A wine writer’s life in Provence
Matt Walls reflects on the two years he spent in France while researching his new book on the wines of the Rhône
Following the launch of Wines of the Rhône, his new book, Decanter Rhône correspondent Matt Walls looks back on two years’ research, the decision to move his family to a small village abroad, and the challenges of a British family adapting to life in southern France
When conducting research for writing a book, you are faced with a dilemma. Do you read other works that have already been published on the subject, and risk being overly influenced by others’ opinions? Or do you concentrate on gathering your own first-hand experiences and evidence, but risk overlooking information that has already been uncovered and recorded?
Perhaps luckily for me, there has been relatively little published recently about the Rhône Valley. Which is why, no doubt, I was commissioned to write a guide to its wines. When the offer arrived, I jumped at the chance. My wife and two young boys were excited too, because it gave us the opportunity to move to France.
Taking the plunge
In August 2018, we uprooted our family from rainy London and repotted ourselves in the sunny village of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, 10km east of Avignon. We thought the change of – well, everything – would do us good.
In order to really get under the skin of a wine region, to understand not just the wines but the people, the language and the culture, there is no better way than to make your home there, if only for a year or two. If you visit a region for just a week, it will put on its smart clothes and comb its hair to greet you. When you live there for two years, you’ll experience it at its best, but also at its worst.
It wasn’t until January 2019, five months into our new French life, that I started writing the book in earnest. My knowledge of the Rhône prior to this was already fairly extensive, but like all things in wine, once you start digging, you realise how much deeper you can go. It became increasingly clear why there are so few comprehensive works on the Rhône – the terroir is as vast as it is varied, and the Rhône in its entirety is home to nearly 2,000 private estates, 100 cooperative wineries and dozens of grape varieties.
North vs south
Across the northern and southern Rhône, there are a total of 52 appellations to visit. To begin with, I wondered if I should skip some of the smallest ones. However, I’m glad I didn’t as they proved to be some of the most fascinating of all.
It might come as a surprise that only 5% of Rhône Valley AOP wine comes from the northern Rhône (Inter Rhône, 2019). So what
surprised me about the southern Rhône, despite its large size, was its lack of selfconfidence. Viticulture is as well established in the south as it is in the north, but a sense of fine wine culture in the southern Rhône is more recent, especially outside Châteauneufdu-Pape. There are pockets of great potential here, which makes it dynamic and exciting – not to mention a source of extraordinarily good value wines. In the south, knowing the most quality-minded producers is crucial.
The northern Rhône has little in common with the southern Rhône. It is closer in spirit to Burgundy than Châteauneuf. Much of this is down to its strong indigenous grapes: Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. Grape varieties tend to perform better on their home turf, and sing more soulfully. The standard of quality has never been higher,
‘I shall continue to visit the Rhône several times a year – despite its endearing quirks’
and interest in these wines is growing, but thankfully – for now at least – the wines remain affordable.
The Rhône is one of the most beautiful and soulful wine regions I’ve ever had the privilege to get to know. I shall continue to visit several times a year – despite its endearing quirks (see opposite page). And I hope this book serves its purpose to be a comprehensive, useful guide to the wines of the Rhône Valley.
Matt Walls is a Decanter contributing editor and the Decanter World Wine Awards Rhône Regional Chair. His latest book, Wines of the Rhône (Infinite Ideas, £ 30), has just been published, and for a limited time, European readers can receive a 40% discount off the cover price using the code RHONEDECA40 at www.infideas.com (US readers please visit www.infiniteideas.directfrompublisher.com)