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Syrah and grenache grapes give this affordable Côtes du Rhône intensity

Guigal is consistently darker and more concentrated than most of its peers.

Guigal Côtes du Rhône
Guigal Côtes du RhôneRead moreCourtesy of E. Guigal

France’s Rhône Valley is best known for red blends that taste of spiced berries and peppery cured meats. Its most affordable appellation is Côtes du Rhône, which can be made from grapes sourced anywhere in the region. The wine’s name refers to the banks of the Rhône river and suggests continuity of style along its path. However, the Rhône Valley’s story is one of two regions that share a name but make wines that are quite different in flavor, reflecting very different terrain.

A glance at the Rhône Valley wine map reveals two noncontiguous regions. The Northern Rhône looks like a string bean suspended above a cluster of grapes, representing the much larger Southern Rhône. The 30-mile gap marks a dramatic transition from a steep-sloped valley in the north, where the fast-moving river carves its way down from alpine heights, to a gentle stony plain in the south where the Rhône slows on the flats and wends a lazier looping path. The north makes more expensive wines from hillside vineyards, which are based primarily on the noble syrah grape. Meanwhile, the tractor-friendly vineyards of the south are dominated by the more rustic but higher-yielding grenache.

As a result, virtually all Côtes du Rhône is at least 75% grenache and made in the southern Rhône purely for economic reasons. However, there are exceptions to this rule, as with this delicious syrah-based Côtes du Rhône made in the north by one of the region’s most trusted producers. This wine is consistently darker and more concentrated than most of its peers because it contains more syrah than grenache. This results in a more intense flavor profile that tilts more to black cherries, blackberries, and black pepper, and less to the strawberry, salami, and white pepper flavors found further south.


Guigal Côtes du Rhône, Rhône Valley, France

$13.99; 14.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #8132

Sale price through 4/25 — regularly $15.99

Also available in New Jersey at:

Canal’s of Berlin Discount Liquor Mart in Berlin.- $12.99

http://www.canalsofberlin.com/index?id=HvsMokRo

Hops & Grapes in Glassboro — $13.98

http://www.hopsandgrapesonline.com/

Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville — $13.99

https://lawrenceville.jcanals.com/