Shockingly good given the difficulties in Crozes during the growing season (it rained - a lot), the 2021 Crozes-Hermitage Silene has a pretty, complex, elegant perfume of red berries, spring flowers, cedary herbs, and pepper, with some classic Northern Rhône bacon fat. Nicely textured, medium-bodied, and elegant, with good ripeness, it's a rock-solid, classic, old school-styled Crozes to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years.

90 Jeb Dunnuck, May 2023

Dry, dark and full bodied wine with impressive structure, made from 100% Syrah grown on 20 to 50 year old vines planted on limestone, sand and pebbles in the appellation of St Joseph. This wine is fermented in stainless steel and was aged for 16 months in second fill oak barrels.

Now we're talking next level. 

Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf-du-Pape is an exciting dry, full bodied, ageworthy white wine from the Southern Rhone's most famous appellation. It's a blend of Roussanne 40%, Clairette 30%, Grenache Blanc 20%, Bourboulenc and Picpoul 10%. Approximately 40% of the wine was aged in barrels on fine lees for 10 months and its smooth, full body and savoury flavours are beautifully balanced by the high acid components in the blend, namely Roussanne and Bourbolenc. 

Here is a wine to enjoy in a large glass right now or to age further for at least six to seven years, potentially beyond that. It will reward short, medium and long term drinking.

This is a sleek, detailed and fragrant, offering from Gaillard, one of the Northern Rhone's true stars.

Grapes from several parcels in the high country of Malleval, Chavanay, and Limony in the far north of the appellation go into this wine. The vines lie closer to Vienne and Condrieu than to Tournon-sur-Rhône in the south and Gaillard’s steep, cool soils have plenty of granite, which contributes to the mineral cut of this perfumed and vibrant Syrah. 

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.

Domaine Bouïssière covers 9 ha of Gigondas, 5 ha of Beaumes-de-Venise and 2.6 ha of Vacqueyras and is owned by brothers Thierry and Gilles Faravel who are considered one of the leading artisan winemakers in Gigondas, if not in the whole southern Rhône valley.

This wines is made with 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah grown at altitude on the granite slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail. It is juicy, racy and harmonious with integrated tannins and will evolve beautifully over the next five or so years.

From the Cairanne sub-region in the Cotes du Rhone. This is a powerful yet nuanced wine with an excellent smoothness. This Cote du Rhone is defined by its ripe fruit character and peppery spice. Excellent concentration and earthiness makes for a complex, satisfying red.

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. 

This Gigondas by Domaine Espiers is deep, rich and fruity. The nose is complex and savoury, with black olive and pepper notes held together by a ripe dark fruit backdrop. The palate reveals a ripe, layered wine with mild tannins and a long finish.

This is one of our favourite Côtes du Rhône 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 Sérignan du Comtat, 20 kilometres north of Châteauneuf 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. 

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.

A lovely, deep and dark violet colour in the glass, this wine opens with mineral and smoke accented dark berries, liquorice and spicy black pepper on the deeply perfumed nose. The palate flows energetically with juicy cherry and blackcurrant flavours and more of the smoky minerality found on the nose which adds lift and depth. The finish is long with floral and tapenade pinned together with well defined ripe tannins.

Maturation - 16 months in oak barrels used for several earlier vintages