Château Saint-Roch, Côtes du Rhône 2024

Château Saint-Roch sits in the southern Rhône, and this Côtes du Rhône does exactly what a well-made example should: it delivers the warmth, generosity, and sun-soaked character of the south without any of the jammy excess that gives cheap GSM blends a bad name. The 2024 vintage brought a long, warm growing season with enough freshness in the evenings to keep the wines lifted, and it shows here in the balance between ripe dark fruit and the herbal, scrubby garrigue quality that makes southern Rhône reds so distinctively southern French. This is a wine to open, pour, and enjoy rather than agonise over. Drink it with something off the grill, a slow-cooked lamb, or simply a decent cheese board on a warm evening.