Walls: exploring the three Vs of the Southern Rhône

Tucked up into the northern reaches of the Southern Rhône is a vast massif that’s home to the three Vs: Valréas, Visan and Vinsobres. (And we mustn’t forget little Saint-Maurice, alliteratively inconvenient though it is.)

These names remain largely unknown outside the region, but Rhône lovers should certainly make a visit – even if your pilgrimage takes you only as far as the local wine shop.

This mound of marl, let’s call it the Visan-Valréas hills, rises up on the north bank of the Aygues river. Its waters burst from the mountains that mark the natural eastern boundary of the Southern Rhône at the town of Nyons.

From here, the river meanders its way along the foot of the hill, past countless vineyards, before it eventually joins the Rhône itself near Orange.

These four appellations produce two stylistic pairs: Vinsobres and Saint-Maurice on the one hand, and Visan and Valréas on the other.