Skip to content
WineHQ
Search

Appellation · France

Saint-Péray

The Northern Rhône’s only sparkling wine appellation, and a small source of increasingly serious still Marsanne.

Saint-Péray AOCcontinentalmoderate
What to expect in the glass

Full-bodied, low-acid dry white with white peach, almond and a waxy texture; or a firm, savoury traditional-method sparkling wine unlike anything from Champagne.

About Saint-Péray

Saint-Péray is the southernmost Northern Rhône appellation and makes only white wine, from Marsanne and Roussanne, still or sparkling.

The sparkling wine has been made by the traditional method since the nineteenth century and was once well known; it is now a curiosity. The still whites are the appellation’s future and have improved considerably.

What the name means

Legal name
Saint-Péray AOC
Type
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée / Protégée (AOC / AOP)
Set by
INAO
Recognised
1936
Regulates
Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.

The delimited area, permitted varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol, pruning and training methods, and in many cases minimum ageing. Administered by INAO.

Worth knowing

White wine only, still or traditional-method sparkling, from Marsanne and Roussanne.

Grapes

Wines from here

sparkling

Traditional-method sparkling

Sparkling wine with its second fermentation in the bottle, aged on the lees — the method behind Champagne, Cava, Crémant, Franciacorta and English sparkling.

Rules worth knowing

Confirmed in the EU register

Saint-Péray is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-FR-A0398, protected at EU level since 1973.

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

Specification published: Ares(2022)6680534 · Official Journal

Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.

The designation is confirmed above. WineHQ has not read this appellation’s production specification, so it publishes no yields, ageing minima or permitted-variety lists for it — those come from the document linked above, not from a summary of it.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Traditional-method sparkling

Serve at 8–10°C (fridge cold).

Try with fillet steak, salmon or fish and chips.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Cornas — A small suntrap of an appellation making the darkest, most uncompromising Syrah in the Rhône — red wine only, no white, no blending.
  • Hermitage — A single south-facing granite hill above Tain, and for two centuries the most expensive red wine in France after the Bordeaux first growths.

Sources

Sources consulted