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 vīna dārzi atrodas Ronas upes krastos. Augsne un ģeogrāfiskie apstākļi reģiona ziemeļu un dienvidu daļā ir ļoti neviendabīgi, tāpēc ieleja ir sadalīta divās daļās – Ziemeļrona un Dienvidrona. Vīnogulājus Ronas ziemeļdaļā galvenokārt audzē tā sauktajās “terasēs” - stāvās granīta un šīfera nogāzēs. Vīndari bieži nav ļoti iecienījuši skarbo mistrāla vēju, jo tā ir zemā temperatūra. Neparastā klimata dēļ vīnogulāji ražo nelielu ražu, bet tajā pašā laikā nodrošina intensīvu aromātu, kas Ziemeļronas vīniem ir devis pasaules slavu. Syrah ir galvenokārt sarkanajiem vīniem izmantotā vīnoga – tā ražo dziļus vīnus ar piparu nokrāsām, kas piemēroti ilgstošai novecošanai. Viognier ir balto vīnu karaliene, bet arī Marsanne un Rousanne vienmēr atrodas blakus. Daži nosaukumi ļauj sarkanajiem vīniem pievienot baltas vīnogas, lai izlīdzinātu Syrah raupjumu un bagātinātu vīnus ar ziedu aromātiem. Ronas dienvidu ainavas ļoti atšķiras no ziemeļu daļas – vīna dārzi atrodas gar upi zemos kalnos un līdzenumos, un laika apstākļi ir daudz draudzīgāki. Vīnogas nogatavojas karstajā vasaras saulē un iegūst augstu cukura līmeni, kā rezultātā iegūst bagātīgus un pilnus vīnus. Galvenā izmantotā vīnoga ir Grenache, taču reģionā ir atļautas 12 citas šķirnes – interesanti, ka daži vīni pat apvieno visas.