The Côtes du Rhône designation relates to all the wines that are produced in the Vallée du Rhône, from Vienne to Valence for the northern part and from Montélimar to Avignon for the southern part.
The village designation (Suze la Rousse, Saint-Gervais, Signargues, Puymeras...) or Grand-cru (Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Châteauneuf Du Pape, Lirac, Tavel...) are all included in this Controlled designation of origin (AOC), to a higher level to complement the name.
The AOC Côtes du Rhône covers a wide vineyard with various influences. This is essentially red wines that are produced there, made of Grenache and Syrah to which can be added Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Carignan and also other minority varieties.
Thus, wines can be both light and fruity, to be consumed in their early years, and red tannins wines with a great ageing potential. The AOC also produces fruity rosé wine , essentially made of Cinsault, and blended white wines that can be made of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne or Marsanne for instance.
The rich mix of grape varieties, the vineyard size and the quality of the climate on the banks of the Rhône offer high quality wines as well as humbler wines, with good price-quality ratio.