If I say Rhône to you, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? My bet is a gutsy red, most probably a Côtes du Rhône. That isn’t all that surprising, because red wine accounts for three-quarters of the wines produced in the region, and whites only 10% (the rest is rosé). But that latter figure does include a number of stellar white wines, including Condrieu and the white incarnations of Hermitage and Châteauneuf du Pape.
I recently had the opportunity to drink a couple of older vintages of white hermitage, a 1998 and an 1983 in magnum from the legendary Jean-Louis Chave, and both were extraordinary – like great white burgundy, but still astoundingly fresh and among the greatest white wines I’ve ever tasted. They’re way out of most people’s price bracket, of course, even if you could get your hands on a bottle. However, I was impressed to find that a splendidly named wine broker called Crump Richmond Shaw carries some 60 lines of current and older Chave vintages that you can pick up from around £130, which is much the same price as a bottle of Dom Perignon and far rarer. It also pays to ferret around in country wine merchants: at the time of writing, for instance, the wonderful D Byrne in Clitheroe had the 2013 for £150 (gulp!), while Yapp Brothers, which has imported it for years, always has some back vintages.
Anyway, I digress. The main point of this column is to point out that there are cheaper and remarkably good value Rhône whites that make rewarding drinking, especially if you’re looking for something a bit different from the majority of wine on the shelves.
The Rhône’s great strength is the sheer variety of grapes it produces: viognier, marsanne and roussanne – the backbone of whites in the north – along with, in the south, grenache blanc, picpoul and the more obscure bourboulenc and clairette, to which many producers are now turning to add freshness and acidity to their wines. That means the style can depend as much on the grapes a particular producer grows, and the proportions in which he or she uses them, as on the appellation or cru it comes from. But it’s a reasonable generalisation to say that Rhône whites are rich and full-bodied (and quite often high in alcohol), redolent of peaches and apricots and generally fresher and more floral than viognier on its own, and similarly weighted but more aromatic than an oaked chardonnay. Think of them as white wines for people who like reds.
Four whites to try from the Rhône
Les Dauphins Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2018
Attractively smooth and peachy: drink with roast tarragon chicken.
Réserve du Boulas Laudun Côtes du Rhône Villages 2018
£10 Marks & Spencer, 14%.
Typically characterful white with the whole gamut of Rhône grape varieties. Would be great with grilled pork.
Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet Domaine Saint Gayan 2016
£14.25 Yapp Brothers, 13.5%.
Lush, old-vine white from one of the Rhône ‘crus’. Really good value for money.
Domaine des Carabiniers Lunar Apogé 2017
£18.50 Davy’s, 13%.
Biodynamic, bordering on natural wine that deliciously manages to be both mineral and floral. One for fish soup.
• For more by Fiona Beckett, go to matchingfoodandwine.com
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. More information.
