The Southern Rhône Valley

As with any wine region, the general rule is that the superior appellations produce the better wines. However, many excellent wines are produced throughout the region so it is worth investigating all appellations. The increasing popularity of Rhône wines may be summed up in three reasons:

1. They offer the best value of any top appellation for red wines in the world.
2. Many can be enjoyed young but can also evolve magnificently over time.
3. They are extremely food friendly wines.

Wine lovers who resent the prices of top Bordeaux and Burgundy should look to the Rhône Valley for a wide range of food-friendly wines at remarkable value.

As specialists in this region, we list wines from a large number of estates in the Southern Rhône so we invite you to go to our Producers page for the complete listing.

Palais des Papes, Avignon		The village of Gordes	A Provençal market

The Appellations
The Southern Rhône's most prestigious appellations are the individual villages of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac and Tavel (for rosé wines). After these come the Côtes du Rhône & Côtes du Rhône Villages appellations. Then, there are various satellites such as the Côtes du Ventoux.

Avignon is the region's capital. It was here that Pope Clement V installed himself in 1305 at the start of the divided Papacy. His successor, Pope John XXII, a wine lover, built a new castle a few miles upstream - Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Today, Avignon remains a wonderful city to visit with the Palais des Papes and the Pont St Benezet (you know the song) among the highlights) and it is home, every July, to the Avignon Festival.

Recent Vintages
The southern Rhône enjoys a consistently favourable climate. However, weather patterns do affect the quality of the wines of a given year. The following gives an indication only:

1990: A great, powerful vintage with wines showing plenty of fruit, alcohol and tannin. The top wines have amazing longevity; many of them still are not fully mature.

1991: A few decent wines were made in this rather mediocre vintage. However, even these should be drunk up soon before they lose their fruit and dry out.

1992: Generally disastrous throughout France and, with the notable exception of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Rhône was no different.

1993: The best vintage since 1990 produced wines which are solid and robust, needing up to ten years’ ageing.

1994: Very good generally. In Châteauneuf-du-Pape vignerons produced their best wines of the decade so far, on a par with the 1995s. Forward in style, most of the best wines are drinking very well now (or should have been drunk up).

1995: The best year since 1990 produced rich, concentrated wines, many of which will develop well for at least a decade. Especially good in Gigondas and Châteauneuf.

1996: A decent vintage. The warm, dry summer produced a very ripe crop which required minimal human intervention. relatively high acidity levels meant these were not the most attractive wines on release but they should age gracefully.

1997: After April frosts and a damp start to the summer, producers were relieved when it warmed up in August and continued to remain dry throughout the harvest. Some stunning wines were produced. Most were easy drinking offering which repaid early drinking.

1998: Expected to be the outstanding vintage of the decade in the Southern Rhône (the best since 1990, if not 1978). None of the other major wine-producing regions of France (also the rest of Europe and virtually everywhere else, thanks to El Niño) will achieve such consistently good results in 1998. 

1999: Another fabulous vintage, a rival for 1998 (our recent tastings have confirmed that many estates produced better wines in 1999 than in 1998, particularly in Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the villages). Wines have softer, sweeter tannins than their older siblings, making them more accessible, but it is their fruit which makes this vintage so good. Full, rich and sweet black fruit characters are the hallmarks of the best 1999s.

2000: Whilst every wine region hoped for a fabulous crop to celebrate the Millenium, the Southern Rhône made it three in a row with the 2000 vintage looking like it could be the best since 1978. It is still early days, however, so we will continually reassess it. Early signs are very encouraging, though: the top reds have massive fruit masking their excellent tannic structures and will provide magnificent drinking by the middle to the end of the decade.

2001: Four great vintages in a row seemed too much to ask for but this region managed it. 2001 produced a small crop of intensely flavoured, structured wines but with low acidity, which is a hallmark of good vintages here, means another must-buy vintage.

2002: Floods just prior to the harvest destroyed much of the crop and diluted most of the rest so caveat emptor. Some good wines were made, particularly in hillside locations (such as the Brusset's Les Hauts de Montmirail) but many producers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape didn't produce any wine in 2002.

2003: The heatwave caused vines to shut down for much of the summer and resulted in a harvest around four weeks earlier than usual. Some producers panicked and have made wines which have unripe tannins. The better estates, however, produced some prodigious wines which will drink well at a relatively young age.

2004: Another vintage where it is difficult to see how anyone who knows how to make wine could go wrong. Some did, inevitably, but it is a vintage where consumers can buy with confidence.

2005: The perfect year? For many the answer has to be a resounding "YES" although watch those rising alcohol levels.