Ampuis.

Ampuis sits where the Rhône Valley narrows and the hillsides rise sharply from the riverbank, forming the heart of the Côte-Rôtie appellation. The name Côte-Rôtie, meaning "roasted slope," describes the vineyards themselves: terraces cut into the hillside, angled to catch the sun for most of the day. Syrah has grown on these slopes for a long time, worked in narrow strips held in place by low stone walls that keep the soil from washing down toward the river.

Small domaines run by families who have farmed the same plots for generations still shape the wine here. Many keep to manual work on slopes too steep for machinery, staking each vine by hand in the traditional way. Château d'Ampuis stands at the edge of the vineyards, its cellars holding wine drawn from across the appellation.

The village itself is modest, built close to the water, with narrow streets rising toward the vines. A path along the Rhône gives a level view back across the terraces, while the higher ground above the village opens onto the wider sweep of the appellation, vineyard after vineyard climbing the slope.