Rhone/southern France

La Chapelle - HermitageWhen driving south through France it always feels that as one reaches Lyon it should become hot and sunny – somewhat prematurely as there are still over 300 kilometers before reaching the Mediterranean. So the northern Rhone is cool, the northern limit of Syrah and that is what makes the grape perform so magically here, triumph through struggle. And it is a struggle, much of the good or great wine is grown on precipitous hillsides, steeply and narrowly terraced and useless as a workplace for those with vertigo.  Viognier, the north’s most high maintenance grape variety is grown in similar conditions and the combination of hillside, river and the beginnings of mistral are essential to quality. Marsanne and Roussanne are other white wine vines found in this area where in fact white wine used to dominate. Côte Rôti, Condrieu, St-Joseph, Hermitage, Crozes, Cornas and St-Peray make up the north.

In the south, after a bit of a gap in the vines and some majestic wind turbines cunningly sited along the autoroute the southern Rhone begins. Supplementary: which two types of confectionary are produced in the Rhone valley? In the south we are much nearer the Med and Grenache takes over from Syrah as dominant red. Villages like Sablet, Rasteau, Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape all make hedonistic wines of varying quality and style. Picking the best and most interesting and delicious is our job. 

The south also gives us lipsmacking rosés from Tavel and Lirac. Travelling south and west from the plateau of Chateauneuf brings us to first Languedoc and then Roussillon, two regions lumped together yet of very different character. The former displays a split personality with many growers of the old school lost and angry as they fail to adapt to the loss of subsidies and the arrival of the market. On the other hand there are contemporary growers, entrepreneurial and energetic and often incomers, though plenty of natives are enthused by their vineyards' potential too. Their's is a green and pleasant land. Roussillon is rockier, more austere, a Catalan land of fortified houses and fortified wines on a bleaker, more imposing landscape.

 

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Vintage Description Cs Sz Bt Sz Cs Bts Cs ib Cs inc Bt inc
2021 drink or keep Coudoulet de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone
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6x 150cl 0 4 - £254.47 £51.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf
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6x 75cl 1 5 £280.00 £355.24 £69.95 Buy
2021 drink or keep Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf
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6x 75cl 17 0 £310.00 £391.24 £76.95 Buy
2021 drink or keep Domaine Coursodon St-Joseph Silice
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12x 75cl 2 0 £255.00 £344.47 £31.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Chapoutier Chateauneuf Croix de Bois
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6x 75cl 2 5 £290.00 £371.86 £69.95 Buy
2019 drink or keep Chapoutier Bila-Haut VIT Ctes Roussillon
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6x 75cl 2 0 £195.00 £253.24 £46.95 Buy
2021 drink or keep Yves Cuilleron Condrieu Lieu-dit Vernon
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6x 75cl 3 0 £315.00 £397.24 £74.95 Buy
2021 drink or keep Yves Cuilleron Condrieu Verlieu
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6x 75cl 3 5 £210.00 £271.24 £51.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Emmanuel Darnaud Crozes Trois Chenes
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12x 75cl 3 9 £180.00 £254.48 £23.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Emmanuel Darnaud St-Joseph Dardouille
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12x 75cl 0 8 £315.00 £416.47 £39.95 Buy
2018 drink or keep J M Gerin Cote Rotie Champin Le Seigneur
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6x 75cl 6 1 £195.00 £253.24 £48.95 Buy
2018 drink or keep J M Gerin Cote Rotie Champin Le Seigneur
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3x 150cl 1 0 £210.00 £271.24 £105.00 Buy
2018 drink or keep Jean-Luc Jamet Cote Rotie Terrasses
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6x 75cl 1 0 - £397.24 £74.95 Buy
2019 drink or keep Domaine de la Janasse CDP Chaupin
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6x 75cl 4 4 £249.00 £322.66 £59.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Marcoux Chateauneuf-du-Pape
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6x 75cl 6 2 £195.00 £257.86 £48.95 Buy
2019 drink or keep Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf Reservee
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6x 75cl 0 4 £195.00 £253.24 £49.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas
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12x 75cl 1 9 £225.00 £316.16 £28.95 Buy
2017 drink or keep Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie Ampodium
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6x 75cl 0 2 £240.00 £307.24 £58.95 Buy
2018 drink or keep Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie Ampodium
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6x 75cl 1 4 £240.00 £307.24 £56.95 Buy
2019 drink or keep Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie Ampodium
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6x 75cl 0 1 - £259.24 £53.95 Buy
2022 ready Rene Rostaing Condrieu La Bonnette
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6x 75cl 0 0 - £359.70 £59.95 Buy
2018 drink or keep Marc Sorrel Hermitage Rouge
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6x 75cl 0 3 - £487.24 £89.95 Buy
2014 drink or keep Le Soula Cotes Catalanes Rouge
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12x 75cl 3 11 £240.00 £326.48 £29.95 Buy
M.V. ready Le Soula Trigone Blanc No.22
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12x 75cl 3 3 £192.00 £268.87 £24.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Tempier Bandol Cuvee Migoua
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6x 75cl 0 5 £285.00 £365.08 £68.95 Buy

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