It’s no mystery that the holiday season can run up a pretty high tab. As parties and celebrations abound, it helps to have high-quality wines on hand that don’t have to eat into your gift budget. Cozy red wines are in season this time of year, and France's Rhône Valley is a terrific source for them, including great values that earned 89 points or more on our 100-point scale. This week’s Tasting Highlights features 10 Rhône reds that did just that, and all are priced $45 or less.
Côtes du Rhône wines are often celebrated as some of the best values available. Introduced in 1937, the region-wide Côtes du Rhône designation was established for quality wines that didn’t fit into more esteemed appellations. While there are white Côtes du Rhône wines, the majority of bottlings are Grenache-dominant red blends from the Southern Rhône. Like many wines from the exciting 2022 vintage, the Domaine Pélaquié Côtes du Rhône 2022 shows impressive depth and ripeness (and at just $14).
This lineup includes Brotte's Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Hauts de Barville 2023, a top scorer, which is stylish with cherry and smoke notes. Read on to get our score and full expert tasting note for this wonderful Rhône red wine and nine others.
Tasting Highlights' wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors' most recent ratings—including scores and full tasting notes—to WineSpectator.com members.
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