2018 Rhône

This is a wine that’s overlooked at your peril. From a number of plots, such as Combe, Les Saveaux, Cayret, Les Mazards, Chaillot and Chapuzes, this is the essence of Cornas. Baked earth and rusty notes, with a wonderful deep core of fruit, this is long,

From a plot that’s just over a hectare in size, this is a lovely introduction to the wines of the estate. Juicy, finessed fruit, and plenty of spice and floral notes swirl from the glass. It’s very long for a wine of this price.

Only made in the best vintages, this is intense, powerful and unbelievably long. The vines here are over 80 years old, and produce a monumental wine. A real privilege to try this.

The average age of these vines is over 60 years old. Detailed and intense, with silky yet grippy tannins and incredible concentration, this needs time. But with time, it will be spectacular.

A rare Côtes du Rhône made only from Syrah from the north of the valley, this is spicy and fresh, with wild strawberries and plenty of cherry fruit. There’s lovely grip on the finish: hard to spit.

From an average of 40 year old vines, this comes from numerous plots, with half on the hill and half on the plateau. Loads of focus here, it’s beautifully detailed and wonderfully balanced. The last remaining single Côte-Rôtie estate, and it’s a stunner.

From a single plot, there’s lots of focus and freshness here, with mouthwatering acidity and a beautiful floral character. This is lovely, charming Syrah.

There’s plenty of intensity and focus to this Crozes-Hermitage, with crunchy fruit and lovely depth and energy. There’s part of the blend that’s aged in barrels, the other part in stainless steel: the latter brings freshness, the former, texture.

There’s 10% Viognier in the blend here, and this gives a floral, delicate character to this Côte-Rôtie. There’s plenty of vibrancy to this wine, from the south of the appellation.

From vines planted in 1911, this is intense and concentrated. There’s such a wonderful balance between nervy acidity and dark cassis notes. Intense and powerful. One for the long haul.

There’s a delicacy of fruit to this Crozes-Hermitage. Lots of red berries and liquorice, with a lovely balance of purity and power. Excellent for the price.

From the north of the appellation, with 3% Viognier in the blend, this is a real Syrah lover’s wine. Very mineral, with tension and purity, it’s so stony on the finish.

From old ‘serine’ clones of the Syrah grape including a plot of 60 year old vines in Chavanay, where the cellar is located. This is deep and intense, with lovely grip on the finish.

Notes of garrigue and ripe plums, with plenty of chalky tannins and beautiful tapenade edge. There’s wild flowers on the palate, and a focussed and fresh finish. This is delicious, but with all the constituent parts to age brilliantly.

The 2018 Beaucastel is produced in tiny quantities, but is a gorgeous wine in the vintage. Notes of blue fruit and spice, with an earthiness coming from extra Mourvèdre in the blend. One for the cellar, it’s a shame so little was produced.

Very juicy and elegant in 2018, with excellent energy and a very pure, focussed character. This is very long and very impressive for this price.

One of the best value wines in our range, the 2014 Ventoux rouge is a delicious, juicy, textured red. There’s tons of freshness here, with notes of wild herbs and lots of juicy fruits. Very long and intense: simply charming.

The nose on this Clos des Papes is haunting, with notes of wild strawberry, plums, wild herbs, violets and crushed rocks. The palate is silky, with perfect tannins, and a sense of volume yet elegance, while the mineral, focussed finish lasts for minutes.

From a single plot near the estate, this is dark and savoury, with wonderfully fine tannins. It shows that André is just as skilled with his reds as his whites.

From a blend of Greffieux, Méal, and Bessards, this is wonderfully balanced and finessed. There’s plenty of spice here, with notes of liquorice and a herbal lift. One of Bernard’s final vintages, and it’s a winner.

The 2018 Châteauneuf from Jean-Paul Versino includes all the fruit that would normally go into his Félix, so the very best fruit from the estate. And that makes it a particularly special wine. It’s silky, intense and stunningly complex: a wine that could be approached young, but with the stuffing to last for years. Not to be missed in 2018.

Coming from a range of vineyards, including Le Plomb, Montmains, and Bas de Coteau, Les Schistes is the benchmark wine from Clusel-Roch. Spicy and textured, with lots of floral character and a blood orange note, it’s an elegant, refined, impressive Côte-R

La Vialliere is one of the best sites in Côte-Rôtie, and this is a wonderful example. This is savoury and incredibly long. A remarkable wine.

From 80 year old vines, this is dense, serious and very complex. This is a remarkable wine.

The most powerful, intense wine in the Courbis cellar. This is planted straight onto the granite, and has deep, brooding fruit, with notes of iron oxide and lots of spice on the finish. Brilliantly balanced.

A great vineyard, the vines here were planted in 1990. This is textured and vibrant, with lots of density to the fruit, too. This is Cornas with elegance, a lovely balance.

All from granite slopes, the 2018 Champelrose is a beautifully pure, lively expression of Syrah. Aged in around a quarter new oak, this has a touch of spice supporting the intense fruit, and a textured finish that lasts an age. Punches well above its price point.

There’s a perfumed, joyful nose on this St-Joseph, with notes of wild lavender and plenty of pepper, alongside the core of fruit. The finish is juicy and long: a wine you want to drink all day long.

26 year old vines, directly planted in the sweet spot of the slope. This is complex and intense, with a vibrancy and a silkiness to the tannins. Beautiful.

From the granite vineyards that surround the house, on the Côte Blonde, this is focussed and elegant, with an unfurling finish. An excellent purchase.

The Garons’ only bottling from the Côte Brune (hence the dark label), this parcel borders the legendary lieu-dit La Landonne. Plenty of opulence and sweetness here, and also a blood orange and spice note on the finish.

Les Triotes comes from three parcels on the Côte Blonde: Lancement, Le Combard and Les Triottes. This is open and intense, with a very savoury, long, silky finish.

Lancement is the highpoint of the Côte Blonde, bordering the plateau. It’s also one of the region’s greatest sites. They have just half a hectare here, and this is a powerful, intense, wonderfully balanced Côte-Rôtie.

The 2013 Soula Rouge is in a beautiful place right now. Crushed herbs and blackcurrants, and bramble and plum. Delicate tannins and a long, textured finish. Wonderfully delicious.

Another top cuvee, made from vines planted in 1901 in Pignam and La Crau, on sand, it’s named after their father Pierre, not a reference to stone. Volume and power, yet still elegance and finesse. Bravo.

In 2018 the Gallimardes went into the Tradition, so it benefits from these 110 year old vines. There’s such juicy energy here: Marie really does make some of the most delicious (and drinkable!) Châteauneufs out there.

Notes of lavender and plums on the nose, with wet stone minerality and lots of tapenade and fennel. The palate is rich but impeccably balanced, with a fine thread of acidity that lasts to the very finish. Very long, and very complex.

Mainly Grenache with some Mourvèdre, Carignan and Syrah, from Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, an area to the south with a similar profile to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is peppery and fine, with wonderful fragrance. A smart buy.

The 2018 Châteauneuf from Julien is charming. Silky and saline, there’s such freshness and energy here, which balances the intensity of fruit. Notes of iodine on the finish make you reach for another glass.

This is a beautiful Grenache from La Barroche. Silky fruit and floral notes, and a really fresh, saline finish. Just charming.

From 70 year old vines, there are notes of strawberries and liquorice, with just a hint of blood orange, too. Very juicy and charming, these wines are so delicious in 2018.

From 70 year old vines, there are notes of strawberries and liquorice, with just a hint of blood orange, too. Very juicy and charming, these wines are so delicious in 2018.

Grippy and deep, with plenty of tapenade and a lovely garrigue, herbal character. Very long indeed, and just so deliciously drinkable. Don’t overlook its ability to age, however.

From two vineyards, this is the hidden gem of Sorrel’s range. From 60 year old vines, this has a delicate floral character, with plenty of rich fruit and a beautifully long finish. One not to be missed.

90% comes from le Méal, with the rest coming from Les Gréffieux, there’s also just 10% coplanted Marsanne in the blend. The vines date back to 1928. This is astonishing. Notes of tapenade and dark berries on the nose, and also a wonderful fragrance. There’s a mineral tang here, that coats the palate, as well as wonderfully refined tannins. So long and so impressive, this is one of the Rhône’s greatest wines.

This is grippy, with red fruit and lots of pretty floral character, and a dusting of spice. From vineyards just above Côte-Rôtie, this is the essence of Syrah.

60% Grenache, with fruit from Visan and Plan de Dieu. This is juicy and grippy, with impressive length for a wine of this price.

Finessed and pure, this is a wonderful introduction to the wines of Côte-Rôtie. Essence of raspberry and lots of floral character, with plenty of mineral notes on the finish.

From a parcel in Limony, this is creamy and dark, with lovely density and plenty of focus. There’s a vibrancy here.

A blend of 15 lieux-dits across Côte Blonde and Côte Brune (in total 25 plots go into it). Floral lift and wonderful dark intensity. Perfectly balanced tannins make this a brilliant Côte-Rôtie: one to stock up on.

The Rostaings only make Côte Brune in the very best vintages, and 2017 fits the bill. Wonderful nose and palate, so fine and juicy, with silky acidity and excellent purity. There’s an energy here, with guts and depth, so much structure, and also so much classicism, but opulent, too, in its own way. Incredible.

Dark and intense on the nose, it’s mineral with wonderful density. There’s a balance here, with so much berry character and silkiness and wonderful grip on the finish, with a salty tang. Outstanding.

Very floral and expressive. Red and blue fruit, and lifts from the glass with energy and purity. The palate is silky and fresh, so saline on finish, and there’s a different level of texture here. It lasts for minutes.

75% Grenache with the rest Syrah, this is a powerful and intense Gigondas, but one with lovely detailing to the fruit, and fragrance on the finish.

There’s quite a lot of Mourvèdre in the blend here, and it’s spicy, grippy and very intense, with plenty of complexity and length. It just needs some time to come together fully.

Notes of baked earth, wild berries and lots of spice on this impressive Châteauneuf. More savoury than the Trois Sources. This is stunningly long, and very well balanced.

There’s plenty of Grenache spice and wild flowers on the Trois Sources this year, which comes from the vines across the road from the cellar. This is intense and fresh, with loads of focus. Wonderful, but needs time.

Wow. Intense and powerful. So complex. Words just don’t do this brilliant Châteauneuf justice: one of France’s greatest wines.

From just across the border from Châteauneuf. This is remarkably textured and fresh, with energy, purity, and plenty of density, too. There’s salinity on the finish, making this just so drinkable.

From just across the border from Châteauneuf. This is remarkably textured and fresh, with energy, purity, and plenty of density, too. There’s salinity on the finish, making this just so drinkable.

There’s plenty of Grenache spice and wild flowers on the Trois Sources this year, which comes from the vines across the road from the cellar. This is intense and fresh, with loads of focus. Wonderful, but needs time.

From a single lieu-dit with old vines, this is the pinnacle of Sylvain’s production.Very powerful and intense, with lots of spice and loads of ripe fruit. If you like richer wines, this is for you. Made in tiny quantities.

Sylvain fashions this from 12 different parcels across Saint-Joseph. Quite glossy and plush, this is openknit, with very exotic, intense fruit. A fruity, approachable Saint-Joseph.

There are five different foudres here, each with a slightly different blend. The final blend will be 77% Grenache. This is pure, elegant, with stunning drive. Incredibly long, there are delicate fruits and just enough grip. Not to be missed.

There are five different foudres here, each with a slightly different blend. The final blend will be 77% Grenache. This is pure, elegant, with stunning drive. Incredibly long, there are delicate fruits and just enough grip. Not to be missed.

Very inky, this comes from three different parcels, and production is tiny. Deep and powerful, with bloody notes and dark fruit and tapenade, there’s real intensity and structure here. Very long, very Hermitage.

A selection made by the family, this has spice, beautifully refined tannins, and a focus and salinity that’s simply brilliant. One of the best Crozes you’ll find.

A selection made by the family, this has spice, beautifully refined tannins, and a focus and salinity that’s simply brilliant. One of the best Crozes you’ll find.

Very inky, this comes from three different parcels, and production is tiny. Deep and powerful, with bloody notes and dark fruit and tapenade, there’s real intensity and structure here. Very long, very Hermitage.

Alain’s top wine, the Cuvée Antoinette in 2017 is outstanding. Notes of herbs, dark berries and tapenade swirl from the glass, with a poise and energy that draws you in. The finish is long and rich, but with beautiful detailing, too. Impressive.

Over the past few decades, Gros' Noré has emerged as a top Bandol address, rubbing shoulders with its famous neighbour, Tempier. Their powerful Mourvèdre blends are rich, spicy and impressively ageworthy, and as with all great Bandols, retain a salty, herb-infused freshness. This has a deep and chewy structure, with the scent of roasted spice and a beautiful thread of acidity running through it.

There’s a beautifully balanced, yet intense and powerful Cornas. Notes of blood and iron, and such an inky character. This is a brilliant wine.

From Mauves and Tournon, there’s finesse and energy to this Saint-Joseph. Dark fruit, and plenty of fragrance, the spice on the finish gives the wine lift and length.

One single parcel, this year it’s from the top of Champelrose next to Sabarotte and Les Vieilles Fontaines. Wow. Intense and mineral. Beautiful fragrance. Floral, complex, mineral and savoury. This is so so good, with complexity and focus in spades.

From 100 year old vines, this is an intense, powerful Cornas. Notes of dark cherries, with plenty of focus and savoury notes, too. Brilliantly balanced, and very long.

The 2018 Vieux Télégraphe is a lesson is brilliantly balanced Châteauneuf. Notes of bramble and garrigue herbs on the nose, with tapenade and just a hint of ripe citrus adding lift and energy. The palate is structured and fresh, with a coolness that lasts. Brilliantly focussed.

Lafite’s successful venture in the Languedoc has continued its winning streak with this 2017. It’s a blend of Mourvèdre, Syrah and Grenache typical of the appellation of Corbières, with a certain Bordelais sophistication in evidence, where toasty oak supports the robust but polished tannins and creamy dark fruit flavours.

You may not know Vinsobres, but this is the one to discover. Wild, intense, with excellent length, it wouldn’t look out of place in Châteauneuf.

From the heart of the village, this is one of the best Gigondas out there. Notes of sun-baked earth and wild berries, together with a herbal lift, make this an impressively detailed, complex wine.

From the base of the hill, this is one of the outstanding purchases of the Chapoutier range. Intense, grippy tannins and rich, inky fruit, swirl from the glass. Concentrated and intense, a powerful Ermitage.

From old vines, this is a remarkable Hermitage. Intense dark fruit and tapenade, but still the fine thread of acidity we’ve come to love from Claire’s wines. Elegance and power.

A blend of numerous different parcels, this is an elegant, finessed Crozes from Claire Darnaud. Notes of anise and pepper, and plenty of strawberries. Delicious.

Around 70% comes from the Côte Brune, with the rest from the Blonde. Dark and brooding, but with Côte-Rôtie’s trademark elegance, this is a nicely focussed and impressively long Syrah.

One of the greatest vineyards in Côte-Rôtie has produced a tour de force in 2018. This is powerful and structured, yet with such finesse apparent, too. Very well balanced, and stunningly long on the finish. A delight to even try.

From 30-80 year old vines, this is textured, fragrant, and very fresh. A Crozes that could easily be mistaken for a Hermitage.

A bargain at this price, this is a delicate yet intense Hermitage, with notes of blue fruit and lots of floral, violet character. A true Syrah, this couldn’t be from anywhere else.

Always the first, and the last, plot to be picked at the estate, this has notes of iron oxide and plenty of deep blue fruit. Loads of energy here. Very long indeed.

A blend of countless different grape varieties, this is the 41st vintage of Mas du Daumas Gassac. And it’s one of the finest, dubbed, “one of those vintages that only comes around every 10 years” by the estate. Gentle vinification and slow ripening have crafted a wine of elegance and finesse: one for the ages. It’s not to be missed.

Lots of blue fruit on the nose here, but also plenty of floral notes, and a lovely energy on the finish. This is beautifully judged, and very long.

There’s a lovely precision to the 2017 La Source from Philippe. Glossy fruit and a lovely herbal notes give way to a lightly grippy palate, with excellent palate weight. Lovely.

2016 was a remarkable vintage in this area, and this is intense, grippy, with stunning coiled energy. Philippe’s best wine yet?