{"id":370559,"date":"2026-03-28T23:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T23:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/370559\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T23:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T23:58:10","slug":"john-wilsons-guide-to-great-cotes-du-rhone-wines-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/370559\/","title":{"rendered":"John Wilson\u2019s guide to great C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne wines \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is one of our favourite wines<\/a>, available in just about every wine shop and supermarket, and usually at very reasonable prices too. The C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne is one of the largest wine producing areas of France<\/a>, with more than 6,000 growers, covering over 30,000 hectares of vines. More than 90 per cent of wine produced is red, although white and ros\u00e9 production are increasing. <\/p>\n

The area has two distinct subregions. In the northern Rh\u00f4ne region the red wines are largely made from the syrah grape. In the south, they can be made from a wide variety of grapes, and are usually a blend of several. The classic C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne has 30-80 per cent Grenache, the remainder being made up of cinsault, carignan, mourv\u00e8dre or a blend of several. The Grenache gives the wines richness and alcohol, while the other varieties add structure and (sometimes) tannins.<\/p>\n

The classic C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne is medium- to full-bodied and warming, with plenty of supple ripe red fruits, a hint of spice and an easy finish. These wines go very well with a variety of meat and cheese dishes. There are some excellent white wines too; we shall return to those another day. <\/p>\n

Not surprisingly in such a large area, there are some very inexpensive and average wines. There are plenty of very good wines too. Many of the top producers in more illustrious appellations such as Gigondas and Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape also bottle a C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne using wines not deemed quite good enough for the Grand Vin. The Alary and Mourchon below are two examples of this. <\/p>\n

Chassaux C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 202413.5%, \u20ac7.99\"JOHNChassaux C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 2024 <\/p>\n

Medium-bodied with smooth rounded dark fruits. Enjoy alongside lamb or beef dishes, or roast aubergines. <\/p>\n

Aldi<\/p>\n

C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne \u2018Les Oliviers\u2019 \u2013 Les Vignerons d\u2019Estezargues14.5%, \u20ac17.95\"CôtesC\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne \u2018Les Oliviers\u2019 – Les Vignerons d\u2019Estezargues <\/p>\n

A lovely wine, fragrant and smooth with soft spicy red fruits. Drink with grilled Toulouse sausages with lentils, roast chicken, or a pepperoni pizza. <\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s, Cork L\u2019Atitude 51, Cork; Grub Deli & Grocer, Ballina, Co Mayo; The Garden Shop, Ballymaloe, Co Cork; Redmond\u2019s, Dublin 6; Seeds Bakery, Kinsale, Co Cork<\/p>\n

Domaine de Mourchon C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 202314%, \u20ac18.99\"JOHNDomaine de Mourchon C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 2023 <\/p>\n

Soft and seductive with masses of supple fleshy dark fruits. Great with roast or barbecued red meats. <\/p>\n

Barnhill Stores, Dalkey, Co Dublin; Redmond\u2019s, Dublin 6; Deveney\u2019s, Dublin 14; Gleesons, Booterstown, Co Dublin; Delgany Grocer, Co Wicklow; Wine Haven, D\u00fan Laoghaire, Co Dublin; Fresh; MacGuinness, Dundalk, Co Louth<\/p>\n

Domaine Alary \u2018La Gerbaude\u2019 C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 202313.5%, \u20ac22-24\"JOHNDomaine Alary ‘La Gerbaude’ C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne 2023 <\/p>\n

Spicy aromas, with supple fresh juicy dark fruits and a tannin-free finish. Enjoy with grilled pork or venison.<\/p>\n

Red Island, Skerries, Co Dublin; wineonline.ie<\/a>; theallotment.ie<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is one of our favourite wines, available in just about every wine shop and supermarket, and usually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,1814,61,60,709,17328],"class_list":{"0":"post-370559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-magazine","13":"tag-wine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}