Rhône
The Rhône Valley, located in southeastern France, is renowned for its exceptional fine wines. With its diverse terroir, rich history, and dedication to quality winemaking, the Rhône Valley offers a captivating selection of wines that embody the region's elegance, complexity, and distinctive character.
The Rhône Valley boasts its own iconic vineyards and wineries, including Château de Beaucastel, Domaine Guigal, and Chapoutier, which are celebrated for producing exceptional wines that showcase the region's unique terroir and winemaking expertise.
The Rhône Valley is renowned for its red wines, particularly in the northern part of the region. Syrah reigns as the dominant grape variety, producing intense and structured wines. Appellations such as Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, and Cornas are known for their robust and age-worthy reds, often displaying notes of black fruits, spice, and earthiness. Famous vineyards such as La Landonne, La Mouline, and Les Bessards are revered for their exceptional expressions of Syrah.
In the southern Rhône Valley, Grenache takes centre stage, contributing to the region's bold and fruit-forward red blends. The renowned appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is famous for its rich and full-bodied red wines, often featuring a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Vineyards like Château de Beaucastel, Clos des Papes, and Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe produce remarkable wines that showcase the region's commitment to excellence.
The Rhône Valley is also celebrated for its white wines, particularly in the northern part of the region. Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne are the key grape varieties, producing aromatic and complex whites. Appellations like Condrieu and Hermitage produce exceptional white wines known for their floral aromas, stone fruit flavors, and vibrant acidity.
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Rhône
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Jeb Dunnuck (97)
Another sensational wine, the 2018 Gigondas Le Poste comes from a hillside parcel just up from the domaine, just to the east of the village of Gigondas. Deep ruby/purple-hued with killer notes of blackcurrants, ground pepper, violets, tobacco leaf, and obvious minerality, it’s full-bodied, has a fleshy, layered, opulent texture, building tannins, and a great, great finish. It shows the more approachable style of the vintage yet still brings incredible richness and depth. It will blow you away any time over the coming 10-15 years.د.إ2,945.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (96)
There are 500 cases of the 2015 Gigondas Valbelle and it’s another winner from this estate based on the normal 90/10 split of Grenache and Syrah. Fermented without destemming and aged in 20% new barrels, this beauty boasts a huge nose of smoked meats, pepper, camphor and layered black raspberry and cassis-like fruit. Full-bodied, opulent and powerful, with a big mid-palate and building tannin, it too will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for two decades. All of these 2015s from Barruol are up near the top of the vintage and well worth the extra effort to track down.د.إ3,680.00 -
Wine Advocate (90-92)
An 80-20 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre, the 2018 Cotes du Rhone Villages Plan de Dieu Vieilles Vignes features lovely scents of garrigue layered over ripe black cherry fruit. It lacks the extra depth of the estate's Gigondas but remains impressive, being full-bodied, silky and already easy to drink, with a long, slightly briny finish.د.إ433.00 -
Wine Advocate (90-92)
An 80-20 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre, the 2019 Cotes du Rhone Villages Plan de Dieu Vieilles Vignes is an excellent option for consumers who don't want to spend the extra money for the Saurel family's Gigondas bottlings. The garrigue on the nose is a bit more subtle than normal this year, with the bulk of the aromatics being super ripe cherries and berries. Full-bodied and intense, with a helping of firm tannins that keep the jamminess in check, it finishes dusty and savory, with ample length. This is a big wine, yet one I suspect will mature relatively quickly; drink it over the next 5-6 years.د.إ460.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (100)
A perfect wine that's up with the top handful of wines in this incredible vintage, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Collection Charles Giraud (60/40 Grenache and Mourvèdre) boasts a sensational nose of currants, cured meats, kirsch, exotic spices, and sandalwood. Deep, full-bodied and powerful, yet with an incredible sense of elegance and purity, it just glides across the palate and, despite its awesome intensity, it never seems heavy or over the top. Give it 2-3 years, and it will keep for two decades or more.د.إ3,070.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (100)
Even better (as well as a perfect wine), the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Collection Charles Giraud checks in as a nominal blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre that was brought up in demi-muids. It reveals a deep purple color as well as heavenly notes of blackberry and currant fruits intermixed with loads of cured meats, spice box, Asian spices, and a distinct loamy soil and minerality. Always more structured and powerful than the Reserve Auguste Favier release (no doubt due to the Mourvèdre component), it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, building yet polished tannins, flawless balance, and a great, great finish. Pure perfection in a glass, it’s as good as wine gets. Give bottles 2-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades. Hats off to winemaker Isabelle Ferrando for yet another thrilling wine!د.إ2,095.00 -
Vinous (96)
Saturated ruby. Highly expressive, mineral-accented cherry and dark berry liqueur, cola, licorice and potpourri scents are complemented by an exotic spice nuance. Broad and fleshy in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter and more lively as the wine opens up. Shows excellent clarity and floral lift and finishes extremely long and spicy, with steadily building tannins adding closing grip.د.إ1,685.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (99)
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Collection Charles Giraud includes a big chunk of Mourvèdre and is 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre that was partially destemmed and brought up in demi-muids. If offers a deep ruby/plum color as well as a rich, savory, complex bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, toasted spice, cured meats, and graphite. The Mourvèdre really shows in this beauty, and it's full-bodied, concentrated, and structured, yet never loses its seamless, flawlessly balanced profile. It's going to need 4-5 years of bottle age but will have 20-25 years of ultimate longevity. It's another thrilling wine from this estate.د.إ1,695.00 -
Wine Advocate (95-97)
The 2018 Gigondas La Louisiane looks to be another terrific example of this cuvée. Raspberries, black cherries, tea leaves and violets all appear on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich, velvety and long on the finish.د.إ1,375.00 -
Wine Advocate (95-97)
The 2018 Gigondas La Louisiane looks to be another terrific example of this cuvée. Raspberries, black cherries, tea leaves and violets all appear on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich, velvety and long on the finish.د.إ845.00 -
Wine Advocate (94-96)
The 2019 Gigondas La Louisiane hails from a south-facing slope of clay and sand and is a blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah and Cinsault, all aged in foudre. Loaded with black cherries and mixed berries, it's a big, full-bodied effort that drinks surprisingly well already yet has the concentration, length and structure that should enable it to age another 15 years or more.د.إ655.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (98)
Moving to the 2020s, the 2020 Gigondas La Louisiane is an absolute blockbuster of a wine that's up there with some of the best Gigondas made. Based on 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, and the rest Cinsault and Syrah, raised all in foudre, its deep purple hue is followed by a kaleidoscope-like array of kirsch, blackberries, ground pepper, violets, sandalwood, and other assorted Provençal-like aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, concentrated, and flawlessly balanced, I love its tannins, and it has a stacked mid-palate as well as a great finish.د.إ780.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (93-95)
The 2022 Gigondas La Louisiane is in the same ballpark. Mostly Grenache from vines around the estate, on the lower plain, it has a slightly darker profile as well as classic peppery herb, garrigue, earth, and floral hints. It's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, mouth-filling texture and a great finish. This broad, expansive, sexy Gigondas will shine right out of the gate.د.إ878.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)
Also showing considerable elegance, the 2019 Gigondas Les Souteyrades sports a ruby/purple hue to go with beautiful and exotic notes of black raspberries, kirsch, candied orange, violets, and peppery garrigue. Beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, and downright silky on the palate, this heavenly Grenache should be snatched up by readers. It's going to keep for 15 years.د.إ682.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (97)
The 2020 Gigondas Les Souteyrades is also utterly brilliant. Giving up lots of kirsch liqueur, orange blossom, ground pepper, and herbes de Provence-like aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness and a layered, seamless, elegant mouthfeel that has awesome tannins as well as purity of fruit. It's another sensational Gigondas to enjoy over the coming two decades.د.إ785.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)
A gorgeous wine in the vintage, the 2022 Gigondas Les Souteyrades checks in as 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre that saw a lengthy maceration and will spend over a year in foudre. It's a ripe, powerful Gigondas with medium to full-bodied richness, notes of ripe strawberries, black raspberries, exotic spice, and flowers, a terrific sense of freshness and purity, fine tannins, and a great finish. Readers should snatch up this sensational 2022.د.إ878.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (92-94)
The base Gigondas, the 2018 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes is a blend from both the La Louisiane and Pigière lieux-dits near the estate (due to the dismal yields, there’s no Souteyrade cuvée in 2018) and is 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah brought up in foudre. It has a wonderful flowery incense and blue fruit quality as well as medium to full body, a ripe, rounded mid-palate, and a great texture. It’s a more forward, charming, sexy wine that’s going to drink nicely in its youth yet also evolve gracefully.د.إ774.00 -
Vinous (93)
Glass-staining magenta. Deeply perfumed black raspberry, boysenberry and floral aromas pick up a peppery note with aeration. Juicy and seamless in the mouth, it offers concentrated red berry, cherry-cola spicecake and botanical herb flavors that turn sweeter as the wine opens up. The spice and floral notes linger on a long, subtly chewy finish that features well-knit tannins and a repeating red fruit note.د.إ845.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (95-97)
Looking at the Gigondas releases, the 2020 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes doesn’t give anything to the two single vineyard releases and offers awesome aromatics, full-bodied richness, a round, lush, yet pure mouthfeel, and ripe yet certainly present tannins. It’s loaded with Provençal, garrigue, and peppery goodness, and it’s going to be a brilliant value. This cuvée is an 80/20 split of Grenache and Mourvèdre raised all in foudre.د.إ442.00 -
Vinous (93-95)
Vivid ruby. A highly fragrant bouquet evokes candied red fruits, smoky minerals and lavender; a spicy nuance builds as the wine opens up. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, juicy raspberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors show good heft, seamless texture and real energy. It finishes spicy and impressively long, with sneaky tannins adding a final grip. This is shaping up to be a highly impressive entry-level bottling, which is not surprising given that this is the only Gigondas that will be bottled this year, so all the juice from the Louisiane and Souteyrades is going into this wine. Get it, lots of it, if you can. Raised in neutral, 50 hectoliter oak foudres.د.إ509.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)
Possibly my favorite of the trio, the 2022 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes (80% Grenache and 20% Syrah) offers a full-bodied, incredibly textured, yet seamless and elegant profile to go with lots of meaty dark fruits, some classic Southern Rhône licorice, roasted herb, and spice box nuances, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's another sensational effort from this estate, which continues to go from strength to strength.د.إ520.00 -
Wine Advocate (97)
From the lightest, sandiest soils in the Gras Châteauneuf stable, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Saintes Vierges is a blend of 80% Grenache, 18% Mourvèdre and 2% Cousoise. Befitting its origins, it's the most perfumed of the three wines this year, with floral, rose-like notes, a veritable potpourri of spice and herb shadings and a vibrant core of red berries. It's labeled (like the others) at 14% alcohol but feels lighter on the palate, soaring in silky arches of intermingled red berries and delicate tannins, then lingering elegantly on the finish.د.إ1,440.00 -
Wine Enthusiast (96)
It's hard to choose a favorite among Santa Duc's 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but Le Pied de Baud stands out for the seduction of its smoky, floral nose. Raspberry and red cherry flavors are pristine and plump, etched by fine strokes of fur, charred earth, violet and tea leaves. An opulent but freshly balanced blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsault framed by fine, persistent tannins. Approachable already but should improve further through 2030 and hold further.د.إ1,405.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
Marked by aromas of resinous herbs, roses and raspberries, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Le Pied de Baud is an enthralling blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Cinsault from the Le Pied de Baud lieu-dit, in the south of the appellation. Raspberries, strawberries and redcurrants all make appearances, supported by crisp acids and silky, just-ripe tannins. Young Benjamin Gras is looking for tension in his wines, and this wine captures that elusive quality, lingering tautly on the mouthwatering finish.د.إ1,080.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (94-97)
Lastly, the 2015 Gigondas Hautes Garrigues (60/40 Grenache and Mourvèdre) is a beauty boasting killer notes of dark fruits, crushed rocks, pepper, garrigue and scorched earth. This seriously good 2015 has building richness, a stacked mid-palate and a huge finish, all suggesting short-term cellaring will be your friend. It will keep for two decades of more.د.إ1,105.00 -
Wine Advocate (95-97)
A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, the 2017 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues is less aromatic than it was last year, folding in darker notes of black cherries and chocolate. Yet it's still wonderfully full and textured, with a plush, velvety feel and a long finish. It seems to grow in aroma and flavor the longer it's in the glass, always a good sign.د.إ1,145.00 -
Wine Advocate (92-94)
From one of the prime terroirs in the appellation, the 2015 Côte Rôtie Lancement is another full-bodied, modern-styled beauty from this team. Violets, plums, incense and exotics spices all emerge from the glass and it has ripe, sweet tannin and a great finish. Made from 100% Syrah aged two years in new Burgundy barrels, it should have two decades of longevity.د.إ1,940.00 -
Wine Advocate (95)
Close in quality to the profound 2007 is the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Grandes Grenachieres d-Hippolyte. A stunning expression of old vine Grenache, it boasts abundant notes of raspberries, licorice and kirsch intermixed with hints of forest floor and underbrush. With good acidity, precision and freshness as well as a deep, full-bodied, voluptuously textured mouthfeel, this superb example of old vine Grenache should drink well for 15+ years.د.إ1,325.00 -
Immerse yourself in the sublime experience of the Stephane Otheguy Cote Rotie Rozier 2019. From the eminent French winemaker Stephane Otheguy, this Côte Rôtie personifies excellence in modern viniculture. Produced in the prime vineyards of Rhône Valley, the 2019 Rozier epitomises the terroir's essence, translating its unique microclimate and topography into a layered, evocative blend. The grapes are painstakingly handpicked and processed, resulting in a wine that boasts a complex dance of red fruit and earthy undertones, deftly interlaced with a smoky depth from its 18-month oak ageing. The Stephane Otheguy Cote Rotie Rozier 2019 is sublime, a true landmark vintage in Rhone Valley's wine landscape. Perfect for your special occasions or a discerning addition to your wine collection.
د.إ1,545.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (97)
The 2020 Cornas Chaillot comes from a mix of lieux-dits (it's mostly Chaillot) as well as some younger vines. It's an incredible wine in its own right and certainly doesn't give much in terms quality to its big brother. Awesome aromatics of crème de cassis, violets, crushed stone, and bouquet garni-like notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a deep, concentrated mid-palate, and ultra-fine tannins. It's a touch more finesse-driven and elegant compared to the Reynard and should round into form with just 5-7 years of bottle age. This is legit awesome Cornas that will have 20-25 years of ultimate longevity.د.إ13,645.00
