Lirac, large and growing (782 ha/1,932 acres by 2013) appellation on the right bank of the southern rhône producing mainly full-bodied reds, and a small amount of rosé and full bodied white wine. The rosés can offer good-value alternatives to nearby tavel, made in very similar conditions and from the same sort of grape varieties, while the reds generally resemble a particularly soft, earlier maturing Côte du Rhône-Villages, although there are one or two notably more ambitious exceptions such as Domaines du Joncier and de la Mordorée and some of the better producers in châteauneuf-du-pape across the river who also make a Lirac. The appellation includes three communes other than Lirac, of which Roquemaure was an important port in the 16th century from which wines would be shipped as far north as England and Holland (see rivers). In the 18th century, Roquemaure was a much more important wine centre than Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
