Essentially, the Cote Brune, and everything north of it, consist of schist-based soils. The Cote Blonde, and everything south of it, are based on granite. The schist soils give you more powerful, tannic, darker wines. The granite soils give you lighter wines – both in weight and in color – that are more aromatic.

Grapes and wine Syrah vine. Syrah and Viognier are the only permitted grape varieties of the Côte-Rôtie AOC. While many of the region's wines are made of 100% Syrah, up to 20% of Viognier can be added to the wine.

The stems from Viognier can also provide a black pepper component to the wine as well. Due to the small size of the Cote Rotie appellation, coupled with the increasing worldwide high demand for their wines, the prices for most Cote Rotie wines are high, but they can be worth it. I buy these wines for my own collection.

The term "Cote Rotie" means "roasted slope" in French, which well describes the area, these are one of the steepest slopes in Europe with inclinations up to 60 degrees, facing south and southeast for optimal ripening.