The Winery Terres Valdèze of Rhone Valley

It’s easy to forget that the southern Rhône’s four most prevalent red varieties aren’t indigenous. Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre all appear to originate from Spain; Syrah made its way down the river from the northern Rhône. Of the long tail of other grapes, most have their roots closer to home. Plantings have dwindled in recent years, but today local varieties are experiencing renewed interest. One that’s finding a lot of fans – both in the Rhône and further afield – is Counoise. Scroll down ...

Brad Pitt and French music producer Damien Quintard have reopened the doors of Miraval Studios after major renovations to the space, which has an illustrious past but lay unused for nearly two decades. It lies on the Château Miraval wine estate in Provence, which Pitt still co-owns after having originally bought the property with ex-partner Angelina Jolie. Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, announced in 2021 it had acquired a 50% stake in Miraval from Jolie. The Miraval swimming pool ...

In preparation for this column I tasted 46 reds in total, and – taking both quality and value into account – I can recommend 33 of them. Overall, the reds were less consistent than the whites, and although the lows were lower, the highs were higher. This tasting confirmed that it’s still possible to buy genuinely excellent northern Rhône reds for under £30 in the UK. That being said, it’s virtually impossible to find any Cornas, Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage for under £30 a bottle these days, but ther ...