About Roussanne

Overview of Roussanne

Like its conventional blending partner Marsanne, Roussane is most frequently associated with the northern Rhone Valley. It joins Marsanne as the only white varieties grown in the appellations of St. Joseph, Hermitage, and Crozes-Hermitage. When blended, these two varieties produce rich, full-bodied white wines that reach their finest expression in the appellation of Hermitage.

Some Rhone producers are also making single-varietal Roussanne, generally under the vin de pays classification. While more stringent than the vin de table classification, this allows producers to grow grapes that don't necessarily correspond to appellation regulations. Choosing wines from this classification requires extra care, but some of the top producers make wines that are equivalent or even superior to AOC wines. Here, we recommend single-varietal Roussane from Domaine Cuilleron.

Growing of Roussanne

Roussanne is not grown widely outside of the northern Rhone, in part because it's not an easy grape to cultivate, especially for quality. Not only are yields irregular, but the grape is also especially sensitive to mildew, rot, wind, and drought. Combine these obstacles with the limited recognizability of the grape in the marketplace, and it becomes clear why plantings of Roussanne are limited.

Cultivation of Roussanne

Still, we're encouraged by some of the efforts to cultivate the variety in California, notably in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Here, winemakers like Alban Vineyards and Qupe Cellars are making dry, rich and aromatically complex Roussannes. Other California producers are using Roussane as a major blending wine, like Kongsgaard, who evenly mix Roussanne and Viognier to make one of the best Rhone-styled wines outside of the Rhone. We also sometimes stumble across single varietal Roussanne from Australia - one notable name is d'Arenberg.

Roussanne pairs well with seafoods and with mountain cheeses like cave-aged Comte and Gruyere.

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About Roussanne

Varietal Facts