Bernard Gripa Saint-Peray “Les Pins” 2021

Marsanne wines typically has straw-like color with some golden-green glints. On the nose the best examples have light mineral accent, complemented with hints of honeysuckle and melon.

Saint-Péray is a small appellation for still and sparkling white wines from the Saint-Péray and Toulaud parishes of the Rhone valley, to the west of the city of Valence. Wines bearing the appellation name are generally made from the white Rhône variety, Marsanne, which dominates plantings here the remainder, around 8 percent, is Roussanne.   Saint-Péray is part of the Ardèche department and its vines sit almost at the southernmost limit of the northern Rhône region that stretches south from Vienne. Its vineyards cover around 75 hectares and produce around 210,000L of wine yearly. Being an area of generally sparkling wine production, Saint-Péray stands out among its neighbors. The northern Rhône is known for heavier, still wines both red and white; the production of sparkling wines is otherwise left to the producers of the southern Rhône, and the specialists of Die in the east, with their Cremant de Die and Clairette de Die wines.   Nonetheless, the tradition of producing sparkling wine here dates back to the 17th Century, when the wines were mentioned as being "pétillants seuls"  meaning uniquely sparkling. This quality is further exploited a century later when secondary ferment in bottles is formally adopted by producers in the area.   Like many wine regions across western Europe, however, phylloxera would decimate viticulture in the late 19th Century. It would only begin to recover in the first decades of the 20th Century.   In this period, Saint-Péray was predominantly sparkling and this represented about 90 percent of production. The region achieved AOC status in 1936 while still wine production was slowly growing.   Geographically, Saint-Péray is impressive. The small town, and some of its vineyards, are located on an alluvial plateau traced by a gentle bend in the Rhone river.

Côtes du Rhône vineyards are located on the banks of the Rhône River. The soil and the geographical conditions are very heterogeneous in the northern and southern parts of the region therefore the valley is divided in two parts - Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône. Vines in Northern Rhône are mainly grown on so-called "terraces" - steep granite and slate slopes. Winemakers are often not very fond of the harsh mistral wind because of its low temperature. The unusual climate causes the vines to produce small yields, but at the same time provides an intense flavour that has given the wines of Northern Rhône worldwide fame. Syrah is the mainly used grape for red wines - it produces deep wines with hints of pepper that are suitable for long aging. Viognier is the queen of white wines, but Marsanne and Rousanne are also always close by. Some appellations allow white grapes to be added to red wines to smoothen the roughness of Syrah and enrich the wines with floral aromas. The landscapes of Southern Rhône are very different from the northern part - the vineyards are located along the river on low hills and plains and the weather is much friendlier. The grapes ripen in the hot summer sun and obtain a high sugar level resulting in rich and mouth-filling wines. The main grape used is Grenache, but 12 other varieties are allowed in the region - interestingly some wines even combine all of them.