Rhône
Wine has been produced in the Rhône Valley for over 500 years, with some of its steeply-terraced vineyards amongst the oldest in France. Syrah rules over the south with a mix of Mediterranean grapes, while in the north the two stars are Hermitage – grown on a granite hillside above the town of Tain and best put to the back of the cellar for a decade – and Côte-Rôtie, a star appellation made famous by Guigal's single-vineyard wines.
Wine has been produced in the Rhône Valley for over 500 years, with some of its vineyards being amongst the oldest in France. Syrah rules over the south with a mix of Mediterranean grapes, while in the north, the two stars are Hermitage – grown on an imposing granite hillside above the town of Tain and best put away in the back of the cellar for a decade – and Côte-Rôtie, a star appellation made famous by Guigal's single-vineyard wines, yet also home to dozens of fine producers as yet less well known. The sheer hillsides overlooking the river have to be terraced to make production possible.
St Joseph and Cornas also provide wines of weight and worth, but the best source for good value is Crozes-Hermitage, a satellite appellation which has come alive in the last few years with the arrival of young blood.
The river valley widens out south of Valence into Côtes du Rhône country on the windy alluvial plains and the lower slopes of the hills. It is a most imposing sight during the cold, clear, blue skies of Mistral conditions. The best of the wine villages of the Côtes du Rhône have been promoted to their own appellations - Vinsobres, Vacqueyras - close in quality to the better known Gigondas.
The king of the southern Rhône is Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here the galets roulés, rounded rocks from the ancient river bed, provide the context for gloriously rich red wines that are redolent of the heat and herbs of the south, and enhanced by the complexity which comes from blending several grape varieties. Thirteen are permitted in all, but Grenache usually dominates, along with Syrah and Mourvèdre in support. A fine vintage needs eight to 10 years cellaring for best results.
If your taste runs to fuller, richer, relatively exotic white wines, then perhaps a white Hermitage or Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhône Valley would suit better, or else a marvellously perfumed, heady Condrieu - headquarters of the Viognier grape.
Prices:
Bottle
£11.45
Bottle 6 x 75cl 221cs
H/Bottle
£10.50
Bottle
£13.95
From the excellent 2015 vintage, Native is a blend of concrete-aged Grenache and wood-aged Syrah and Mourvèdre. The Grenache’s silky tannins enrobe a pleasing dark-fruit core, with myrtle and red cherry both in evidence on the palate. Drink now to 2023.
Bottle
£13.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£13.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 33cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle
£15.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 11cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£15.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 16cs
fruit sourced from ten parcels and dominated by the
75 percent of tank-aged Grenache, with Syrah and
Mourvèdre providing impressive support. Herbs,
cassis and a hint of eucalypt provide the backdrop
and the ensemble is enrobed and ennobled by ripe yet
finely poised tannins. Drink 2019-2021.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 19cs
aniseed and hints – appropriately enough – of the
garrigue. The wine is made up of 70 percent Grenache
and 30 percent Syrah, the age of the Grenache
being at least 60-years-old. Christine describes the
fermentation process in terms of an infusion delicacy
being key and the temperature kept no higher than
28 degrees. The resulting style she describes as une
bonne amertune, the apparently bittersweet oxymoron
explained most lucidly by the wine itself. Drink
2019-2023.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£18.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 26cs
dark fruit and spice underwritten by a whiff of
something savoury, jambon cru maybe, courtesy no
doubt of the Mourvèdre. Figs and white chocolate
join more usual descriptors such as myrtle, plum and
griotte on the palate. The blend in 2106 is 60 percent
Grenache, 20 percent Syrah, 10 percent Cinsault and
10 percent Mourvèdre. Drink 2019-2022.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£19.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 29cs
Simon Field MW-Wine Buyer
Domaine Chaume-Arnaud is owned and run by Valérie and Philippe Chaume-Arnaud, who own 13.5 hectares situated in and around Vinsobres. Their reds are made up principally of Grenache (60 percent), with Syrah (20 percent), some ancient Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvèdre (10 percent), plus Viognier and Marsanne (10 percent). Yields are kept low, all soil treatments are organic and harvesting is done solely by hand. Most of the vines average 30 years in age, going up to 65 for the Carignan in the Vinsobres cuvée. Philippe looks after the vines while Valérie works the cellar, all under the watchful eye of her parents – her mother's method of tracking Philippe down is to drive literally into a vineyard and stand and scream at the top of her voice until he appears.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Drinking Window 2016-2023
Jeb Dunnock, The Wine Advocate, 30th December 2016
Bottle
£19.95
of the different vineyards are matured differently; in
2016, 50 percent was in new or one-year-old barrel,
30 percent in tronconique and the balance in older
barrique. The assemblage has an attractive nose
dominated by tapenade, wood-smoke and blackberry
fruit; on the palate there are additional notes of
pepper and spice. The finish is finely etched and
winsome. Drink 2019-2022.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 38cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW- Wine Buyer
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe is one of the most renowned estates of the Southern Rhône, with around 45 hectares of vines, and an average vine age of 55 years. Blessed with one of the finest locations in the area, the particularly hot microclimate is such that the Bruniers, owners of the estate for almost a century, are able to harvest as much as a week ahead of their neighbours. Vieux Télégraphe's blend is a typical one, with Grenache accounting for around two thirds, while the rest is made up of Syrah and Cinsault in roughly equal proportions, plus a tiny bit of Clairette. The Bruniers also run a radically different property in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, named Piedlong, and a very attractive property in the hills of Gigondas, Domaine les Pallières.
Bottle
£22.37
Bottle 6 x 75cl 15cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£24.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 3cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£24.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 24cs
Bottle
£24.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 4cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer
L’Oratoire St Martin is run with great skill by brothers François and Frédéric Alary, both leading players in the movement to get Cairanne promoted to stand-alone Cru status, a movement which has recently been successful. The Alary family can trace its origins to the same decade as Berry Bros. & Rudd (1698 for us, 1692 for them) and now farms over 28 hectares, in the middle of which there was once, apparently, an oratory of some description. Low-yielding old vines are farmed biodynamically and the wines are vinified first in open-top fermenters and then in large foudres of 3,400 litres. The Alary brothers have risen to the challenges imposed by their de facto status as the leading producers in the recently created stand-alone Cairanne Cru. Nowhere is this more evident than in the supreme quality of their 2015 wines.
Bottle
£26.45
Bottle 6 x 75cl 18cs
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer
Domaine Chaume-Arnaud is owned and run by Valérie and Philippe Chaume-Arnaud, who own 13.5 hectares situated in and around Vinsobres. Their reds are made up principally of Grenache (60 percent), with Syrah (20 percent), some ancient Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvèdre (10 percent), plus Viognier and Marsanne (10 percent). Yields are kept low, all soil treatments are organic and harvesting is done solely by hand. Most of the vines average 30 years in age, going up to 65 for the Carignan in the Vinsobres cuvée. Philippe looks after the vines while Valérie works the cellar, all under the watchful eye of her parents – her mother's method of tracking Philippe down is to drive literally into a vineyard and stand and scream at the top of her voice until he appears.
Bottle
£26.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 8cs
leaving the house of Vidal Fleury, Cuminaille is now
one of the greatest wines in St Joseph, an eloquent
expression of northern Syrah and a worthy leitmotif
for all the progress made in this diverse and once
rather misunderstood appellation. Pierre destems
completely and uses a system of pigeage to achieve
gentle extraction from the mature vines. Aromatic
integrity, softly persuasive peppery tannins and a
linearity which marks out this vintage are all expertly
captured in this seminal example. Drink 2019-2024.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£26.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Christine and Eric Saurel, biodynamic pioneers in the Southern Rhône, are relatively large land owners in two of the more modish of the ‘named’ villages, Gigondas and Vacqueyras, where their holdings cover 16 and 34 hectares respectively. The advantages of such a pioneering spirit become clearer and clearer as the vines reach maturity and the wines resonate an intangible quality described memorably by Christine as ‘luminosité’.
Bottle
£29.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 8cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£29.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 5cs
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£29.95
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£30.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 8cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
The news from Domaine du Tunnel is that the eponymous (disused railway) tunnel has almost been renovated by M Robert and will house a naturally cool—in both senses of the word—bottling cellar and tasting room, up in the hills above St Péray. This charming and very welcoming family continue to make great wines and were lucky enough to avoid hail in 2013; the resulting wines are excellent, with the whites boasting freshness and definition while the reds are pleasingly forward. Looking at the wines from barrel, the 2013 Saint Joseph has a terrific perfume of violets, wild herbs, spring flowers and pepper-laced purple fruits. It’s medium-bodied, supple and polished, with impressive purity. It has some tannin emerging on the finish, but I suspect these will fall away once in bottle. It should drink nicely for 4-6 years after release.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate Issue#216 Dec 2014
Bottle
£31.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Phlegmatic and industrious , Jérôme has worked his way to the top of the appellation, quite literally when he is working his precipitous Paradis St Pierre vineyard, magisterial and dressed in granite, high above the village of Mauves. In 2012 he was wary of rot during the humid spring, and then anxious about the ‘canicule’ in August. Ultimately he was happy and rates the vintage very highly, as do we.
Bottle
£31.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle
£31.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 22cs
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
The ebullient Yves Gras can always be relied upon for a sound-bite or two; 2012 is for him an excellent vintage because for him a long season, so far south, engenders inevitable complexity and balance. The wines are getting even better during élevage, he adds, risking a non-sequitur… but I am disinclined to argue with such a robust character and the wines share his forthright salty charm.
Bottle
£31.96
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
For Serge Férrigoule ‘biodynamie, c’est l’harmonie’, which we shall keep in French as it doesn’t have the same assonance when translated. What is more, the relatively low pH levels in the musts and wines have resulted in less need to add sulphur. Therefore, 2012 is to be a naturally impressive vintage with real harmony but no shortage of concentration.
Bottle
£32.00
in a 4:1 ratio. Its pleasing gras is born out of the age
of the vines, perfectly complementary to the
Roussanne, which lend notes of pear-skin and
honeysuckle, thereafter white peach and citrus fruits.
The palate has classic Marsanne grip and hints of
beeswax and lanolin; and beyond that, a fine, almost
saline minerality which lends a firm structure.
Prestigious indeed. Drink now to 2020.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£34.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 23cs
Fiona Hayes - Wine Buyer