Rhone

 
Dictionary:

Rhone

  (rōn) pronunciation
or Rhône

A river rising in the Alps of south-central Switzerland and flowing about 813 km (505 mi) west-southwest and northwest to Lake Geneva then into eastern France, where it joins the Saône River at Lyon and continues southward to the Mediterranean Sea.

 

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Lat. Rhodanus, river, 505 mi (813 km) long, rising in the Rhône glacier, NE Valais, Switzerland. It flows west through a narrow, flat valley that separates the Bernese Alps from the Pennine Alps and enters Lake Geneva near Montreux. Leaving the lake at Geneva, it enters E France and is joined by the Saône River at Lyons. Now navigable, it flows S past Valence and Avignon and separates the Massif Central from the French Alps. At Arles, at the head of the Rhône delta, the river separates into the Grand Rhône and the Petit Rhône, which join the Mediterranean Sea W of Marseilles and enclose the island of Camargue. Both branches are silted, and a canal has been built connecting the Rhône with the port of Marseilles. With its impetuous Alpine tributaries (Isère, Drôme, Durance, and others), the Rhône has the largest water flow of all French rivers. There are large hydroelectric power plants near Sion and Geneva (Switzerland); in France, the Génissiat Dam and allied projects are of great economic importance. Almost the entire Rhône valley S of Lyons is covered with excellent vineyards and fruit and vegetable gardens; in the extreme south silkworms are cultivated for the Lyons textile factories, and olives and flowers are important products. The Compagnie National du Rhône sought to develop the Rhône for power production, irrigation and improved navigation; since the late 1970s the area south of Lyons has become navigable for barges of 3,000 to 5,000 tons. The Rhône-Saône valley is a principal north-south communications route in France. An extensive canal system links the Rhône with other river systems. A series of canals linking the Saône (the principal tributary of the Rhône north of Lyons) to the Rhine allows large barges to traverse Europe from the North Sea all the way to the Mediterranean. The Rhône valley is the cradle of Provençal culture.


 

[ROHN] The Rhône River actually starts high in the Swiss Alps, tumbling down the mountains into Lake Geneva and then exiting the lake to begin its journey through France. The vineyards of the Rhône form one of France's great wine regions, which follows the river for approximately 125 miles from just below Vienne in the north, to south of Avignon. The Rhône region has over 170,000 vineyard acres and breaks up into two distinct north and south portions. The northern part contains many great individual appellations like côte rôtie, condrieu, château grillet, saint-joseph and hermitage. Many of these vineyards are planted on small steep terraces with breathtaking views of the Rhône River. The dominant grapes here are syrah for red wines and marsanne, roussanne and viognier for whites. As one heads south, there is a gap in the vineyards around Montélimar and then the valley widens to form the southern portion. The most famous appellation in the south is châteauneuf-du-pape. Other well-known ACs are gigondas, lirac, muscat de beaumes-de-venise and tavel. Most of the vineyards in the southern Rhône produce wines covered by the ACs of côtes du rhône and côtes du rhône-villages. In the southern Rhône, the principal red grape is grenache but others include carignan Counoise, mourvèdre Terret Noir, and syrah. The white grapes used include bourboulenc, clairette Marsanne, Muscardine, Picardan, Roussanne, and Piquepoul (or Picpoule). More blends of different grapes are used in the south than in the north.

 
WordNet: Rhone
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a major French river; flows into the Mediterranean near Marseilles
  Synonym: Rhone River


 
Translations: Translations for: Rhône

Dansk (Danish)
n. - Rhône

Deutsch (German)
n. - Rhone


 
 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wine Lover's Companion. Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

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