All Cote du Rhone wines are not created equal. Customers looking for a cheap red Cotes du Rhone are often disappointed with what they get, an unrecognized negociant's blend from cheap grapes vinified to the bare minimum that AOC regulations require to call it a Cotes du Rhone. These wines are promoted for one week and are never to be found again. Conversely, other Cotes du Rhone producers have been around for a long time and base their success on quality to keep wine lovers returning every vintage. One of the best names in the Rhone is E. Guigal, France's largest producer of Rhone wines. Although they are well known for hard-to-get, highly allocated, and expensive Northern Rhone wines, they also arguably make the world's best go-to for everyday drinking Cotes du Rhone red. 

According to winemaker Philippe Guigal, although they started as a northern Rhone producer, the firm has produced a Cotes du Rhone since 1946. The Cotes du Rhone appellation was established in 1937. Every year there is a colossal exercise at Guigal where samples are submitted from around 80 growers, over 250 samples in total. Many have been supplying the firm since its beginnings. Marcel and Philippe Guigal taste and re-taste these hundreds of samples, starting at 8:30, seven days a week, to assemble the wine. Guigal is unique in that they pay the highest price for generic Cotes du Rhone juice in the market, and in return, they are offered the highest quality by the growers.

In making the wine, they employ a long fermentation time, bare minimum intervention, with no fining or filtration. The wine is assembled and held at the Guigal cellars in the village of Ampuis, where three to four vintages of Cotes du Rhone are held in large oak casks for 18 months. As a closure, Guigal's Cotes du Rhone is sealed with high-quality cork not usually found in the basic wine of the Rhone Valley. This added expense results in a wine of unusual complexity with a substantial and generous palate. This is not a usual entry-level wine, but a wine they invest in to pique your interest to try their other wines and keep you coming back to Guigal wines.

Compare that to wines that barely pass the AOC minimum standards. A negociant may purchase cheap high, yield grapes from anywhere in the Rhone Valley, give a quick fermentation, mature in concrete tanks just enough for the wine to settle, fining and filter enough to get the big chunks out and bottled. Slap a label on it and rush it to market. Realistically, in today's era of high costs, you need to cut corners to produce a Cote du Rhone wine for under $10. This a reminder that France's Appellation laws only set the minimum standards and, to repeat the obvious, all Cotes du Rhone are not created equal. Yes, when younger, cheaper, made light, fluffy wines are being released, Guigal holds back their vintage release of the Cotes du Rhone so that we can appreciate these wines upon release for a perfect glass of wine.

The Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge offers tremendous warmth, spice, and pleasure but in a decidedly individual fashion. It is, unlike virtually every other Côtes du Rhône, based on Syrah. This Northern Rhône approach lends greater aromatic intensity and structure, though it is far more difficult and costly to produce in the Southern Rhône. The aging also goes further than any other wine in the appellation in its category, a minimum of two years in a combination of stainless steel, foudres (large oak casks), and bottle, with a deliberate blending over the course of that time that results in a wine of remarkable harmony and complexity. It is an extraordinary value and a benchmark for the region from one of the world's most lauded producers.

Deep and dark red. Shiny. On the nose, fresh fruits with red berries and spices. On the palate full, round and racy. Rounded and smooth tannins. A full-bodied, rich, and intensely aromatic wine. Overall a full wine with a long finish and plenty of elegance and finesse due to the well-balanced tannins and fruit.

Blend: 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre  

average age of vines 35 years

Looking more complex and complete than the 2017 at this point, the 2018 Cotes du Rhone still has a year or so of élevage ahead of it. It has a slightly herbal, briary note, dark berry fruit, and hints of mocha on the full-bodied palate. Round and fleshy, it finishes smooth and velvety. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 91 pts

The 2018 Côtes du Rhône, which is a slightly more Syrah-dominated blend, offers more peppery, earthy notes as well as plenty of dark blue fruits, medium body, notable elegance, and solid balance. It's a charming, attractive barrel sample that should drink nicely on release. Jeb Dunnuck 91 pts

Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2018

So is this the one, the perfect go-to-wine for drinking by a fire? Whether it is by an open campfire, backyard bonfire, or a 'hobo firepit' made from an old oil drum. Lord knows they will not be a lack of fireplaces lit that need a bottle like this to stare into the flames. When we first opened the wine, it was very tight, so we let it breathe for 30 minutes, and the wine opened up to incredible depths of complexity. The wine has bright, pure fruit that is intense but not over the top. Hints of spice and forest floor-type herbs. Fine tannins that were noticeable in the background certainly not overwhelming. Medium-full weight on the palate balanced by cleansing acids causing the mouth to beg for a second glass. And the finish on this wine seemed to go on forever. This wine was terrific by anyone's standards, but at under $12 a bottle, it seems obscene somehow—a worthy wine to bulk up on.

Regular Price: $14.99

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Wine is packed in a 12-bottle case

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John Hannum,

Fine & Rare Wine Specialist