We prepared some foods from the market

and got to tasting.

- So I like to blend at
least three varietals,

because like, you know, a chair,

it is stable when you have three feet.

I like this number three, you know?

The number of communication,
the trinity also.

I don't know, I'm feeling attracted

to this (laughs) number.
- Yeah.

- You do you do get a
little bit of the best

of all those grapes that
you put in here, right?

The floral and the apricot.

Tropical notes from the Viognier.

What does the Roussanne bring?

- The Roussanne brings
some spice, white pepper.

You can also find some cinnamon, you know?

- A lot of times some of those
spice notes come from oak,

and this, any oak on this?

No, right?
- No.

- Exactly.

So you get this amazing
dynamic spice component

simply from the grapes.

- I harvest my whites only in the night.

No heat, no wind, no
oxidation, no sulfites.

(upbeat music continues)

The Accord Tonique, it's a special cuvée

that I created with a
quartet of classic music.

Grenache is for the cello.

You know, Grenache, it's full-bodied.

It's opulent like the cello, okay?

Then Syrah, well, the alto,
very low on the notes.

It's like the Syrah, very
earthy, too, very strong tannic.

And then the first and second violin,

they are very light, easy
freshness, fruits, you know,

Cinsault and Carignan.

Blending those grapes, but on top of that,

we were putting inside
the tanks, the music.

- I don't know if it's because
we're talking about music.

This is a pretty wine.

Floral, rose character.

I get these beautiful,
almost plummy fruits.

- Well, that could be a rosé
and could be a nice dark red.

- Yeah.
- And that brings some,

what you said, the floral, you know,

the floral note.
- Some of that floral note.

And the other thing this
gets is an herbal component.

You know, garrigue, the thyme,
rosemary herbal component

that you get is really,
really special to this region.

- Oh, that's really the
trademark, what you said.

- Mm-hmm.

- You can also listen to the music.

If you use smartphone,
you can have the music

we used to play during the fermentation.

- So you can listen to the
music while you drink the wine.

- Exactly.
- And I love it.

- I mean it's all, from
the beginning to the end,

the music.

- Cheers to that.

("Ton Île Prison" playing)

This is one of the songs that was played

during this wine's fermentation.

The wines are incredible.

But I'm sure you wanna know,

does all this holistic
agriculture, music playing,

and happy-go-lucky bees,
does it make a difference?

I don't think its for me to say.

Because it's worth it for Raphaël,

and that's all that matters.

Similar to music itself,
what he does is magic.

He makes wine out of thin air,

coaxes grapes in existence from nothing,

and turns them into an experience

and a memory we share at the table.

So if preserving his
family's land like this

is important to him,
it's important to me too.

(gentle music continues)

(bright upbeat music)

I've had a chance to try
some of the cru wines

while we've been here,

but like here's how I
know I'm onto something.

I went to a restaurant
last night with our crew,

and we said, Hey, I told the waiter,

here's a price point.

Take any wine you want from the list,

and just make it from Southern
Rhône, 'cause we're here.

And he didn't bring me a cru wine.

He brought me a named Côtes
du Rhône Village wine.

So that to me says, oh, we
found a little hidden gem here.

You want the stuff that
tourists aren't getting.

(upbeat music)

The city of Valence is known
as the Door to the South.

Below that you're in Southern Rhône,

and above it, well,
you're in Northern Rhône.

And maybe one day I'll continue
and explore that region.

But for today, this is as
far north as we're gonna go,

and that's okay, because here

is where Chef Baptiste Poinot

opened his Michelin-rated
restaurant, FLAVEURS.

After studying under some
of the top chefs in France,

he opened his own restaurant
as a love letter to the region

and it's gastronomy.

Sarkis took a stroll with
the chef to learn more.

- [Vince] While Sarkis was
chatting with the Chef,

I had a very important meeting
on the other side of Valence.

(bright upbeat music)

There are some names in the wine world

that are synonymous with
region they represent.

Titans of their corner of the globe.

Guigal is one of those names.

This winery was instrumental
in changing the perception

of Rhône wines globally,

and while they're quite famous

for some of their high-end
bottlings, I got to meet

with third-generation
winemaker Phillipe Guigal

at Parc Jouvet to talk about why a winery

of their reputation
still finds it important

to make Cote du Rhône-level wines.

So 1946, right after Second World War-

- World War II, exactly.
- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.
- So it's an interesting time

to start a winery, but-
- It's a bad time.

- Yeah.
- At the time,

it was not very trendy
to produce quality wines.

And my grandfather was very
focused on top qualities,

top appellations, Côte-Rôtie,
Hermitage, Condrieu...

Later on, Côtes du Rhône came, of course.

Very important to us today.

- You have obviously cru wines,

but you produce these
Côtes du Rhône wines.

Why are these important to you?

- We believe that people
discovering the Rhône Valley

will not go for the most expensive wines.

This wine is extremely important to us,

because we want to make sure that

people will drink a simple Côtes du Rhône

with a high quality.

Côtes du Rhône is not
a snobbish appellation.

That is to say, you never
talk to your friend saying,

oh, yesterday evening I
drank a Côtes du Rhône.

Okay, well the difference
with the Rhône Valley

is that it's a humble appellation.

- Yep.
- But we completely refuse

to produce humble wines.

I think the Rhône wines
are extremely balanced.

You have this richness,

you have this opening that
is very typical of the Rhône,

but you have the balance,
you have the acidity,

and this is linked to
the blends, of course.

- And that is one of the beautiful things

about all the Rhône blends.

But white Rhônes in particular say, okay,

I like the floral from Viognier,

but I don't like the lack of acid.

So we can boost the acid
with your, you know,

your Grenache blanc, or
whatever it might be.

And so you get these really balanced,

complex wines every vintage,

because regardless of what
grapes ripen better or worse,

you can still make a great wine.

- Totally right. Totally right.

(upbeat music continues)

- The name Guigal is known very well

within the, not only the Rhône,

not only France, but the wine world.

You could have sold your brands,

had a nice life in Saint-Tropez. (laughs)

- Saint-Tropez is not as nice as here.

- Okay, so (laughs) that's a good answer.

My question, why is it important
to you to keep the winery

in the family?

- Very simply because I'm not working.

I have a passion.
- (laughs) Yeah.

- And it's difficult to
sell a passion to someone.

There's one rule:

you never force the new
generation to take over.

- Sure.
- My dad never asked me

what kind of job I wanted to do.

He showed me by the
example what he was doing,

and I got extremely
interested by, you know,

the many hours he was
spending in the vineyards,

in the cellars, et cetera.

I do the same with my kids.

I have boys, they're 12
years old, extremely young.

I don't know what they're gonna do.

I'm not going to force
them to be winemakers

or to work in the vineyards.

They already ask a lot of questions,

"Dad, why are you doing this?

Why are you doing that?"

So I'm trying to build the passion.

- And it also probably,
correct me if I'm wrong,

but allows you to dictate how the land

and how the terroir is preserved.

- Especially when you live, you know,

in the Rhône Valley,

when you are in a vineyards
where you are 100% sure

that the same vineyard was worked

more than 2000 years ago by Romans,

you feel extremely small.

- Yeah. (laughs)
- You feel extremely humble.

- We're a blip on the timeline.

- Exactly, so you have a role.

The role is to carry on.

The work tradition is extremely important

in the Rhône Valley.

We are a traditional vineyard.

We are a historical vineyard,

and of course we are passionate people

in the Côtes du Rhône.

- One of the coolest parts about my job

is how many people get
to go to wine regions

and meet the people who helped
make the region what it is?

So this was an honor.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you so much.

- Cheers.

(upbeat music continues)

(upbeat music)
- If you're a fan of the show,

about now, you're probably
wondering where the Nerd Lab is.

Don't worry, it's not
leaving, but it is moving

from these travel episodes
to our brand new show,

"Vino First."
(triumphant music)

And I'm super excited about it.

While most people pick a
wine to pair with their food,

if you're anything like me,
you start with your wine

and then you cook a dish that pairs.

So "Vino First" takes place

right here in my kitchen
(bell dings)

where I take a wine of the day,

talk about it and taste it,

and then figure out its
structure and flavors

and how they would work
with food pairings.

Get it? "Vino First."
(pencil scratches)

Then we'll cook a dish
from start to finish

that pairs with our wine.
(bell dings)

Dishes that you can do at home.

And yes, these episodes will also include

everybody's favorite
segment, "The Nerd Lab."

Look for "Vino First"
on our YouTube channel,

and it'll be released in the months

opposite our travel episodes.

Let's get cooking.

(upbeat music)

Sarkis and I met Maxime
Chapoutier for dinner.

If you haven't heard the name before,

know that Chapoutier

is kind of a big deal in the wine world.

They're an iconic Rhône winery

leading the way in
biodynamics for the region,

and focused on family legacy.

All right, now the meal can begin.

- [Maxime] Cheers.
(Vince laughs)

- Let's talk about this wine.

- Belleruche.
- Belleruche.

- Belleruche so it means
beautiful honey house.

- It does have some honey character.

- This is quite traditional
in the Rhône Valley

to have this honey taste

because of the Roussanne and Marsanne.

But you try to balance that
with the Grenache blanc,

with the hint of Viognier and Clairette,

which brings some freshness to the wine.

- Floral kind on the nose, honeysuckle,

and then beautiful stone fruit.

- One of the main characteristic
of the family business

is that we're really strong believers

of the whites in the region.

The real gem of the
Rhône Valley is whites.

(upbeat music continues)

- There's your father still
involved in the winery,

and then now you have you
and your sister, right?

- Well, there's my sister and I,

she's the sharp one.
- Yeah. (laughs)

- She takes care of the commerce.

I'm the youngest one.

I left when I was younger
and I wanted nothing

to do with the wine industry.

I discovered the world.

I discovered how it works overseas,

and I was like, well I'm
such a stupid boy, you know?

Like, what I have is beautiful,
and I have such chance,

so I decided to come back and
they opened their arms to me.

- Does the winery pass from
your father down to you two?

- He's a man with a vision.

- Okay.
- As they say.

When he will be 60, he will never retire.

So he'll always be around.

- (laughs) He's never gonna retire?

- No, I think I would retire before him.

(group laughs)
(upbeat music continues)

- So many winemakers I talk to, they say,

listen, if I'm lucky in my lifetime I get,

you know, 40 vintages in my career,

and they're like, and that's not enough.

So by having it be a family winery,

you get the benefit of the
40 previous from your father

and the 40 previous
from their grandfather.

And now all of a sudden
you're building something

that's really special.

Almost forgot to mention our food.

The first course is called
"The Sea Meeting the Earth."

Seared mushrooms and
vegetables, oysters, clams,

and mushroom broth.

A hearty dish for sure,
which meant you wanted a wine

with some fuller weight to stand up to it.

Plus the floral fresh wine
contrasted the earthy flavors

and the juicy acidity cut
through the salty shellfish.

- So is there anything you can tell us

besides like the secret
techniques of the family,

or anything that you wanna share with us?

- The secret of the family
is just to be lazy, you know?

My father was telling me that the quality

come from the vineyard.
- Yeah?

- And what you will do in the wine making

is just like diminishing his quality.

- So you minimize the
human touch, basically?

- We try.

Working biodynamically since 30 years now.

- Kind of like a first

in that kind of line of business, right?

- We were one of the first ones in France.

I think it's not only something
my family wants to follow,

it's a global concern for
all the Côtes du Rhône.

Nature is a very well-made tool, you know?

Like, doesn't need you to work.

It's been working for millions of years.

So whenever you are doing agriculture,

you're breaking, in a way, this balance.

It is important to
understand all living balance

and try to work along it,
rather than against it.

(upbeat music continues)

- What's the difference between, yeah,

a Provence rosé versus Rhône rosé?

- Having a higher proportion
of Grenache in our rosé

make it so distinct from Provence.

Main difference would be the
structure of the wine itself.

- For sure, I mean I got, like you said,

cherries, grapefruit, citrus,
all the things we love.

But as opposed to the
finish being crisp and out,

it almost has more length.

- And more fatness as well, yeah.

- More, yeah, it's richer.

It's a richer style of rosé.

We paired the rosé with a local trout

that was cooked beautifully.

It also had some broccoli, more mushrooms,

and a mushroom beurre blanc.

The trout melts.
(Sarkis laughs)

Try it.
- Eating butter.

- Yeah, it is like eating butter.

I loved how the medium bodied, acidic,

fruity rosé stood up to
the trout and mushrooms,

but again contrasted the dish

and brought something new to the table.

This is what put the Rhône on the map.

- The map, yeah.
- It's the GSM.

- Well, the GSM without the Mourvèdre.

- Oh yeah.

- Back in the days my father would love

to put some Mourvèdre,

and to have bigger real
like structural wine.

- I won't tell him you said that. (laughs)

- But now we try to go for
like something more subtle

in terms of structure.
- Oh, more fresh.

- Yeah.

And we had this chat like two weeks ago,

and we're tasting the same wine,

and he was telling me like,

"Ah, this is bad because you
don't have any concentration,

any density."

And I was like, "Wow, I love this wine,

because it's actually tighter,
very fine, very elegant."

The right vision is in between both of us.

- I get the nose on this, I get so happy.

Fresh red fruit character.

We talked about the herbal
character that you get.

Our last dish was a surprise.

- So this is a signature dish.

So this is a pigeon, surprisingly.

Like, I always wanted to try this.

- This is pigeon?
- Pigeon. Pigeon, in French.

- 'Cause it sounds better
when you say it that way.

- Pigeon. Let's say it the French way.

Seared Pigeon breast and leg,

butternut squash, yellow
plum, and pepper sauce.

Pigeon. Pretty delicious.

Who'd have thought? The French I guess.

- I don't think I've ever had pigeon

in my life.
- Oh, I definitely haven't.

Oh, it is good. It's kind of sweet.

By the way, this wine, no joke.

What is this retail for?

- Not enough.
(group laughs)

- Not enough. Not enough.

This is killer.

As it opens up, I'm getting like

that spicy, meaty character,

smokey character from the Syrah,

I would guess.
- Yeah, exactly.

- Don't sleep on these wines, people.

Hard to beat for the money.

The medium bodied-wine matched
the weight of the dish.

The spice and peppery
character in the wine matched

the gamey pigeon and pepper sauce,

while the acid cut
through the seared layer

of fatty, salty meat.

- All the winemakers you
will meet in your travels

will tell you that, "Well,
my appellation is the best."

This is the same here.

The Côtes du Rhône are the
best, but what I'm saying,

the difference is that it's
true, you know? (laughs)

- But for you it's actually true.

- Cheers. Santé.
- Yes.

- I've always admired how the French

are so proud of their culture,
their food, their wine,

and their traditions.

But I learned on this trip
just how much effort they put

into making sure that
their legacy lives on,

both in their families and
the land that's given them

so much in return.

(smooth music)

(bright upbeat music)

What was the reason that you were like,

"Vince, you have to come here"?

What was the thing that was like,

you have to come explore this area?

- So it's very simple.

Coming back to the Côtes du Rhône,

I didn't wanna highlight
one specific personal story,

but I wanted to show you the people,

their way of living.
- Yeah.

- How they respect the terroir,

how they transmit this within the family.

And I think, as we say in
French, (speaking in French).

- What does that mean?
- It's very simple.

- It's very, (laughs) it's very simple.

- Yeah.
- That's a long way

to say "It's very simple."

(upbeat music continues)

(upbeat rock music)

(engine starts)

Every road trip has a
destination. Or does it?

Have you ever really arrived,

or are you just regrouping
until your next adventure?

People thought they could
drive by Southern Rhône,

because they knew what it was:

a classic region defined
by what it did in the past.

It had already had reached
its terminus in their eyes.

But the region had more gas in the tank,

more tread on its tires.

It put on a new coat of paint,

and reinvented what a
Southern Rhône wine was.

Went from gas to electric,

let everyone have a look under the hood

because it had nothing to hide.

Swapped some parts, and made
sure the region was ready

for another 100k miles and beyond.

And man, would you look at her now?

I hope you enjoyed Southern Rhône,

and we'll see you next
time on "V is for Vino."

(upbeat music continues)

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music continues)

(upbeat music continues)

Hey, Vince here.
(wine pouring)

Hope you enjoyed the episode.

If you have a moment,
follow us on Instagram.

And if you really wanna support,

please consider joining
Vino VIP on visforvino.com.

It's our members-only club
with a ton of benefits.

Thanks for watching, and see you soon.