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.

 

Pages

Vintage Description Cs Szsort descending Bt Sz Cs Bts Cs ib Cs inc Bt inc
2012 drink or keep Clos St-Jean Chateauneuf Sanctus
default
1x 150cl 2 0 £475.00 - - Buy
2017 young Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
1x 300cl 2 0 £250.00 - - Buy
2011 drink or keep Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £270.00 - - Buy
2015 drink or keep Chapelle St Theodoric CNDP Le Grand Pin
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £360.00 - - Buy
2018 drink or keep Beaucastel Chateauneuf Hommage J Perrin
default
3x 75cl 3 0 £660.00 £801.62 £299.00 Buy
2018 drink or keep J M Gerin Cote Rotie Champin Le Seigneur
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £210.00 £271.24 £105.00 Buy
2020 young Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
3x 150cl 3 0 £240.00 - - Buy
2020 young Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £369.00 - - Buy
2020 drink or keep Marcoux Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
3x 150cl 2 0 £198.00 - - Buy
2021 young Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £275.00 - - Buy
2021 young Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Greal
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £1,035.00 - - Buy
2021 young Marc Sorrel Hermitage Rouge
default
3x 150cl 1 0 £510.00 - - Buy
2015 drink or keep Le Soula Cotes Catalanes Blanc
default
3x 150cl 1 1 £138.00 £184.84 £69.95 Buy
2001 ready Roger Sabon Chateauneuf Secret des Sabon
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £1,950.00 - - Buy
2019 ready Negly La Falaise (Languedoc-La Clape)
default
6x 75cl 2 1 £96.00 £138.29 £24.95 Buy
2007 ready Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £300.00 - - Buy
2011 drink or keep Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
6x 75cl 4 0 £270.00 - - Buy
2011 ready Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
default
6x 75cl 2 0 £360.00 - - Buy
2010 drink or keep Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Greal
default
6x 150cl 0 0 £1,800.00 - - Buy
2010 drink or keep Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £2,600.00 - - Buy
2010 ready Beaucastel Chateauneuf Roussanne VV
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £960.00 - - Buy
2010 drink or keep Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £720.00 - - Buy
2010 ready Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
default
6x 75cl 2 0 £450.00 - - Buy
2009 drink or keep Clos St-Jean Chateauneuf Combe Des Fous
default
6x 75cl 1 0 £420.00 - - Buy
2009 drink or keep Clos St-Jean Chateauneuf Deus Ex Machina
default
6x 75cl 2 0 £570.00 - - Buy

Pages