Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage Blanc Chevalier De Sterimberg 2010 750ml

Winery: Paul Jaboulet Aine

Varietal: White Rhone Blend

The careful blending of Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne or Grenache Blanc grape varietals has typified the wine making practices of France's Rhone region for centuries, and has secured their reputation as one of the finest regions in the world for excellent blended white wines. Most commonly, the blended wines of this region hold delicate and aromatic flavors, reminiscent of honeysuckle, peach, pear and green apple, and are adored by winemakers and drinkers alike. Whilst Viognier, Rousanne and Marsanne varietal grapes are all renowned for their fruity characteristics and floral aroma, it is the transparent and acidic Grenache Blanc which lends the wines their backbone and helps build up the structure of the blended wines. Such expertise and knowledge of how these grapes can compliment each other is the secret to the Rhone's success, and has been emulated and imitated in several countries around the world.

Region: Rhone Valley

For over two thousand years, the southern French region of the Rhone Valley has been home to wine-makers and wineries of many different types. The ancient Greeks were the first to discover that a wide range of grape varietals can flourish in the rich soils and micro-climates which typify the region, and little has changed to this day. In the modern age, the Rhone Valley is recognized around the world as the home of excellent quality white, red and rosé wines, as well as some of the most highly respected blended wines on earth. The region is split into two distinctive sub-regions, with the cooler, continental northern sub-region producing primarily Syrah, Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier wines of exquisite quality, and the hotter southern sub-region growing a much wider variety of grapes.

Country: France

France is renowned across the globe for its quality wines and the careful expertise which goes into making them, but what is truly remarkable about this relatively small country is the vast range of wines it produces in such huge amounts each year. Not only are the finest red wines in the world said to come from the beautiful regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but elsewhere in the country we find the Champagne region, and areas such as the Rhone Valley and the Loire, whose white wines consistently receive awards and accolades by the plenty. This range is a result of the great variety of climatic conditions and terrain found in France, coupled with generations of wine makers working within single appellations. Their knowledge of specific terroirs and grape varieties has, over time, perfected the production of wines within their region, and the end results continue to impress the world to this day.