Rhone

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.

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.

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.

Succulent drink now C?tes du Rh?ne from the Sabon family, renowned in Chateauneuf du Pape. This wine has black and red fruits delivered in a beautifully balanced, silky, medium bodied mouthful. The blend is 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah with the rest Carignan, Mourvedre and Cinsault.

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. 

A rare and special cotes du Rhone made entirely from the dark spicy Syrah grape which delivers big time in this full bodied dry red that has ageing potential to burn - and it drinks beautifully now, especially with meaty savoury dishes. 

Buy two and age one. Supplies are limited. Get in fast.

Winemaker Paul-Vincent Avril typically works with a blend of three main grapes - 20% Mourvedre, 50% Grenache and 10% Syrah, with the balance being a mix of all the other permitted varieties (Clos des Papes is one of the few estates to use all permitted varieties for both red and white Chateauneuf). This is dense and complex Chateauneuf that will profit from 20 years plus in the cellar.

95/100 Decanter, Matt Walls
"Defined raspberry and redcurrant fruits, some woody spices in the background. Quite a rounded, fluid style, the acidity is really quite marked this year. Tannins are gentle, and it finishes on raspberry and redcurrant coulis. There's a silky touch on the palate. It's built around the acidity, the tannins are just gently sandy. Good sense of purity, quite a Burgundian vintage. Less Grenache in the blend this year as it was particularly hit by the frost." Drink 2025 - 2038

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.