Rhone

Move aside, cheeky little anything red  fora bottle of this gorgeous French rouge from the Southern Rhone Valley. Its pretty purple colour gives way to a red fruited, lightly spicy tasting wine with smooth tannins, a medium body and a fresh finish. This wine is made by the Perrin Family, owners of Ch?teau de Beaucastel, which makes some of the greatest reds in the Rhone Valley. 

* This wine is made from a blend of grapes grown in the Southern Rhone Valley and it was formerly a Cotes du Ventoux but is now a blended rouge from a wider area. 

Classic smooth and fruity Cotes du Rhone from a family estate in the heart of Chateauneuf du Pape. Organic, sustainable, though not certified.

Grenache dominant blended with Syrah and a touch of Carignan. Vibrant purple - ruby coloured, perfumed baked plum pie and raspberry fruits and bouquet-garni on the nose. Medium body, good fruit dominance, more berries mixing with red currants and milk chocolate, with fine tannins and savoury spices rounded out the finish.

If Cotes du Rhone reds haven't made their way onto your wine drinking radar yet, then now's the perfect time because many of the 2016 wines are still available on the market and it's a vintage that rocks. This wine is made by the Sabon family, who have carved a name for themselves as high quality producers of great Ch?teauneuf-du-Pape. This red is made from the hills of the surrounding southern Rhone Valley from a blend of 80% Grenache, 10% Mourv?dre and 10% Syrah.
This crowd pleaser drinks beautifully now but undoubtedly has eight to nine years of aging and evolution up its vinous sleeve.

75% Grenache + 25% Syrah from sandy light soils at the limit of the slopes of Sablet in the Southern Rhone.

Winemaking: The stems are removed and the Syrah and Grenache are fermented separately over 10 to 15 days in concrete tanks at a temperature of around 25 degrees. The wines is then matured for 3 months in oak.

Tasting: Bright ruby colour. The nose is very aromatic with intense reds fruit, hints of spice and liquorice. The palate is expressive and fleshy and follows suit with the nose.

How is it possible to roll all these flavours into one affordable wine? Ask the Famille Perrin, one of the great winemaking families in southern France, who create this complex, fruity, earthy and fresh Cotes du Rhone from a blend of Grenache (mainly from their Pr?bois vineyard in Orange), Syrah from further north in Vinsobres and Mourv?dre. While many less interesting Cotes du Rhone are made from a straightforward blend of Grenache and Syrah, the addition of the dark, mocha-like flavours of Mourv?dre add depth, richness and smooth soft velvet mouthfeel. 

The grapes in this wine were destemmed and fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks between 150hl and 190hl. Extraction is done by pumping over and the frequency is determined by tasting. The separate component wines are transferred partly to oak barrels and partly to stainless steel vats for a year's maturation, prior to blending. 

The result is outstanding dry red wine flavours with rich soft fruit appeal and a long finish; all to be hoped for from the family who own Chateau de Beaucastel.

This is a great young red with medium term ageing ability and especially fresh and consistent thanks to being sealed with a screw cap.

This fresh, aromatic southern Rhone red blend offers excellent value. Fruity and soft, with a medium body and a smooth texture. The nose shows a red fruit character with a herbal nuance. Ripe fruits dominate the palate with a peppery edge and balanced acidity. Domaine Charvin uses organic farming methods.

 Old vine Grenache (50-80 years) with Syrah, Mourvedre, Vaccarese and Counoise

"Charvin may indeed produce the Richebourg of Chateauneuf du Pape.? - Robert Parker. Laurent Charvin runs this small family estate located in the north of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The domaine has vineyard holdings of just 8 hectares in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and 13 hectares in Cotes du Rhone. The average age of the vineyards is over 50 years old with the oldest being nearly 80 years of age. Laurent Charvin describes his vineyard site as being ?cool? for Chateauneuf as their vines are mostly planted on sandy north facing slopes.

"This has some interest; a little spicy kick on the finish that brings character and complexity. There?s a good sense of freshness and it?s very concentrated, with ripe black cherry flavour. The alcohol is on the high side, but this is classic stuff. Has some depth of gummy texture and an intense muscular grip to the tannins with a long, resonant finish. Charvin rarely shows well from barrel, so this could be very good indeed when it's mature. Organically grown at the north-west of the appellation, lieux-dits Cabri?res and Maucoil, galets roul?s and sand. It's fermented and then aged for 21 months in concrete using indigenous yeasts, then bottled unfiltered." Drink 2022 - 2030 . 93/100 Decanter, Matt Walls

"Tasted blind. Attractive combination of stemmy, herbal aromas with rich black fruit. Lots of pepper and clove character too. Strongly spiced, possibly at the expense of fruit, but I like its distinctive and definite character. 82% Grenache, 5% Syrah, 5% Mourv?dre, 4% Vaccar?se, 4% Counoise. Aged for 21 months in concrete. Tank sample. (RH)."  17/20 JancisRobinson.com, Richard Hemming

Clape Cornas Renaissance is crafted from the Clape estate's younger vines, offering a more approachable and vibrant expression of the appellation. These vines are, nonetheless, over 30 year old, primarily in the Les Sabarotte and Geynale lieux-dits providing heady full bodied Syrah with aromas and flavours of boysenberry, star anise and cola - silky polished tannins and keen acidity. Traditional winemaking approaches, including whole-cluster fermentation, and maturation in old oak foudres enhances the wine's aromatic intensity and structure of the wine offering a fresh, yet profound, interpretation of the esteemed Cornas terroir.

Now we're talking next level. 

This wine is the big brother to the gorgeously weighty, seriously good Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf-du-Pape white. 

This one is a blend of Grenache 50%, Syrah 25% and Mourv?dre 15% and a quarter of the wine was barrel aged in a mixture of demi muids and foudres for 18 months. It's an outstanding full bodied red that drinks well now but will reward those with the patience to wait at least five years, preferably a lot longer than that to enjoy its savoury aspect come into its own. 

A great new addition to our exciting Southern Rhone wine shelves. 

A lovely, deep and dark violet colour in the glass, this wine opens with mineral and smoke accented dark berries, liquorice and spicy black pepper on the deeply perfumed nose. The palate flows energetically with juicy cherry and blackcurrant flavours and more of the smoky minerality found on the nose which adds lift and depth. The finish is long with floral and tapenade pinned together with well defined ripe tannins.

Maturation - 16 months in oak barrels used for several earlier vintages

Good value and delicious flavours are the name of the Cote du Rhone game and this southern French red over delivers, big time. It's a blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Mourv?dre. All grapes were fully destemmed and fermentation took place in temperature controlled concrete tanks, with 25 days of maceration. Gentle pumping over followed by maturation in concrete tank defines the traditional vinification of this lovely, lively, fleshy dry red. Great buying.

Southern Rhone white blends offer great value for money and this wine is no exception, thanks to the complexity that the grapes each bring to this fleshy ablend, made from 60% Clairette, 30% Viognier and 10% Grenache Blanc. Fermentation is in thermo-regulated stainless-steel vats and there is no malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged 6 months in stainless steel on lees before bottling. Very tasty, expressive white with flavours of ripe peach, a full body and lingering finish.

This is one of our favourite C?tes du Rh?ne villages wines, thanks to being a great producer and a complex blend of grapes, including 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre. This lovely blend provides this wine with its dark colour, deep rich concentrated fruit flavours and impressive structure. All of which makes Cassagnes de la Nerthe a wine to age as well as to enjoy right now.

It is made from grapes grown in S?rignan du Comtat, 20 kilometres north of Ch?teauneuf du Pape. 

This is a top wine from an excellent producer - worth keeping or enjoying. Better still, buy a case of it and do both. 

The 2022 De Boel France Cornas, also known as "Ars Magirica", is a plush red wine from the small Cornas appellation in the Northern Rhone Valley made, of course, from 100% Syrah grapes. 

The wine undergoes a two-month natural fermentation in stainless steel, with 40% then moved to old barrique for eight months of aging. The two wines are then blended together and bottled in July, with the wine being released in the October proceeding the vintage.

The wine has a spicy nose of pepper, liquorice and pork fat, leading to a palate of complex black fruits leading to a supple palate offering further deep black fruits and gamey notes.

This is a sleek, detailed and fragrant, offering from Gaillard, one of the Northern Rhone's true stars.

Grapes from several parcels in the high country of Malleval, Chavanay, and Limony in the far north of the appellation go into this wine. The vines lie closer to Vienne and Condrieu than to Tournon-sur-Rh?ne in the south and Gaillard?s steep, cool soils have plenty of granite, which contributes to the mineral cut of this perfumed and vibrant Syrah.