Roussanne around the world

Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort

- MATT WALLS

Trying to get a handle on Roussanne is like trying to grasp a cloud. Just when you think you’ve got it – pouf! – it slips through your fingers. It doesn’t help that it’s often blended with more assertive grapes. To shine a light on it, I pulled together 90 Roussanne wines from around the world. The ensuing tasting gave up some unexpected secrets.

One of Roussanne’s most unusual attributes is that it can make exceptional wine in cool climates, hot climates – and everything in between. How many other white grapes can do that? It made for an interesting outcome: many of the top wines are stylistically totally unlike one another.

Pierre-Jean Villa (pictured, right) regularly makes one of the finest varietal Roussannes in the Rhône’s St-Joseph appellation, and even he describes it as ‘totally unpredictable… a baffling variety’. So for winemakers and drinkers alike, it’s not one for beginners. But persevere, because the results can be tuly fascinating.

THE BEAUTIFUL REDHEAD

Roussanne takes its name from the French word roux (meaning redhead), which refers to the speckled, russet-gold colouring that the grapes develop as they ripen. It originates from the northern Rhône valley, and from here it travelled to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and eventually dispersed throughout the southern Rhône. It’s comfortable in the heat, and now plantings in the south far outweigh those in the north.

There is a little Roussanne planted in the Languedoc, too, but its other main French residence is cool Savoie, where it’s known as Bergeron. Outside Europe, small amounts are found in South Africa, Australia, California, Washington, Oregon and Canada. Although it’s growing in popularity, it still represents less than 1% of global plantings.