Rhône Valley Vineyards

Côtes du Rhône Cru AOC Rasteau

The village of Rasteau is located on the summit of a hill at an altitude of 200m, facing south and looking at the Dentelles de Montmirail.
Rasteau’s vineyards are relatively sheltered from the Mistral wind, and face south. The landscape is undulating and the soils are varied, producing dry red wines with a very distinctive character.

Rasteau AOC was promoted to Côtes du Rhône Cru status in 2010, a badge of honour both for its wines and for the skills of its winegrowers. 

Rasteau is also known for its Vin Doux Naturel fortified wines.

Discover the vineyards

Appellations

Informations

Climate: Mediterranean

Soils: Clay/Rocky

Website appellation: https://www.vins-rasteau.com/fr/

Key figures

Production surface area in 2023: 963 HA

Total production in 2023: 32 084 HL

Average annual yeld: 33 HL/HA

Export: 27%

Recognition in AOC by the I.N.A.O.: 2010

Commune: Rasteau

Grape varieties

Grenache noir

The king of the southern Rhône Valley varieties, it alone embodies all the deliciousness and generosity of Rhône wines. The most-planted of our grape varieties, it charms as much by its warmth as by the roundness of its character.  

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Cépages rouges et rosés

Secondary grape varieties

  • Mourvèdre, 
  • Syrah

Complementary grape varieties

  • Bourboulenc, 
  • Brun argenté (locally known as Camarèse or Vaccarèse), 
  • Carignan, 
  • Cinsault, 
  • Clairette, 
  • Clairette rose, 
  • Counoise, 
  • Grenache blanc, 
  • Grenache gris, 
  • Marsanne, 
  • Muscardin, 
  • Piquepoul blanc, 
  • Piquepoul noir, 
  • Roussanne, 
  • Terret noir, 
  • Ugni blanc, 
  • Viognier

To know

History

Vines were likely growing in Rasteau as early as 30 BC, but the vineyards remained largely forgotten until the Middle Ages, when interest in winegrowing was revived by the ecclesiastical communities - so much so that by the 18th century, the Rasteau vineyards were the largest in Vaucluse.
In 1870, phylloxera ravaged the vineyards, and growers turned to American rootstocks; in 1935, they went back to their roots and started to produce a Vin Doux Naturel. In 1937, the village became part of the Côtes du Rhône AOC; in 1944, a separate AOC was created for Rasteau’s Vins Doux Naturels and in 1966, the dry red wines produced in Rasteau were promoted to Côtes du Rhône Villages status. In 2010, with hard work and determination from the winegrowers, Rasteau dry reds were elevated to a Cru in their own right.

Climate

Mediterranean influence; south-facing slopes give some protection from the Mistral wind.

Soils

One of Rasteau many advantages is its varied soils, which give its wines a wonderful richness of flavour, somewhere between elegance and power.
There are clay/limestone soils, sparse soils over marl and red soils on sandstone. Rootstocks are chosen to take account of the soil type, so each vine can be grown in the most suitable location.
Many parcels are covered in rounded cobbles, carried down from the Alps by the Ouvèze when the glaciers melted over 18 million years ago. These retain heat well, storing it by day and releasing it to the vines at night to produce excellent concentration in the grapes. In summer, the vines must search deeper to find the nutrients they require.
They develop strong root systems which helps minimise hydric stress; thus the “poor” Rasteau soils can, in fact, produce extremely high-quality wines.

Geography

The AOC vineyards extend across a major part of the village in the Vaucluse département.

Varieties and flavours

The AOC wines must contain at least 50% Grenache. Grenache noir is Rasteau’s primary varietal, and is found in all of its wines.
It gives the wines aromatic structure, and adds generosity and roundness. Grenache is a vigorous grape, resistant to both wind and drought. It suits the Rasteau terroir with its sunny hillsides and dry, poor soils perfectly. Rasteau wines are made from old vines, and are heady and well-structured, with scents of ripe fruit and spices. Syrah and Mourvèdre are added to Grenache to make a balanced wine. Syrah, famously used for the Crus of the northern Côtes du Rhône, is the most recent addition to Rasteau. It gives the wines an intense colour, and an elegant, complex character with notes of black fruit, violet, and spices. Mourvèdre is grown only where sun exposure is good, and gives tannic, structured wines with aromas of woodland and fruit preserves. Other authorised grape varieties include Carignan, a traditional Mediterranean varietal which thrives in the heat, is resistant to drought and wind and is eminently suited to the hot, dry terroirs of Rasteau.
The wines produced in these poor soils are well-coloured and structured, with good ageing potential.

Associated appellations

Côtes du Rhône Cru AOC

Discover the other Côtes du Rhône Cru AOC.

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AOC de la Vallée du Rhône

Inter Rhône

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