May 2026. A Tour of the Rhone, Peter Freeman

 

This month we had Peter Freeman presenting A Tour of the Rhone. An eclectic selection with wine at both ends of the scale – bought from Tesco or Vinatis, an online very French Wine warehouse.

Peter has decades of experience and if quite old school, was very entertaining and knowledgeable.

One of the interesting/annoying thing about these wines is that Cotes de Rhone allows 18 different grapes – but you are unlikely to be able to work out which grapes are in the wine you are buying. Also,90%+ of Cotes de Rhone production is Red.

White

Côtes du Rhône Villages Blanc, SR, 2024. 13.0%. £9.50. Tesco

               Quite a rounded white with some body to it. Probably Grenache blanc/Marsanne.

Luberon “L'Oustalet”, SR, 2024. 13.0%. £10.00. Tesco

               Vielle Vignes. Lighter and Fresher

St Peray “Nobles Rives”, NR, 2024. 13.0%. £18.49.. Vinatis

               A very powerful white, a Roussane/Marsanne blend.

Red

Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge Signargues , SR, 2024. 14.0%. £9.50. Tesco

               Basic Cotes de Rhone. Decent enough

Lirac Lafont, SR, 2024. 14.5%. £14.00. Tesco

A blend of grapes – probably 5 or 6 in here, with a lot of Grenache. A solid wine which would benefit from 3 or 4 more years.

Cornas “Les Arènes”, NR, 2022. 13.0%. £36.26. Vinatis

A top of the range wine. Pure Syrah, and one of the smallest appellations out there, so suffers from supply/demand. A good alternative to a good Hermitage.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Ch de Vaudieu, SR, 2021. 15.0%. £38.66. Vinatis

Mostly grenache & syrah. Very powerful, full bodied, alcoholic. Very nice indeed.

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, Vignon, SR, 2022. 15.0%. £16.74. Everywhere.

A sweetie.