TOURNON-SUR-RHÔNE
Sub-prefecture of Ardèche
Population: 11,280
Notable figures: Dominique Bathenay (footballer), Sébastien Joly (cyclist), Kevin Mayer (decathlon world champion, started out in Tournon), Greta Richioud (cyclist).
Specialities: Saint-Marcellin, caillette, crique (potato pancake), ravioles, Valrhona chocolate in Tain l’Hermitage. Red wines (Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Joseph).
Sport: RC Tournon-Tain (football and rugby), Events: Tournon 10 km (running race). Easter Tournament (football), Raid des Tours (mountain biking).
Economy: car manufacturing (Trigano VL). Viticulture.
Culture and festivals: Vochora music festival, onion fair (established in 1309, 29 August), comedy festival, Roman festivals. Vignobles en scène in Tain and Tournon.
Heritage and tourism: fortifications, Saint-Julien Collegiate Church, Tournon Castle, Vivarais Railway. Marc Seguin Footbridge.
Awards: Flower Town (***), Organ Donation Town,
Websites: tournon-sur-rhone.fr / ardeche-hermitage.com
DRINK
Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph
The Crozes-Hermitage appellation (named after the village of Crozes, north of Tain) covers nearly 1,800 hectares on the left bank, from Serves-sur-Rhône to the confluence of the Isère and the Rhône. The dominant grape variety is Syrah, but a few white wines are also produced.
Is the Hermitage hill one of the region’s most notable landmarks? According to legend, it owes its name to the knight Henri-Gaspard de Stérimberg, who, in the early 13th century, weary of the Albigensian Crusade, retired to its summit. He had a chapel built and cultivated the vines, offering his wine to pilgrims, hence the origin of the Hermitage vineyard, which became so prestigious that the town of Tain added it to its name. On the opposite bank, Tournon owes its prosperity to the vineyards and the wine shipped from its port. Its nectar is celebrated by Victor Hugo in Roland’s Wedding: “The man saw the old count; he brings back a sword and wine, that wine which the great Pompey loved and which Tournon harvests on the slopes of its ancient hill.”
In the Middle Ages, the wines of Mauves, a village south of Tournon, were famous as far afield as Paris. Renamed Saint-Joseph in the 17th century by the Jesuits, these wines retained their appellation when they were recognised as an AOC in 1956, despite the inhabitants’ wish to choose the name Tournon.