Review: Wines of the Cotes du Rhone, 2024 Releases
France’s Côtes du Rhône region is vast, complex, and varied, home to rustic reds and unusual whites and everything in between. 23 grape varieties are allowed to be used in the Côtes du Rhône AOC, with grenache, syrah, and mourvedre the standard bearers that created the “GSM” moniker that describes numerous wines made in the Rhone style.
Recently we sampled three different wines from the region, which together showcase the diversity of the Rhone Valley.
Thoughts follow.
2021 Aime Arnoux Cotes du Rhone Selection Parcellaire – Initially a bit heavy, weighted down by a bold currant and peppery plum character, this wine perks up with just a few minutes in glass to reveal surprisingly supple notes of brighter fruit, plus chocolate and tea. Very lightly tannic with a touch of anise on the back end, the fruit settles into a groove that melds its tougher black fruit attack with a lively raspberry and strawberry quality as it develops over an hour or so in bottle and glass. Decant if you’d like. Lingering cocoa powder and baking spice notes give the wine a versatility not often seen in this price band. A / $21
2021 Les Vins de Vienne Côtes-du-Rhône Les Cranilles – Very fruit-forward with heavy notes of figs and dates, the wine is extracted into jam-adjacent territory. A doughiness on the body gives the wine a particularly unctuous quality, coming across as slightly gummy at times. A hibiscus note provides some perfume to the wine as the finish arrives, though the overwhelming amount of fruit makes the experience remain almost one-note. B / $18
2022 Domaine Saint Damien Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu – A nice middle ground between the two above wines, this expression of the more elevated Côtes du Rhône Villages AOC sees a brighter, red fruit quality dominating, with some fresh acidity helping notes of rosemary and thyme to perk up. Again there’s a hibiscus floral note on the finish, but here it is more present and punctuated, giving the conclusion a slightly heady kick. A grind of dark chocolate on the finish brings it all back down to earth. A- / $20
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