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A most curious variety: Roussanne around the world

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

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.


Scroll down to see notes and scores for 15 startlingly good Roussanne wines from both hemispheres



Walls’ pick: 15 to begin your Roussanne journey


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