There are few things more comforting as the weather cools than a glass of Rhône-inspired red. Syrah and Grenache remain two of the wine world’s great grapes, capable of delivering everything from spice-laden perfume and savoury earthiness through to lush dark fruits and warming richness. Syrah brings structure, pepper, florals and depth, while Grenache leans into generosity, red fruits, spice and effortless drinkability. Together, they form the backbone of some of the most soulful wines on earth.

This pack explores both the northern and southern Rhône alongside some of the world’s great modern homes for these varieties. For Syrah, that means a benchmark wine from Gimblett Gravels with the superb Trinity Hill, the plush and deeply satisfying Barossa expression from Flaxman Wines and the brilliant Domaine Stéphane Ogier La Rosine: all the perfume and savoury detail of Côte-Rôtie at a fraction of the price. Grenache takes us from the southern Rhône with a beautiful Vacqueyras from La Roubine to the sandy soils of McLaren Vale with Thistledown Wines, one of Australia’s great Grenache specialists.

And for a little surprise, we’ve included a Grenache-based Rioja from Sierra de Toloño. Rioja may not be the first place people think of for Grenache, but some of the most exciting examples we’ve seen in recent years have come from the region’s higher altitude hillsides, where the grape takes on a wonderfully fragrant, mineral and energetic personality. A seriously delicious six-pack and exactly the kind of wines we want to be drinking right now.

Lots of uber-rich black cherries, melted licorice, and peppery notes emerge from the 2023 Vacqueyras, a ripe, medium to full-bodied, plush, nicely concentrated 2023. JEB DUNNUCK

Based in the heart of Gigondas, run by two of the most down to earth, humble, kind hearted folk I have been lucky enough to meet in the wine business, La Roubine produces only three wines,  and they are so small that we find it hard to express just how little wine is made here to customers. Their barrel room is just that, a small little room, attached to a shed. It’s great. 

The vineyards are all worked by hand, his hands and one part time employee. Everything here is manual. This is very hands on farming and winemaking. Their recipe is basic. Get the vineyard right, the fruit perfect, get it into the winery and don’t bugger it up. It’s all about their vines, concrete and old wood. Nothing here to muddle the pure expression of the Southern Rhone.  It’s the kind of story that people love now days, but they have lived it for decades. Calmly farming their plots and making gorgeous, soulful wines that deliver an unhindered expression of the south, with all its charm and inviting nature that radiates from the people and the place itself. They aren’t flashy, they are honest, open and full of personality. LOVE THEM!

The 2023 Garnacha de Altura La Dula from Ribas de Tereso is open and expressive aromatically, combining rose, soft violet, potpourri and Mediterranean herbs. Juicy and agile on the palate, it is driven by lively acidity and a silky flow. Very fine tannins provide energy and subtle grip without disturbing the texture. A Garnacha of pedigree, it is poised between the ethereal and the powerful, yet above all precise. (93) JOAQUIN HIDALGOI, Vinous

Sandra Bravo’s 2023 Rioja Garnacha de Altura bottling is crafted entirely from garnacha vines that are more than eighty years-old. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts in old foudres and aged entirely in clay amphorae prior to bottling. The 2023 version comes in at 13.5 percent octane and offers up a superb bouquet of red and black raspberries, a bit of fruitcake, a nice touch of meatiness, stony soil tones, a lovely array of Rioja spice tones and just a touch of amphora influence. On the palate the wine is deep, young and full-bodied, with a superb core of old vine fruit, fine soil inflection and grip, firm, chewy tannins and a long, complex and well balanced finish. This is still a very young wine and is going to need plenty of cellaring time to soften up, but it will be a very tasty bottle once it is ready to drink. 2035-2065+. JOHN GILMAN, View From The Cellar

From old bush vines planted to red-brown sandy loam soils studded with quartz and ironstone. Natural yeast, 50% whole bunches, eight months' élevage in old oak. Those bunches are seamlessly integrated across what is a medium-weighted and serenely elegant release. It’s got structure, though, the tannins quietly commanding, pithy, crunchy, drawing long. Wild cherries, pomegranate, damson plum, Campari, white peppery spice. There’s real charm to this right now, but there’s also a lot wound within, with layers of spice and earthy detail emerging with air. It’s the most finessed, elegant release of this I can recall, and that’s from a year that was both warm and extremely dry. Old vines, hey. (95) MARCUS ELLIS, Halliday Wine Companion

50% whole bunch. 1490 bottles produced.

Raspberry, strawberry, a rosy perfume, nutmeg, aniseed, something of an ozone character too. It’s only just medium-bodied, red fruit with some almond, quite fine and ‘mineral’ with a light graphite grip to tannin, and a nutty raspberry and orange peel laced finish of very good length. It’s a light wine, yet it’s thoroughly charming, and surprisingly, despite the hot dry vintage, I reckon this release shows an extra degree of finesse. (94) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

There is no doubt that this is one of the best producers of grenache in the country. Both from a quality perspective but also from a range that highlights the incredible diversity of McLaren's grenache vineyards and the grenache's ability to transmit those properties into the wines. We are always thoroughly impressed every time we see these wines, it is no stretch to say they are outstanding. You could try any one of these and be impressed, but we thought we would include one of our favourites for the pack. 

A cooler, longer vintage had a telling effect… flavour profile leans into the darkest red fruits rather than expected plush purples. Delicious redcurrant and red plum accents are drawn slow and even, like a bowed Stradivarius, holding perfect pitch throughout the long, sustained notes before an especially dry finish. Poise and elegance. (97) DAVID SLY, decanter.com 

Flaxman Valley-sourced syrah, 95% destemmed, 5% whole bunch, pressed to French oak, 33% new, for 14 months' maturation. This wine is looking great. Savoury and stony as it travels across the palate with a trail of purely defined red cherry and dark plum fruits cut with spice, glazed ham, meadow flowers, crushed rock, dried raspberry and earth. I dare say it, it's St. Joseph-y! Calm and stony pure with a sapid mineral line, gypsum-dust tannins and a real ease of drinking. (94) DAVE BROOKES, Halliday Wine Companion

Magenta red in the glass. Dark fruited aromas of plum, mulberry and dark cherry, along with spice, dried flowers and a brambly earthiness. Dark fruited, spice, layered and mouth-filling, with a decent lick of tannin and snappy acidity. Smart length and mouth-feel. AARON BRASHER, The Real Review 

95 - Decanter World Wine Awards 2022
SILVER - International Wine Challenge 2023
TROPHY - New Zealand International Wine Show 2022

Opaque appearance with a core of dark purple and ruby. Very youthful bouquet with scents of ripe black currant berries and dark plums, barrel spices and a light black pepper quality layer in complexity and breadth. Some lifted toasty barrel qualities and scents of clove, spice and vanilla. Delicious on the palate - full and rich in flavour and texture. Plum and black currant, clove and toasty barrel, lees, a gun-flint and roasted nut quality. Firm tannins and a back bone of acidity ensure this wine has an excellent foundation and will age well. The core fruits are powerful and lasting. A delicious though youthful example with a long finish. CAM DOUGLAS MS

The elegant 2020 vintage (4.5*) was hand-picked and matured for a year in large (5000litres) oak ovals. Highly approachable in its youth, it is deeply coloured, mouthfilling and vividly varietal, with strong, ripe plum and black pepper flavours, and a long, spicy, finely textured finish. MICHAEL COOPER

Another superb value from Stephane Ogier, crafted from vines planted on the commune of Turpin on granite soils, the 2022 La Rosine Syrah offers up aromas of Timut pepper, violets, mulberries and dark berries mingled with lovely floral hints. Moderately weighted and delicately juicy, it's round and perfectly balanced with a sweet mid-palate and a fresh core of fruit that leads to a long, fresh and delicate finish. Although it can wait 1-2 years, it is ready to drink now. YOHAN CASTAING The Wine Advocate 

The 2022 Collines Rhodaniennes La Rosine is rocking stuff, with ripe red and black fruits, asphalt, roasted herbs, and leather notes. From granite soils in the southern part of the appellation, this medium to full-bodied effort shows good ripeness and roundness, offering meaty, savory character balanced by good sweetness of fruit. Drink 2025-2032. JEB DUNNUCK 

The ever-restless Stéphane Ogier is making some of the finest wines in the entire Rhône valley, the north as well as the south. JOSH RAYNOLDS

Burgundy-trained Stéphane Ogier is a bit of a northern Rhône wunderkind. JANCIS ROBINSON MW

Stephane's passion and dedication to his craft have been a formidable driving force for the domaine and today he has without a doubt cemented himself firmly into the top echelons of the wine-making world. He has put huge investments in time and capital which has seen the already excellent quality improve even further while the winemaking, nuanced and subtle, has set itself apart from many in the region.