Full bodied French Viognier from the south, which is affordable and beautifully well balanced, thanks to its peachy aromas and zingy dry palate structure. This wine highlights Viognier at its best; dry and rich but also with complex nutty notes, wich is no mean feat at this price. This wine is made with grapes grown in three French wine regions; on the Massif Central, the Mediterranean and the French Alps. This combination provides balance to the fleshy, full bodied appeal of peachy Viognier. This wine was aged for six months on lees in concrete tanks. 

It is also refreshingly varietally labelled.

A lovely addition to Viognier lover's wine glasses in New Zealand.

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 Prébois vineyard in Orange), Syrah from further north in Vinsobres and Mourvèdre. 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 Mourvèdre 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.

Beautiful dark and juicy flavours in this lively Cotes du Rhone, which offers great value for money and also offers a complex look at the smooth, appealing structure and velvet mouthfeel of wines from the southern Rhone Valley. 

Even more appeal, the Chapoutier wine team now seals with lovely red with a screw cap to ensure it tastes just the way it did when it was made at the winery. 

75% Grenache + 25% Syrah from sandy light soils at the limit of the slopes of Sablet in the Southern Rhone.

Winemaking: The stems are removed and the Syrah and Grenache are fermented separately over 10 to 15 days in concrete tanks at a temperature of around 25 degrees. The wines is then matured for 3 months in oak.

Tasting: Bright ruby colour. The nose is very aromatic with intense reds fruit, hints of spice and liquorice. The palate is expressive and fleshy and follows suit with the nose.

A classic southern Rhone white blend made up of 50% Roussanne, 30%
Grenache Blanc, 10% Viognier and 10% Marsanne from Costieres de Nimes AOC. 

After a short skin maceration, fermentation is conducted at 18°C in stainless tanks
with no malolactic fermentation to retain as much freshness as possible.
The Grenache Blanc brings minerality, the Viognier brings aromas of apricot and peach and the Marsanne and Roussanne add citrus and floral complexity.

Chateau du Trignon is located on the Trignon river which divides Sablet and Gigondas in the southern Rhone. This is 100% Marsanne offering subtles aromas of acacia, beeswax, quince, almonds, honey and white peach.

Vacqueyras has always played second fiddle to Chateauneuf but the wines are finally starting to get the credit they deserve and this full bodied, deep and complex red is an excellent expression of this appellation. 

Sang des Cailloux means “blood of the stones,” and the galets ridden nature of the soil comes across in the mineral, stony aspect of this wine which is deep and full of energy and with notes of lavender, red and black fruit and olive. It is ready to drink now but will age gracefully for at least ten to fifteen years.

This wine is made from grapes grown on the elevated Plateau des Garrigues, where the vines are planted on a mixture of red clay, limestone and galets roule - or pudding - stones that are famously found in Chateaunuef.

Each vintage, from our base in Cairanne, we are able to select exceptional Grenache and Syrah from the best Côtes du Rhône Villages to make Les Coteaux, which we then enrich with classified wine from Séguret and Sablet.

Production

Common practice in the Côtes du Rhône is to bottle the best cuvées as a single, named, village wine and the rest as more basic Côtes du Rhône Villages. Boutinot’s philosophy, on the other hand, is to start with the intention of making the very best Côtes du Rhône Villages possible by sourcing wine from the vineyards of named villages, and enriching them with a small proportion of barrel-aged wine from Sablet and Séguret. Boutinot's Côtes du Rhône Villages 'Les Coteaux' is therefore a selection of the best Grenache Noir and Syrah from some of the 17 named Côtes du Rhône Villages. We source wine from a number of growers with exceptional terroir and so have the flexibility to select only the very best fruit each vintage (rejecting parcels which do not meet our high standards). Mostly unoaked, a small proportion (15%) is part-aged for up to 20 months in a few new, but mostly older, oak barrels to bring depth and subtle notes of complexity.

Tasting notes

Immediately impressive, this wine reveals its class from the start. Brambly fruit underpinned by subtle oaky nuances, lovely sweet spice - warm star anise with a touch of cinnamon. This classic Côtes du Rhône Villages is enriched with specially-selected parcels from Séguret and Sablet.

Food match

A delicious accompaniment to hearty food: grilled meats, meaty sausages with mash or, as would be served in France, with puy lentils; shepherd's pie, mushroom ragoût or simply a good pizza.

Although famed for its red wines, white wines have a long heritage in the southern Rhône valley, where the locals enjoy an occasional glass at the start of a warm evening. La Fleur Solitaire is a solitaire amongst the rubies of our Boutinot Rhône range; a white Côtes du Rhône made from traditional southern Rhône white grape varieties.

Production

Following an experiment with a micro cuvée crafted from seven barrels back in 2009, we now source grapes from selected vineyards in the southern Rhône. Each parcel is picked separately in the cooler early daylight hours for gentle pressing that same morning, and each is fermented at a low temperature. To a base of Grenache Blanc, we blend Viognier along with co-fermented pairs of Roussanne/Marsanne and Bourboulenc/Clairette. Over the years we have increased the proportion vinified in stainless steel, with just under a third of the wine now vinified and matured for 6 months French oak barrels (mostly 3rd fill but some new) to add complexity and creaminess.

Tasting notes

Proper white Côtes du Rhône; fresh, medium-bodied, vinous. The nose is pretty and delicate, with a waft of fennel tops and hints of hedgerow flowers. The flavours are nuanced and refined rather than overt. Careful use of oak adds texture and structure without masking the freshness of this very drinkable white.

Food match

A lovely apéritif, and delicious with lighter dishes such as grilled asparagus drizzled with olive oil and toasted almonds or a goats cheese salad. Fish and chicken are a perfect partner; especially grilled halibut or cod, or a creamy chicken dishes such as the French Poulet à l’Estragon (chicken in a tarragon sauce).

Intent on making the very best Côtes du Rhône Rosé we can, we search for varieties naturally suited to rosé; Grenache Noir for body, Cinsault for freshness and a touch of spice from a drop of Syrah. This wine is HVE3 sustainable certified.

Production

Our hunt for specific plots that would deliver the best grapes with the right balance and flavour profile led us to the south of the Côtes du Rhône where we found ripeness and aroma to balance the freshness found in plots from northern villages of the Southern Rhône valley. As with previous vintages, Les Cerisiers is again made in the same way as the best rosés of Provence, uses the ‘rosé de presse’ method as soon as the grapes are picked. This very gentle pressing extracts as much aroma and flavour as possible with the least amount of tannins. The wine is both pressed and vinified at cool temperatures (of no more than 16Intent ) in stainless steel vats to preserve these delicate aroma, flavours and colour. The wine is grown and vinified sustainably, achieving HVE3 certification

Tasting notes

An elegant, truly gastronomic rosé from our home in the Rhône. A classic salmon pink rosé with delicate perfumed aromas of rosehip syrup, wild berry blossoms and cherries on the nose. Full flavoured, ripe and beautifully balanced with acidity, there’s elegant, textured, berry fruit on the palate with a twist of raspberry freshness to lift the finish. Deliciously balanced and moreish.

Food match

As with rosé from neighbouring Provence, Les Cerisiers should not be seen only as a delicious apéritif but a match for light dishes - a simple charcuterie plate or grilled salmon and prawns. It also pairs well with more complex dishes; Bouillabaisse, the classic southern French fish stew, or even Red Thai Chicken Curry, a spicy bean tagine or a mushroom and aubergine lasagne.

Its fresh and ripe blackcurrant nose is marked by aromas of spices. A frank, fresh and dense attack on the palate makes it a very delicious wine. Its beautiful length brings with it bewitching aromas of garrigue and reveals very sweet tannins. Powerful and pure in the mouth with a very elegant, fruity palate. Ready to drink, or even better with age.

Grapes: 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah

Terroir: Pebble soils from the Rhône.

Winemaking: Fermentation in stainless tank with temperature control, and aged in concrete.

Move aside, cheeky little anything red  fora bottle of this gorgeous French rouge from the Southern Rhone Valley. Its pretty purple colour gives way to a red fruited, lightly spicy tasting wine with smooth tannins, a medium body and a fresh finish. This wine is made by the Perrin Family, owners of Château de Beaucastel, which makes some of the greatest reds in the Rhone Valley. 

* This wine is made from a blend of grapes grown in the Southern Rhone Valley and it was formerly a Cotes du Ventoux but is now a blended rouge from a wider area.