The critic’s top bottles from the Rhône — France’s best value region

The critic’s top bottles from the Rhône — France’s best value region

, The Times

What’s the one classic French wine region with an endless run of tip-top vintages? The Rhône, of course. Given that this long, handsome, sunny valley is also the second-largest French appellation after Bordeaux, with a wealth of big food-friendly grapes, wines and flavours at all sorts of prices, it should be on everyone’s winter shopping list.

Frankly, it’s impossible to be bored with the Rhône’s cockle-warming red and white wines, with the north, dominated by the spicy syrah grape, more like burgundy and the Mediterranean south, led by potent grenache, more akin to Provence.

Back in the Seventies and Eighties, the Rhône was dominated by big merchant names like Jaboulet and Chapoutier, but the past three decades has seen the rise and rise of small, usually family-run growers, bottling their own grapes instead of selling them to co-ops and merchants. With the knock-on jump in quality, there has been a steady elevation in outlying appellations especially in the southern Rhône, with Cairanne, Ventoux and Vinsobres.

Start your Rhône journey in the north with a sensual, lavender, violet and bramble syrah. Single-vineyard hermitage and côte rôtie are the big, expensive, £400-plus names but plump for a good grower’s Saint-Joseph and you’ll have a wonderful time for a fraction of the price. Jean-Louis Chave is one of the north’s great names and while his 2023 Offerus (yapp.co.uk, £27.50) is made from bought-in syrah grapes, it’s nonetheless a vibrant, violet-scented gem.

• Yes, you can drink rosé in winter — the critic’s top bottles

With the north producing scarcely 5 per cent of the Rhône’s total production, nip down to the prolific south and nab the Thibons’ lovely, organic 2024 Mas de Libian Bout d’Zan (thewinesociety.com, £12.95), bursting with bright, spritzy, red plum fruit.

Rhône whites are also much improved. Try the lively 2024 Taste the Difference Côte du Rhône White (Sainsbury’s, £9.50), with its punchy, vanilla pod fruit. Finally, check out the 2023 Closerie de Vaudieu Châteauneuf du Pape (hedonism.co.uk, £30) from the Bréchet family, made for early drinking with delicious earthy, cardamom and tobacco leaf spice.

Rhône stars2023 Domaine du Père Caboche Châteauneuf du Pape, France

15 per cent, yapp.co.uk, £29.75
Nab this turbo-charged, ripe, rustic, gamey, truffley, châteauneuf — it’s the perfect, indulgent winter warmer.

2024 Classics No 20 Organic Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

14.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £10
Get a lot of bang for your buck with this cockle-warming, spicy, black-fruited, peppery, dusky, southern rhône.

2024 Ventoux Blanc, France

13 per cent, Lidl, £7.99
Still my favourite sub-£8 Lidl white, with masses of elegant, nutty, candied fruit, it’s a handy crowd-pleaser.

2021 The Society’s Exhibition Vinsobres, France

14 per cent, thewinesociety.com, £13.50
A glorious, gamey, velvety, grenache and syrah vinsobres, with big food-friendly fruit.

This week’s top supermarket bottles 2024 Montgravet Sauvignon Blanc-Colombard, Côtes de Gascogne, France

11 per cent, waitrosecellar.com, £8, down from £10
Exciting, aperitif and fish-friendly, zesty, lower-alcohol, greengage-ripe Gascon, harvested at night and vegan approved.

2024 Montgravet Carignan Vieilles Vignes, France

12.5 per cent, waitrosecellar.com, £8, down from £10
Vibrant, French oak-chipped, sweet, minty, Herault region red, made from 60-year-old carignan vines.

2018 Taste the Difference Rioja Gran Reserva, Spain

13.5 per cent, Sainsbury’s, £16
Graciano and mazuelo-enhanced, French and American oak-aged, scented leather-spiced Rioja Alta Cune gem.

2024 Finest Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay, US

13.5 per cent, Tesco, £15.50
A tasty, yellow apple and pineapple-licked class act Carneros chardonnay, at a keen West Coast price.