Wine Club: six of the finest Rhônes from FromVineyardsDirect

I adore the wines of the Rhône. What wine lover doesn’t? There’s variety and there’s value, especially when compared with Bordeaux and Burgundy, and it’s possible to drink your fill without visiting the same well twice or fretting too much about the cost.

Last time we had a small Rhône add-on to the main offer; this week we’re going the whole hog, with just a tiny nod to Alsace as a postscript because I adore their wines too.

With all the Dry Jan nonsense behind us, Mrs Ray and I fell upon the selection of Rhônes that Esme Johnstone – the canny fox at the helm of FromVineyardsDirect – sent me to try on your behalf. I even managed to break a couple of glasses in my haste. In fairness to Mrs R, although she has what might best be described as an inquiring thirst (it was one of the things that first attracted me to her), as an alumna of Berry Bros & Rudd she is the proud possessor of a Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma and, in short, knows her stuff. She wields a mean corkscrew too; I’ve never seen so many bottles opened so fast.

Produced by Famille Arnaud, vignerons since 1641, the 2020 Ch. Courac (1) is a beautifully textured white Laudun Côtes du Rhône Villages from the banks of La Tave, a tributary of the Rhône in Tresques in the Gard. A blend of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Roussanne, it’s smooth and silky with citrus, peach and just a touch of oak-driven vanilla. £12.75 down from £13.95.