Côtes-du-Rhône: The best autumn wines from Aldi, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose
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As the days get shorter and colder, I reach for my favourite general-purpose, wear-around-the-house woolly jumper. This is not a fashionable garment.
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Hide AdIt is slightly worn at the elbows, and came from a well-known great-value retailer, but it goes with jeans, and it does the job of keeping me warm in my chilly house.
Côtes-du-Rhône is a bit like that. It is the kind of wine that you reach for when the nights are drawing in.
Soft, full of black fruit flavours and if you are lucky, with a warming touch of spice, it really does go with all kinds of autumn foods. And you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a quite passable wine.
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Hide AdBut, in the same way that if I have company, I swap my everyday jumper for something smarter, so I upgrade my Rhône drinking when friends come round for supper.
There are two parts to the Rhône wine region. The north, from Vienne to Montélimar is the home of Syrah, where fabulous wines such as Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and St Joseph are made. But this accounts for just 5% of the whole production of the Rhône valley.
The rest is in the South where vineyards spread out across rolling hills and valleys. Here wines such as Côtes-du-Rhône, Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape are produced, but for today I want to focus on Côtes-du-Rhône and the various levels of quality which has seen promotion of some villages up the scale to their own appellations.
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Hide AdCôtes-du-Rhône is the catch-all appellation for wine from vast areas of vines across the region. But over the decades, it has acted as a training ground for particular villages to show their individuality and quality.
This is how Côtes-du-Rhône Villages was created in 1967 when five villages showed themselves to be better than others.
Since then, various villages have been allowed to join the Villages group, and eventually promoted to be allowed to put their name on the label, to the point where they are allowed to fly the nest of Côtes-du-Rhône and become appellations in their own right.
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Hide AdGigondas was one of the first to climb the quality ladder becoming an appellation back in 1971, while Laudun will soon drop its Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Laudun name to become simply Laudun, the latest individual appellation from the region.
While Côtes-du-Rhône can be red white or rosé, it is the red wines that come into their own at this time of year. With a mix of grapes including Grenache Noir, Syrah, Carignan, and Mourvèdre this is a wine that varies widely from different producers.
Here are some of the best.
Chassaux Côtes-du-Rhône 2023, Aldi £5.19: A great value wine from Aldi with soft, rounded, red plum and blackcurrant fruit, and enough weight to stand up to a mid-week casserole.
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Hide AdTesco Finest Signargues Côtes-du-Rhône Villages 2023, Tesco £9 down to £8 with a Clubcard until 4 November: Signargues has been allowed to tag its name onto Côtes-du-Rhône Villages for almost 20 years now, and the quality of this wine demonstrates why. With a big chunk of Syrah adding chunky, spice-edged fruit into the mix, this has weight and style. Still young, buy plenty while it is on offer.
Classics Organic Côtes-du-Rhône Villages 2023, Marks and Spencer £9: M&S have a perfectly acceptable Côtes-du-Rhône for £6.50, but if you step up to this £9 wine, you will taste the difference. This has over 50% Syrah in the mix which gives deep-flavoured, damson and blackberry fruit with a definite twist of pepper and a finish that can handle a steak.
Guigal Côtes-du-Rhône, 2020, Waitrose £13.49 down by 25% until 29 October on a mix six deal: With a lot more Syrah in the mix than most Côtes-du-Rhônes, the flavours in this wine stands head and shoulders above much of the competition, and it is well worth stocking up while the Waitrose 25% off deal is on. It has delicious, deep-flavoured, ripe, spicy flavours and will see you through autumn and into next year.
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Hide Ad‘Belleruche’ Côtes-du-Rhône, Chapoutier 2022, Majestic £10.99 on a mix six deal: Chapoutier is one of the Rhône’s best producers with extensive vineyards across the north and south of the region. This Grenache Syrah blend is aged in concrete and stainless steel, so there is no oak clouding the dark cherry and redcurrant fruit.
Vinsobres Les Cornuds 2019, Famille Perrin, Bon Coeur £17.70: Recently promoted from Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Vinsobres, to its own Appellation, Vinsobres, this is a relatively high-altitude area, mainly terraced, making distinctive, fresh-tasting wines. The Mistral blows through this region on a regular basis, keeping pests and diseases down.
This is a 50:50 blend of Syrah and Grenache, and it develops dark, savoury fruit backed by a light redcurrant thread that harmonises with cheese and game.
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Hide AdSeguret Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Grande Réserve 2020, Domaine de Mourchon, The Wine Society £20: Perched on a hill, close to the Dentelles de Montmirail and surrounded by beautiful landscapes, Kate McKinlay took over this 32-hectare estate from her parents who had bought it as a retirement project.
Now with a gravity-fed winery, organic cultivation, converting to biodynamics, this is a simply lovely estate producing elegant wines. The drive up the hill is well worth it, for both the wines and the view. This wine is mainly Grenache with 30% Syrah adding depth, part-aged in large oak barrels.
Montirius Vacqueyras ‘Garrigues’ 2019, Field and Fawcett £24.95: Vacqueyras (Vack-ee-ras) was a humble Côtes-du-Rhône Villages until 1990 when it was promoted to Appellation status, but still the world has difficulty pronouncing its name.
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Hide AdThis is an outstanding wine made biodynamically by Christine and Eric Saurel, who are the fifth generation of their family to farm this land. Biodynamics is several steps beyond organic, keeping the land and the vines in harmony with nature and the results show in the sheer quality of the wine.
Meticulously crafted, this is a deep and complex wine with an elegant, silky style. Field and Fawcett also stock Montirius Gigondas 2021 (£24.95), but for Christmas a magnum of 2022 ‘La Muse Papilles’ Côtes-du-Rhône (£42.30) would be an exceptional treat.
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