Roussanne

Roussanne in France

Although no one is precisely sure where Roussanne originated, it seems likely the varietal is native to the Rhône Valley and to the Isere Valley in eastern France. The varietal has not ventured far from its origin; most of the world's Roussanne is grown throughout the Rhône, where it is traditionally used as a blending grape. In the Southern Rhône, Roussanne is one of six white grapes permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and it is often blended with Grenache Blanc, whose richness and crisp acids highlight Roussanne’s pear and honey flavors. In the Northern Rhône, Roussanne is frequently blended with Marsanne in the appellations of Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, and Saint Joseph to provide acidity, minerality and richness. As a single varietal wine, it reaches its pinnacle as the sole component of Château de Beaucastel’s Roussanne Vieilles Vignes.

Roussanne is also found in the Savoie region of France (where it is known as Bergeron), and in limited quantities in Australia and Italy. In the United States, Roussanne is most planted in the Central Coast, but can also be found in Sonoma, Napa and the Sierra Foothills regions of California, as well as in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.

In its native France, plantings had declined to just 54 hectares in the late 1960s before rebounding thanks to superior clones developed towards the end of the twentieth century. There are more than 4,500 acres in France today, representing roughly 85% of the world's total.

Roussanne in California

After some early, largely unsuccessful experiments with Roussanne (the last of which were pulled out in the 1920s) early Rhone Rangers reintroduced Roussanne into the United States in the 1980s. Cuttings, taken from the Rhône Valley, were propagated and planted in vineyards around California, and many wines from those cuttings garnered critical acclaim. Years later, in 1998, DNA tests identified those vines as Viognier—a discovery which led to years of controversy. We ensured the authenticity of our clones by importing vine cuttings directly from Château de Beaucastel; the Roussanne available from the Tablas Creek Nursery is a certified clone, tested by the USDA. Around the same time we brought in the Beaucastel clones, John Alban imported Roussanne to plant in his Central Coast vineyards. Those clones were also true Roussanne, and virtually all of the 339 acres of Roussanne planted as of 2016 in California are descendants of the clones brought in by Alban and by Tablas Creek.

Roussanne in the Vineyard

Roussanne has a well-deserved reputation as a difficult varietal to grow (in our nursery it was affectionately called "the princess"), and as such is often passed over in favor of the more cooperative Marsanne. Roussanne grapes are susceptible to powdery mildew and rot, and the vine is a shy and erratic producer even under ideal conditions.

Of the white Rhône grapes that we grow at Tablas Creek, Roussanne is generally the latest-ripening. In addition, it is prone to shutting down toward the end of harvest, as well as to shatter and uneven yields. The vines are very responsive to sunlight, and grape bunches on the western side of the vine tend to ripen more quickly than bunches on the eastern side. To combat this tendency, we aggressively thin the leaves to expose more bunches to sunlight and harvest the grapes in multiple passes. As of 2021, fourteen acres of our vineyard are devoted to Roussanne, representing about half of our white Châteauneuf-du-Pape varieties and nearly 5% of the Roussanne planted in California.

Tablas Creek hosted a summer 2008 producers-only symposium on Roussanne to discuss the viticultural, winemaking and marketing challenges it presents. Other producers, as well as trade and consumers, may be interested in the Roussanne Symposium recap notes.

Roussanne in the Cellar

In contrast to the challenge it presents in the vineyard, Roussanne is flexible and forgiving in the cellar. It can be successfully fermented in large or small oak, or in stainless steel. It can be harvested at lower sugars but still have good body, or can be left to greater ripeness without losing all its acidity. It has the body to take to new oak, or stainless steel can emphasize its minerality. And unlike most white wines, Roussanne ages very well due to its unusual combination of richness, minerality, and balancing acids; many Roussanne wines can be enjoyed up to 15 years or more after bottling.

At Tablas Creek, we ferment and age about one third of our Roussanne in one-to five-year-old small French oak barrels, half in large 1200-gallon French oak foudres, and the remainder in stainless steel. The oak provides a structured richness and enhances the rich texture of the grape, while the stainless steel emphasizes the minerality of the wine and heightens the floral aromatics.

Unlike our other whites, rather than bottle our Roussanne-based whites the summer after harvest, we have in recent years returned these wines to foudre to age them for an additional 6-9 months, bottling them in the winter after the subsequent harvest.

Flavors and Aromas

Wines made from Roussanne are rich and complex, with distinct honey, floral and apricot flavors. They have a characteristic oily texture and a full body that is more reminiscent of red wines than whites. We make, in a normal year, at least four wines that contain Roussanne. Roussanne forms the core of our signature Esprit de Tablas Blanc and adds structure and acids to our Viognier-based Côtes de Tablas Blanc and Grenache Blanc-based Patelin de Tablas Blanc. Our varietal Roussanne showcases wine lots with particularly intense varietal character. We have also bottled a 100% Roussanne that we named "Bergeron" occasionally, from grapes harvested earlier, with brighter acidity, paying homage to the Roussannes of the Savoie. Finally, Roussanne also makes a delicious base to our Vin de Paille dessert wines.

This article originally appeared in one of our newsletters. Each newsletter, we spotlight the history and characteristics of one of our Rhone varietals. You can sign up for our mailing list.

You can view a one-minute summary of Roussanne on our YouTube page.

You can go back to the summaries of the different Rhône grape varietals.