Lyon: Northern Rhône Syrah & Viognier Wine Tasting

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1/6

Duration4h

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN · FR

Mobile ticketAccepted

Syrah and Viognier in Ampuis: A Half-Day into Steep Terroir

You spend a half-day walking the steep vineyards of Ampuis with a local guide, tasting Viognier and Syrah in their original terroir before the vines themselves. The tour includes transport from Lyon, small tasting doses, and a view of the Rhône valley that frames why this corner of France tastes the way it does. You're back in the city by early afternoon.

Step-by-step itinerary

Wine tour in Ampuis village

Begin wine journey in Ampuis
Stroll through vineyard
Learn about Côte-Rôtie wine
Enjoy view over Rhône valley

The Experience

Most wine tours start in a tasting room. This one starts in the village of Ampuis itself, on the hillsides where the vines actually grow. You drive north from Lyon for about forty minutes, and the landscape shifts — the Rhône valley opens up, and suddenly you're standing on slopes so steep that harvesting here is still done by hand. Your local guide walks you through the vineyard first, before any glass is poured, so you understand why Côte-Rôtie tastes the way it does. The sun hits these abrupt hillsides at an angle that flatter ground can't match, and the terroir — the mix of soil, aspect, and microclimate — is so varied that two vineyards a hundred meters apart can taste completely different.

The Northern Rhône wine tour focuses on two grapes: Viognier, which is aromatic and intense, and Syrah, which here tastes fruity and silky rather than heavy. You taste both in their original context, not in some neutral room. The guide explains what you're tasting as you taste it — why the Viognier smells the way it does, what the Syrah's texture tells you about the vintage and the slope it came from. Tasting doses are small (one ounce per glass), so you can try several without the day becoming blurry. The air-conditioned vehicle means you're not overheated between stops, which matters when you're standing on a hillside in the afternoon sun.

The magnificent view over the Rhône valley is real — it's not a marketing phrase. You see it while you're learning, not after. The half-day format means you're back in Lyon by early evening, which works if you have dinner plans or just want to sit in a café and think about what you tasted. Public transportation from Lyon gets you close, but the tour includes pickup and transport, so you don't have to navigate the local bus system or figure out where to leave a rental car.

What’s included

Your half-day includes hotel or city pickup in Lyon, transport in an air-conditioned vehicle to Ampuis, a guided walk through the Côte-Rôtie vineyards with a local guide, and wine tastings of Viognier and Syrah (one ounce per glass). Return transport to Lyon is included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by Rhône Trip

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to understand why Northern Rhône wines taste the way they do without spending a full day away from Lyon — the half-day format and included transport mean you taste in the vineyard itself, not in a room, and you're back in the city by early afternoon.