St-Péray, white wine appellation of just 73 ha/180 acres for still and sparkling wines made by the traditional method that seem something of an anomaly in the northern rhône, famous for the weight and longevity of its wines. Soils and mesoclimate here are admittedly cooler than most of the rest of the Rhône, with some granite in the area closest to cornas, and the Marsanne and Roussanne grapes grown here are now producing some wines of real finesse. A considerable proportion of sparkling wine production is given its first fermentation at the co-operative of Tain l’hermitage before being made sparkling in the St-Péray co-operative cellars.
