Wine Region: Rhône

(2025) The very reliable Les Dauphins brand offers this blend of 85% Grenache with Syrah and a touch of Cinsault with grapes sourced from clay-limestone and stony soils around the village of Tulette. It has a pretty pinky-peach colour and fruity nose, where a little touch of Bazooka Joe confectionery joins ripe red berries. The palate is well balanced, with a dry and quite savoury finish, but no shortage of ripe berry fruit and a clean, lemon zest acidity. A well made wine at a modest price.

(2025) A Grenache dominated blend, thank goodness Guigal have stuck to their guns of making a much more full-coloured pink, no concessions to fashionably pale here. Lots of fruit, racy with raspberry and small, cool berries, nice texture and a balanced finish hinting at a touch of tannin, with good acid balance. Nicely done.

(2025) Hot off the press, the 2024 vintage of Guigal's CdR Rosé. Darker than the Provence-ish examples, it's a blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Cinsault and 10% Syrah, the vines 25 years old on average. Watch out for the 14.5% alcohol here, which admittedly does show a little as heat on the finish, but it is a vinous and characterful wine, the initial cool-ferment pear-drop character giving way to slightly spicy raspberry and strawberry, a kumquat-like bitterness to the acid shows nicely in the finish.

(2025) This is a 1.5 litre bag in box, the wine stated to stay fresh for six week after opening, and containing the equivalent of two standard bottles. It's part of a range of alternative packaged wines that includes a 250ml can of Côtes du Rhône also reviewed, though I have to say the quality of this Villages wine is superior. It has the bright, red and black, juicy berry appeal but adds a creaminess and much more depth. On the palate in particular the smooth ripeness of the fruity and the density (note also 14.5% alcohol) gives a big, Chateauneuf-style presence here. Bring on the barbie for this one. Price for a 1.5 litre bag in box. Watch the video for more information.

(2025) Les Dauphins is the brand of a large Rhône Cooperative cellar, with around 2,000 vine-growing members. This wine comes in a 250ml can as reviewed, equivalent to a large glass. It is a blend of Grenache and Syrah, from certified High Environmental Value vineyards. Bright, raspberry, cherry and kirsch aromas are primary and bold. In the mouth it is juicy and blackcurranty, exactly what you might expect, with modest tannins and enough acidity to balance it weighty 14% alcohol. Price for a 250ml can.

(2025) Guigal's Côtes du Rhône has an unusually high proportion of Syrah for the appellation, around 50% along with Grenache and a touch of Mourvèdre. It spends 18 months in barrels, but those are very large, older 'foudres', many time the size of the standard 'barrique', and so there's no toasty influence as you  might expect from newer, smaller barrels. Already five years after vintage, it is dark purple and saturated in colour, the nose of bramble fruit, spices, pepper and cedar is inviting. In the mouth the tannins give a rustic grip, but there is plenty of supple and ripe fruit too. A hint of chocolate in the background, the spices and fresh acidity balancing, it is very drinkable now but it will also cellar for several years more and become smoother and softer. Watch the video for more information. As well as the stockists listed below, this is widely available.

(2024) From chalky-clay soils and low-yielding old vines, 'Les Six' in question are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, with smaller components of Cinsault, Counoise and Carignan. It was fermented in large 6,000 litre, conical oak vats with natural yeasts and matured in vat for 10 months. It's an alluring and powerful wine, combining deep spice, blueberry and plum aromas with floral highlights and a glimpse of smoky bacon rind. Sweet and mouth-filling with 14.5% alcohol, there's a chewy robustness, firm and liquoricy tannins and good balancing acidity. Lovely, large-scaled stuff.

(2024) The blend here is Grenache Blanc, with Roussanne and Clairette, the wine fermented in 300 and 400 litre oak barrels, new and older wood, where it ages for six months before bottling. Nutty, creamy and chalky on the nose, it's a delicate but quite intense aroma, followed by a similarly yin and yang palate: there's no shortage of lightly toasty vanilla notes, and the fruit is ripe and mouth-filling, and yet this 13% alcohol wine has a lightness and finesse about it too.

(2024) A Syrah and Grenache blend, unoaked but given some time to mature in the cellar before release, this comes from the Unions des Vignerons des Côtes du Rhône co-operative. It has lift and vibrancy on the nose, kirsch and violet edging black fruits that are ripe and immediately suggest a juicy pastille quality. In the mouth there robust, sweet and chunky fruit, though the finish does tail off slightly into a slightly sharp astringency that just detracts from an otherwise enjoyable CdR.

(2024) Made by the les Vignerons d'Estezargues co-op, this Côtes Du Rhône is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc and Viognier weighing in at just 12.5% abv. There's a really pleasant Cox's pippin and lemon fruit character on the nose, both citrus fresh and with a bit of peachy ripeness, as well as creaminess/nuttiness, presumably from some lees ageing. In the mouth it has texture and a certain richness, the fruit tempered and understated, and yet that makes it so gastronomic and so versatile, with easy-drinking charm and yet the savouriness to make it broadly food friendly. A very useful little wine this.