David - Ampuis (Cote-Rotie) and Condrieu are right next to each other less than 10 mins apart. Vienne where we stayed one night at La Pyramide is also about 10 minutes from Ampuis. It is about an hour south to reach Tain, Cornas, Mauves (St Joseph), Mercurole (Crozes) and St Jean Du Muzols (St. Joseph). These towns are all relatively adjacent about 15 mins apart. With Tain as our base we could zip between appointments easily. St. Joseph appellation is very long and narrow about 70 km, but most of the winemakers we we interested in visiting were in Mauves (Gonon, Jean- Claude Marsanne). We did 3 appointments each day. Usually one in the morning (10 am), one after lunch (2pm) and one later 4:30 or 5pm. Keep in mind that everything closes from 12-2, when most people are enjoying there leisurely lunch. You should plan on doing as the French do and reserving lunch during this time slot. Our appointments ranged from 45 mins to 2.5 hours. The visits with winemakers usually lasted longer than tasting rooms.
It would have been ideal to organize all our appointments for a particular town on the same day but logistically this was quite difficult. I found that if Inrequested a specific day I was more likely to get a no response then when I gave them my range of dates and let them choose. In the end it worked out and we never felt rushed.
We were able to buy wine at most of our visits except for Gonon who had none to sell. Rostaing, Sorrel and Clusel Roch were only able to sell a couple of bottles. When is bought direct from the winemaker prices were significantly cheaper than retail in US - like 50% cheaper. The retail outlets seemed to have less of a discount. We carried two wine suitcases - so were able to bring back 2 cases as checked luggage. Would have bought more otherwise. Everyone was short on their white wine production - so little is made and it sells through fast.
Good luck with your planning!