The river Rhone rises in Alps and flows off the mountains into Lake Geneva, through Lyon and then through most of southeastern France to its mouth on the Mediterranean. The Rhone valley itself is a 225 kms stretch of river running from Vienne, just south of Lyon to Avignon.

The entire Rhone valley divides into two distinct wine-growing areas. The northern Rhone (Rhone Septentrionale in French) is home to the appellations of Hermitage and Cote-Rotie'. These are really big babies and are now considered serious rivals to the great names of Bordeaux and Burgundy. A bottle of Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chappelle from a good year can cost close to Rs One lakh or more in India.The southern Rhone is home to the legendary Chateauneuf-de-Pape.

Think of the hierarchy of wine-growing geography in this fashion. At the top are regions - which are areas in France - Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Loire valley and Languedoc-Rousillion. Each region is further divided into districts. A district could further be divided into communes-which are communities that grow wine. Within each commune are Chateaux, vineyards, clos or properties.

Southern Rhone