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09/05/2001 Archived Entry: "Wine Buy: Cotes de Rhone white"

The Rhone Valley of France, which is in the southeast of the country, is known mainly for its red wines, which is why I was surprised when I saw that Carol Berman’s wine buy selection this week was a white wine labeled Cotes-du-Rhone. Indeed, the front label on the bottle doesn’t even indicate that the wine is white. You have to go to the back label to see that this Guigal Cotes du Rhone 1999 is blanc.

I was able to detect the pear aroma in the wine, as Carol described it, although I had more trouble tasting the “anise-y” quality she mentioned. To me, it was a crisp, somewhat citrus-y wine, altogether pleasant, and a good buy for about $10.

In general, I trust the Guigal label for good Rhone wines. Etienne Guigal and his son Phillipe produce the full range of Rhone wines, which cost from $10 to $500 a bottle, and when faced with a choice of a Guigal of something Rhone and a Rhone something made by another winemaker, I always go for the Guigal.

Carol suggested that this full-bodied white Cotes du Rhone would go well with roasted chicken, perhaps seasoned with garlic and herbs, or with anything you eat with sweet potatoes or squash this fall season, as the wine has a tiny bit of residual sugar that matches the sweetness of those vegetables. Along those lines, it would be a good choice for Thanksgiving.

Guigal is a well-distributed label, so you should be able to find this wine buy fairly easily.