Collection: Rhône

The Rhône is where a budget goes furthest. These are wines built to last, from a valley that has never traded on fashion the way Bordeaux and Burgundy have, and a bottle from 1978 or 1985 often costs a third of what the same harvest would cost further north or west.

Two halves, quite different. In the north, Syrah on granite terraces: on its own at Hermitage and Cornas, and with a little Viognier in the blend at Côte-Rôtie. These are wines with black pepper and bacon fat about them that turn silky after twenty years. In the south, Grenache leads a blend across the round stones of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, warmer and broader, sweet with dried herbs. 1961, 1978, 1983, 1989, 1990 and 1998 are the years people remember.

White Hermitage is the other long-liver here, and it is almost always overlooked. Marsanne with a little Roussanne, it shuts down for a decade in the middle of its life and comes out the far side tasting of quince and beeswax. Bottles from the 1970s and 1980s can still be very good indeed, and they cost less than the reds grown on the same hill.

For a year gift this matters practically. The money that buys one modest claret from 1975 will often buy a serious Hermitage from the same harvest, and the Hermitage is the likelier of the two to have survived in good order. We verify each bottle's condition by hand before it ships.