After the fall of Rome, but before the 14th century, the Rhône Valley is a bit of a mystery wine-wise. There’s evidence that wine merchants were trading wines from Bordeaux, Gaillac, La Rochelle, the Île-de-France, and the Loire Valley during this time, but what about the Rhône?
There’s no doubt that wine was being made, as the Romans had picked up a thing or two about winemaking from the Gauls, but there are two significant moments we can find during the late Middle Ages that have an impact on the wine of the region today. One comes down to Blanche de Castile — the second daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine — and a supposed crusading knight who built a chapel in honor of Saint Christopher on a hill in the Rhône Valley. And the other? Well, that has to do with the Avignon Papacy and a castle you may have heard of called Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Tune in for more.
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“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big old shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.
*Image retrieved from gumbao via stock.adobe.com
