Wine Tasting with Cairdeas Winery

RHÔNE INSPIRED WINES CRAFTED IN LAKE CHELAN

Cairdeas Winery pulls inspiration from the Rhône valley of France and craft delicious wines from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Counoise, Cinsault (red grapes) and Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul (white grapes) to craft some traditional and truly unique blends.

The Rhône is generally divided into two sub-regions with distinct vinicultural traditions, the Northern Rhône and the Southern Rhône. The northern sub-region produces red wines from the Syrah grape, sometimes blended with white wine grapes, and white wines from Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier grapes. The southern sub-region produces an array of red, white and rosé wines, often blends of several grapes such as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Northern Rhône Syrah is the only red grape variety permitted in red AOC wines from this sub-region. The grape, which is believed to have originated in or close to the Rhône region, is also widely known as Shiraz, its name in Australia and much of the English-speaking world, and has recently become very popular with consumers around the world.

Southern Rhône The southern Rhône’s most famous red wine is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a blend containing up to 19 varieties of wine grapes (ten red and nine white) as permitted by the Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC rules. Gigondas AOC, on the other hand, is predominantly made from Grenache Noir. Depending on the specific AOC rules, grapes blended into Southern Rhône reds may include Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault.