Southern Rhône Gems Mixed Half Dozen

In recent years the Southern Rhône Valley has seen a dynamic switch; villages that were once part of the Côtes du Rhône classifications system have now broken free and been elevated to Cru status, demonstrating they are stars in their own right and should be talked about alongside Châteauneuf-du-Pape and not left in its shadow.

The most recent village to be elevated is that of Laudun, on the west bank. This is where Frédéric and Josephine Arnaud have invested enormous amounts of time and energy renovating the house, winery and vineyards of Château Courac. In Vacqueyras, brothers, Jean-Michel and Frédéric Archimbaud Vache have run their family domain Le Clos des Cazaux since taking over from their parents in 2010. Whilst Vacqueyras is now a well-regarded appellation, it was their family who were some of the first to bottle and promote the wines, helping it achieve Cru status in 1990.

Although famed for their Châteauneuf-du-Papes, Marie and François Giraud also have vines just across the river in the village of Lirac. With just a few hectares in this little-known appellation, where there are more trees than vines, their Les Sables d’Arène, is made in a similar style to their Châteauneufs, and from a similar blend of grapes.

Due west of Gigondas lies the Côtes du Rhône village of Massif d’Uchaux. With just 189 ha in production, clearing the land and creating patchwork vineyards has only been made possible with the use of machines. Arbouse is derived from a 29 ha site and is made by the team at La Cave Coteaux du Rhône Sérignan-du-Comtat. The cooperative has been established for 99 years but they are doing great things to make modern, exceedingly good value wines.

Tanners Rhône Valley Red, made for us by Famille Gonnet, is managed following organic principles and run by cousins Guillaume and Bertrand Gonnet, who make a beautifully crafted wine that just keeps on getting better and better.

The case would not be a true representation of the Southern Rhône’s strengths without including a white, so we’ve selected Marcel Richaud’s Cairanne Blanc. New to the Tanners range, this is a blend similar to that of white Châteauneuf. Domaine Richaud’s 75 ha of vineyards are hand-harvested (no mean feat with that quantity!) and have been certified organic since 2008 – they also follow some biodynamic principles too. This is an estate that uses minimal intervention; using natural yeasts, the wines are unfined and unfiltered and only see a small amount of sulphur just before bottling. The results are a very pure expression of their terroir and vintage.