Rhone

The lovely dry French rose comes from a great wine producer called Astralabe, a name that is extremely familiar to New Zealanders, only this producer is completely underelated to our own Astrolabe wines. 

Chene Bleu Rose is a relatively new wine brand at Regional from an exciting, high altitude vineyard in Vaucluse, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cotes-d'Azur. All of the wines are certified organic with the EU and made to exactly quality standards. Hand picked grapes, double sorted in the vineyard, tiny yields and obvious high quality flavours are just some of the reasons to drink these wines.

This dry rose more than lives up to the promise of a refreshing southern French wine and it's made mostly from the Grenache grape which is blended here with Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Rolle - also known in Italy as Vermentino.

This is a great French rose to serve chilled and enjoy with salads on a warm summer day.

?This has very concentrated fruit presence with an excellent sense of purity and focus. Aromas of rich, dark berries define the nose. Long, rich palate with a striking, layered, spicy impression. Ripe dark plums and chocolate to close. Drink or hold.? 

92 points James Suckling

This Chateauneuf du Pape is a full-bodied and rich blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. This is a concentrated, deep wine with dark fruit, cherry and spiced notes. Expect this wine to age gracefully over the next few years.

One of the world's top 10 best known wine brands, Guigal is the producer of this incredibly smooth, spicy, soft and delicious full bodied red Cotes du Rhone. At least 4 million bottles of this wine are made in a good year and as it is aged for three years  minimum in Guigal?s wine cellars, there are about 12 million bottles of Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rouge in Guigal's cellars at any one time, either fermenting or maturing.

All of the grapes are grown and bought in from 850 growers in the Rhone Valley and while this is a vast amount of external input, all of the wine production from fermentation to ageing, bottling and marketing is done by the Guigal family. 

This blend is approximately 55% Syrah with smaller proportions of Grenache and Mourvedre to add roundness to the wine, which is softened out by the three year ageing process in Ampuis, in the Northern Rhone, which is the Guigal family's winemaking headquarters.

One of the world's great reds for both plush softness and super great value for money. Guigal Cotes du Rhone is one of the world's biggest red wine success stories and its makers are on a constant mission of refinement in making this wine a better version of itself with regular work on the blend, the ageing and the overall quality. It's a big dark, smooth and soft textured blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre with the finished wine aged for 18 months in large oak foudres in the northern Rhone, in Ampuis. This town in the Cote Rotie appellation is home to Guigal's top red wines and this humble little sibling joins its more illustriously regarded, higher priced siblings there for its final ageing, pre release. 

Chene Bleu is a relatively new wine brand at Regional. All of the wines are certified organic with the EU and made to exactly quality standards. Hand picked grapes, double sorted in the vineyard, tiny yields and obvious high quality flavours are just some of the reasons to drink these wines.

This blend of Grenache and Syrah comes from Ventoux in the southern Rh?ne Valley, France; a Mediterranean wine region where dark, dense fruit flavours combine with the earthy appeal of aromas like leather, spice, anise and dried herbs.

This is a mouthwatering red wine which ticks all the boxes and more than delivers on value for money too.

This lush, silky reds a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah from the southern Rhone Gigondas appellation. Lush, plush and full bodied with bright red plum flavours and spice supported by the structure of Syrah's black plum flavours and firm tannins. 

Chene Bleu is a relatively new wine brand at Regional from an exciting, high altitude vineyard in Vaucluse, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cotes-d'Azur. All of the wines are certified organic with the EU and made to exactly quality standards. Hand picked grapes, double sorted in the vineyard, tiny yields and obvious high quality flavours are just some of the reasons to drink these wines.

Sheer deliciousness is the main one. 

This dry white is made from a blend of Grenache Blanc, Rolle (also known, in Italy, as Vermentino), Clairette, Roussanne and Viognier. 

The balance is impeccable. Try it. 

Domaine du Vieux Lazaret is one of the main estates of the Ch?teauneuf-du-Pape appellation and one of the oldest, dating from 1748. The domaine covers around 100 ha, where all 13 permissible grape varieties are grown.

There are three main soil types within the domain - soils with rolled pebbles, stony terraces with sand and gravel sub-soils and clay soils formed from the limestone mother rock.

The wine is made with traditional techniques; total de-stemming, pumping over twice a day and with 2 to 3 weeks in concrete vats followed by 18 months in vats and barrels (15%).

In youth the wine is a deep crimson with ripe dark fruit and spices which develop into prune, liquorice and black pepper notes with time.

Burgundy-trained St?phane Ogier is a northern Rh?ne wunderkind, says Master of Wine Jancis Robinson. He makes this full bodied, fresh southern Rh?ne blend of about 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah from vines substantially grown in Viol?s on Le Plan de Dieu supplemented by some from Visan. Soils are a mixture of limestone and blue clay. Average vine density is 7,000 vines per hectare with the average age a very heartening 30 to 50 years. Vines are hand-harvested ? yields averaging 40 hl/ha ? before being sorted in both vineyard and cellar.

 Ogier joined his father Michel in 1997 to work the family vineyards and built a glamorous new winery just south of Ampuis overlooked by the steep C?te R?tie terraces. And he has now built a second winery in the southern Rh?ne to make wines like Le Temps est Venu without having to ship the grapes too far.

Ch?teau Maucoil?s vineyards are located in the northwest of the Ch?teauneuf du Pape area, on the left bank of the River Rh?ne. This wine consists of Grenache blanc (90%) Bourboulenc (8%) Clairette (2%). This wine is clean and bright. Rich and fine on the nose with pear and citrus aromas. The palate is mineral with notes of green apple and lemon.

Wine growers in the northern Rhone since 1481, the Chave family represents 16 generations of unbroken lineage committed to the production of some of the finest Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne on the planet. Jean Louis joined his father in 1992 after completing undergraduate studies at University of Connecticut and a degree in oenology at Davis. It was at that time that he completely replanted vineyards on the family?s original estate in Saint-Joseph, which had been abandoned in the early 1900?s when phylloxera hit the region.

'Vinified from grapes that were harvested as late as the 26th of September, the 2021 L'Hermitage Blanc was cropped at 38 hL/ha, above the levels of 2022. It dazzles with vivid spring blossom, honeysuckle, lemon peel, white peach, quince, apricot and discrete cedar aromas. Medium-bodied and immaculately balanced by bright acidity, this is an athletic L'Hermitage Blanc with marked freshness and energy. A saline aftertaste wraps up the sapid finish. Outstanding.' 96 pts Nicolas Greinacher - Vinous

Wine growers in the northern Rhone since 1481, the Chave family represents 16 generations of unbroken lineage committed to the production of some of the finest Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne on the planet. Jean Louis joined his father in 1992 after completing undergraduate studies at University of Connecticut and a degree in oenology at Davis. It was at that time that he completely replanted vineyards on the family?s original estate in Saint-Joseph, which had been abandoned in the early 1900?s when phylloxera hit the region.

Jean-Louis Chave Selections, his negociant line which sources grapes from various areas in the northern Rhone, represents a more accessible way for the consumer to experience the wines of the Chave family.

The Chave family is based in a small village on the northern right bank of the Rhone. There have been Chaves growing vines on the famous Hermitage hill since 1481.