Fine French Red Wine

Bright, warm and full of ripe bramble fruit – all we look for in a Ventoux – but also with Mediterranean spice and liquorice. 

Everyday-drinking Côtes-du-Rhône reds don't get much better than Vidal-Fleury's GSM. Then again, their 250-years-plus experience of making wines among the great Rhône appellations, it's hardly surprising.

A savoury Côtes du  Rhône Villages marked by expressive notes of violets and peony. The palate is round with bright fruit underlined by sweet spice.

An extremely generous, full-bodied red that hugely defies its price tag. Its lusciously sweet, dark cherry and plum fruit comes through straight away, staying smooth and ripe, right through to ...

Fine everyday drinking red, named after the Besnardeau three daughters from one of Robert parker’s favourite vineyards.

La Baume is from France's deep south where the daily heat gives red wines a bigger, richer character than further north. This a wine with structure, suppleness and plenty of ...

From one of the best Estates in the Côtes de Bourg – ticks all the ‘affordable claret boxes. Rich forward and perfect for drinking now. Great value.

A delicious red Rhône and a long a favourite of the Guide Hachette des Vins, Hugh Johnson, Robert Parker and ours. Grenache, syrah and just a touch of mourvedre.

A lovely pinot noir from the Languedoc made by Burgundian Bruno Lafon and at a fraction of the price of red from the Cote d'Or or Cote Chalonnaise.

Made in only the best vintages and blended for us by Jonathan Maltus, the first Englishman to be awarded 100 points by Robert Parker. Rich, ripe merlot, beautifully integrated oak.

A great example from Saint-Gervais - one of the best Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. A blend of ripe syrah and grenache and is gloriously rich and jammy.

From pinot noir vines averaging 50 years of age comes this deeply fruited, peppery Bourgogne Rouge from the clay/limestone plateau in the Macon region of southern Burgundy.

From this up-and-coming producer a sensational Côtes du Rhône village and for us, one of the best value wines to be found in all the Rhône valley. Very Châteauneuf.

A silky Merlot blend from the Côtes de Castillon to deliciously demonstrate just how good - and ageworthy - the wines of Bordeaux's more affordable regions have become.

Full of rich, vibrant fruit, and is of such quality that one might easily mistake the cuvée for a good Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

From 3rd-growth Château Giscours (Margaux) and sumptuous, abundant, well-balanced proof that you need not always pay £20+ for a bottle of Left Bank pedigree and finesse.

Extraordinary value, and a very classy glass of claret. Rich, textured and plump; also luscious with profound black fruit, and an alluring smoky, exotic spice note.

An earthy, opulent, authentic expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Languedoc.

Domaine les Grands Bois was recommended to us as the best local grower by the owner of the best bistro in Cairanne, itself the best of the 21 Cotes-du-Rhone villages.

A delightful soft juicy red made by Alexander Sichel that is lapped up by the Wine Bars and Bistros in Paris who always eek out the best new wines.

A soft, rich wine with a touch of minerality. The blend is 65% merlot, 33% cabernet sauvignon with a touch of petite verdot, and the wine aged in oak for 12 ...

A high quality claret from the great 2010 vintage, when the growing season and harvest in Bordeaux were as close to perfect as it gets.

This pinot noir / gamay made by the Devillard family of Chateau de Chamirey in Mercurey is the house red burgundy of Alain Ducasse’s great left bank bistrot Chez Allard.