296042 Fri Feb 06 21:12:10 -0800 2004 2 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1629345 My friend is going to a wine-tasting party and needs a fun fact--quick!--about the Rhone. This is a group of enology students at UCDavis so any old wine fact won't do. Please help! Thanks. Fri Feb 06 21:12:10 -0800 2004 0 AppleSister 1 1629370 Back in the late 1800's White Hermitage (from the Rhone Valley) was considered to be the best white wine in the country, above White Burgundy and White Bordeaux. Today, White Hermitage is practically unheard of by most wine drinkers. But it is a great wine. Maybe your friend will get lucky enough to try one of these from a house like Chapoutier at the tasting and can then drop this anecdote. Sat Feb 07 05:20:49 -0800 2004 1629345 0 mdibiaso 1 1629373 Thought you'd get more responses on this. Here's one: The triangular castle at Montfaucon on the Rhone is the only castle in France designed to look Scottish, which was done by the 19th-cent. resident Baron Louis de Montfaucon to honor his Scot mother, Agatha Clavering. Parts of the castle date to the 11th century. Sat Feb 07 08:01:49 -0800 2004 1629345 0 lucia