The Rhone: Beautiful South

Domaine Font de Courtedune – for now, at least – is something of an insider’s secret. With vineyards right next door to Château Rayas, and sharing the same sandy soils, this tiny Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate produces outstanding wines that are a fraction of the price of those of its famous neighbour. The vineyards have long been owned by the Charrier family, but the fruit was sold to the local co-operative until 1997, when René Charrier established the domaine. Today his children Caroline and Frédéric are in charge.

Everything here is joyously traditional. The old vines (some of which are over 100 years old) are all farmed sustainably, with as little intervention as possible; a philosophy that follows through into the winery. Everything is whole-bunch, fermented and aged in concrete vats, with no oak to be found in the winery at all. They work almost exclusively with Grenache, with just a splash of Mourvèdre, Counoise, Cinsault, and Terret Noir to add extra spice and body to the wines.

An outstanding 2021 Chateauneuf ethereal and fresh, super sleek and wonderfully pretty. It's all about the pure fruit, lilting, sweet cherries, crushed raspberry and a touch of white pepper spice sprinkled in all the right spots. Lovely wine.

 

 50% Grenache, 50% Syrah farmed organically. The name of this cuvee is a nod to the Duseigneur family name that means "Drop of the Lord". Vines of 30 years old with an average yield of around 30hl/ha. 2 weeks of maceration in a concrete tank. No oak aging. Fragrant nose of wild strawberries, red plum, cherries and spices. Fresh and charming style of Cotes du Rhone. Medium bodied and elegant Cotes du Rhone. Beautiful mid palate with fresh black and red berries. A wonderfully thirst quenching and refreshing wine!

70% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Cinsault. Certified organic. Tank sample.
Tasted blind. Earthy and meaty, with a savoury note. Both red and blue fruits, with a cooling herbal streak alongside ripe and succulent tannins. Lovely balance of sweet fruit and savoury undertones.JANCIS ROBINSON

Soft and silky in style, enjoyably full-bodied, this is ripe, with ample fruit, balanced alcohol and good acidity. Altogether harmonious and very drinkable, this is an elegant style of Vacqueyras that comes highly recommended. DECANTER

The personality of the maker - generous and jovial - is on full display via black and red fruits while blue florals and the liquorice that jumps out of the glass, give the wine it's aromatic swagger. On the palate too, it's direct; big on flavour and impact with that same red and black fruited attack laying the groundwork for a more complex array of mineral, hung meat, liquorice, dried herbs and smoke. Pretty much like falling head first into a hypothetical vat the Southern Rhone itself. Medium to full bodied with plenty of structure to cope with anything from the bbq to the one-pot wonder.

It's one of the most authentic things I drink each year, capturing  the ethos of the fading French country wine in a glass. Rustic, reassuring and ultimately flat out delicious. MICHAEL MCNAMARA, PWS

It is medium to full-bodied, displaying lovely aromas of raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, roasted herbs and a pinch of licorice. The fruit has a beautiful, jewel-like quality to it and shines brightly. What a beautifully refined offering from Sophie Armenier and her son Vincent. NICOLAS GREINACHER, Vinous


Classic Marcoux notes of raspberries, kirsch, sappy garrigue, and spicy flowers emerge from the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape, a pretty, medium-bodied, elegant, finesse-driven beauty that offers silky tannins, no hard edges, and a wonderful sense of both complexity and freshness. This classic, nuanced 2021 shows both the estate and the vintage beautifully. JEB DUNNUCK

The 2022 Lirac is 60% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, and 10% each of Syrah and Cinsault that saw a splash of stems and is still resting all in foudre. Ripe black cherries, black licorice, and peppery, savory herb notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium to full- bodied richness, a layered, mouth-filling texture, and outstanding length. JEB DUNNUCK

Ripe peach, apricot, honeyed white flowers, and some mineral notes all define the 2022 Côtes Du Rhône Temps Est Venu Blanc, a medium-bodied, round, fleshy, nicely textured, balanced white that will have lots of flexibility on the dinner table.

Mostly Grenache and Syrah, the 2022 Côtes Du Rhône Le Temps Est Venu is up-front and loaded with charm, offering lots of black raspberry and redcurrant-like fruit as well as peppery garrigue and spice. It's medium to full-bodied, round, layered, and beautifully balanced. JEB DUNNUCK

All destemmed and made in concrete tanks, the 2022 Cotes du Rhone comes from two small parcels of vines. Mainly Grenache, with smaller amounts of Mourvèdre and Syrah, it's a terrific value this vintage, offering up loads of black cherries and blackberries, garnished with an appealing waft of garrigue. Full-bodied and soft, it's awfully easy to drink and enjoy. JOW CZERWINSKI, The Wine Advocate

The nose has a gentle peach aroma, honeysuckle indeed after the wine’s name, with a hint of smoke. The palate is charming from the off, holds squeezy and cosy white fruits with tender progress along the palate, the finale curved. JOHN LIVINGSTONE-LEARMONTH, Drink Rhone

Certified organic. Chèvrefeuilles (pronounced ‘shev-ruh-foy’) is French for honeysuckle, the perfume of which you cannot escape during springtime in the Southern Rhône. Olivier is a sucker for the character and freshness of old-vine Clairette, which now accounts for half the blend in his delightful citrus- and white-plum-scented Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc, with the remainder made up of 25% Roussanne and 25% Grenache Blanc. The fruit grows on the domaine’s cooler, east-facing sites, where limestone helps to preserve freshness.

A seductive and well-made Cairanne with crunchy berry character. On the nose cherries, forest berries and herbs dominate. The medium-bodied palate reveals a harmonious structure and poised character. Delicious and vivid. JAMES SUCKLING

Raisined fruit, fruitcake and prune on the nose with a hint of leaf tea. It’s exceptionally sweet and concentrated, with strong acidity and quite robust, ripe tannins. The balance and freshness is likely to see this age for a very long time. A leviathan of a wine that will probably last forever. 95g/L residual sugar. MATT WALLS, Decanter

Crafted by the Gonnet family, whose deep-rooted history in Châteauneuf-du-Pape spans generations, this wine reflects a legacy of precision, tradition, and a deep respect for terroir. Their approach results in wines that are both refined and expressive, capturing the essence of this historic region.

Their flagship Châteauneuf-du-Pape is sourced from south-facing vines over 50 years old, ensuring concentration and depth. After a traditional fermentation, the wine is aged in a combination of concrete vats, 600L demi-muids, and smaller 200L oak barrels, allowing for texture and complexity without overpowering the fruit.

The blend is a true reflection of the appellation’s diversity, featuring Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise, Cinsault, Terret Noir, Vaccarèse, Clairette, and Bourboulenc—a medley of red and white varieties that together create a wine of balance, richness, and southern charm

'This estate is at the top of its game today and needs to be on every Southern Rhone lover’s radar. One of the leading estates in Châteauneuf du Pape is unquestionably Pierre Usseglio. JEB DUNNUCK

Crafted primarily from Grenache, the 2022 Pigeoulet Vaucluse offers a gourmand, fresh bouquet of dark cherries, garrigue and wild dark berries. Moderately weighted and with a lovely juiciness, it's both balanced and elegant, featuring bright acidity and a long, mouthwatering finish. The grapes are sourced 80% from the Ventoux region, with the remaining 20% coming from alluvial soils in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. YOHAN CASTAING, The Wine Advocate

A vivid, juicy yet serious red with notes of cherries, strawberries, crushed raspberries and some roasted black pepper. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Lively and spicy, with pure fruit character at the center and some dried herbs lifting the finish. Drink now. JAMES SUCKLING

A blend of 80% Grenache Noir and 20% Syrah, the 2022 Megaphone Ventoux reveals aromas of crushed strawberries, dark berries, violets and spices. Moderately weighted, perfectly balanced and elegantly juicy, it’s fleshier than Pigeoulet and has a gourmand, fresh finish. Crafted with some whole bunches, it underwent a 25-day maceration, contributing to its structure and depth. YOHAN CASTAING, The Wine Advocate

A well-crafted, balanced and lively red with aromas of red berries, dried herbs, stones and baking spices. It's medium- to full-bodied with fine tannins. Vivid and quite intense at the entry with a kick of spices bringing energy. Plenty of verve and wildness to the clear fruit character and a precise finish. Drink or hold. JAMES SUCKLING

A blend of 90% Grenache (sourced on galets roulés) and 10% Mourvèdre on sandy soils, the 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Piedlong is a stunning wine. Evoking aromas of rose, violets, spices, garrigue and red berries, it’s medium to full-bodied, round and structured with bright acids, a long, delicate core of fruit and a mouthwatering mineral finish.

Taking its name from the lieu-dit Piedlong, this Brunier family project spotlights Grenache Noir cultivated on sandy soils and galets roulés that define the La Crau plateau. The typical blend for Piedlong comprises 90% Grenache from le Pied Long and 10% Mourvèdre from Pignan. This results in a lighter-hued wine that is more refined in expressing Grenache and Châteauneuf-du-Pape yet retains considerable aging potential. The 2021 vintage stands out as particularly successful despite the challenging conditions, tending toward an earlier drinking window, while the 2022 release represents a superb effort by the Brunier family within the vintage’s context. YOHAN CASTAING, The Wine Advocate

Looking at the 2021s from barrel, the 2021 Lirac Antares shows the fresher style of the vintage yet still brings solid fruit and texture. Spice, violets, flowers, and lavender as well as both red and black fruits define the nose, and it's balanced, has fine tannins, and lots to like. JEB DUNNUCK

Antarès is the main star of the constellation of Scorpio. One of the basic principles of biodynamics is to work in harmony with cosmic rhythms. Antarès is a selection of vines located on hillsides facing North, at the Western end of the Lirac appellation, at an altitude of 160m. The vines are 50 years old. The harvest is fully de-stemmed. Each variety is vinified separately using  natural yeasts. The Grenache is aged in cement vats, the Mourvèdre in old French oak demi-muids  for 12 months.

60% Grenache, 40% Mouvèdre farmed organically (Certified).Notes of strawberry, black raspberries, pine, sandalwood and a hint of ground black pepper in this ripe but restrained blend. A full-bodied and concentrated wine that maintains remarkable vibrance and acidity throughout. Fine-grained tannins accentuate its youthful appeal. Supple mouthfeel, we love the generosity of mid palate filled with ripe black berries and blue fruits and spices. Beautiful Lirac for all lovers of great Southern Rhone reds.

 

 

Under the helm of Didier Negron, Domaine Roger Sabon plays in the top handful of producers in the Southern Rhône. The estate covers roughly 17 hectares and 15+ parcels, spread throughout the appellation, from which they produce four Châteauneuf du Pape cuvées. The 2021s show the fresher, more approachable and elegant style of the vintage, and the upper tier releases rank with the top handful of wines. JEB DUNNUCK

An impressive Lirac boasts 70% Grenache, the balance is equal parts Syrah, Mourvèdre and Old
Carignan. All fruit is hand-picked and destemmed.

Brilliant ruby. Vibrant raspberry, cherry and floral scents are complemented by garrigue and cracked pepper suggestions. Juicy, palate-coating red and blue fruit and candied lavender flavors show very good clarity and smoothly blend depth and energy. Displays firm cut and strong persistence on a long, floral- and spice-accented finish that's framed by smooth, slowly building tannins. Raised in a 65/35 combination of used oak foudres and concrete tanks. JOSH RAYNOLDS, Vinous

From one of the Rhône Valley’s most respected names, Domaine de la Mordorée brings precision, polish, and a touch of wild southern soul to every bottle. Crafted from organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards, Mordorée’s Côtes du Rhône Rouge typically blends Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, offering vibrant dark fruit, garrigue, and a thread of spice. It's medium-bodied but layered, with the finesse and polish that set this estate apart.

This is everyday Rhône done exceptionally well—a wine with real personality, balance, and enough depth to elevate it.