(Winemag) - Rhône-style wines are everywhere, from restaurant wine lists to your local bottle shop, but do you really know what this oft-used designation means? From the grape varieties to flavor profiles, here’s your cheat sheet to what makes a Rhône wine.

Rhône grapes, Rhône Valley, Rhône-style wines, Rhône rangers…you may have heard these terms bandied about, but what do they actually mean?

First things first: The Rhône, a major river in France, rises in the Alps and flows south to the Mediterranean Sea. This river lends its name to the southern French wine region on its banks, the Rhône Valley, as well as its major AOC, Côtes du Rhône.

The indigenous grape varieties that grow in the region, like Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier and Roussanne, are often referred to as Rhône grapes. So, regardless of their place of origin, wines made from these grapes are said to be Rhône-style wines the world over.