WSJ: WEEKEND JOURNAL: Tastings: A Perfect Wine For The Depth [02/18/99] By Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher

We're from Florida, so we don't think there's a lot good to be said about frigid air. But there is this: It's the best time to drink the big, rough, aggressive and warming red wines from the Rhone Valley of France. Think about what you eat during the depths of winter: big, hearty foods like beef stew or creamy, rich cassoulet. It might not be the most elegant food in the world, but it sure warms your innards. What wine would you drink with foods like that? Our vote goes to Rhone.

Red Rhone wines aren't as famous, or expensive, as Burgundies or Bordeaux. But they are distinctive -- and some of them are terrific bargains. The problem is, there are a million Rhones out there, and they come in all price ranges. The Rhone is a long river, and the wine region is so vast that even some vintage charts list "Northern Rhone" and "Southern Rhone" separately. The northern part of the Rhone Valley includes some of France's most distinctive wines, such as Hermitage and Cote Rotie. The primary grape there is syrah, a big, deep, dark, rich red that also makes those awesome shiraz wines of Australia (and, of course, the syrah wines of California).

Then there's the Southern Rhone, home of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a well-known Rhone wine made around the village of the same name. We once spent a couple of nights in an old castle converted to a hotel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and we'll always remember the white, rocky, hard-to-even-walk-on soil in which the grapes were forced to grow. Whenever we taste these big, "hot" wines, we think of the big, white rocks, reflecting the intense sun. The Southern Rhone is also home to all sorts of wines that are simply called Cotes-du-Rhone or identified by the name of their town. These are made from a whole cornucopia of grape varieties, including grenache and syrah. Generally, these aren't identified by a specific chateau or winemaker. Instead, you'll see on the label the name of the wine, like Cotes-du-Rhone, and the name of the producer, such as Jaboulet, for instance, or Guigal, who ship many different Rhones in large quantities. Some fine white wines are made in the Rhone Valley, too. But when we think of Rhone, we don't think about all that complicated stuff at all. We think of Rhone wines as inexpensive, widely available red wines that make us warm on cold nights. Our assumption, in a blind tasting, was that we could just walk into a wine store, stroll over to the Rhone section, spend less than $10 and get just what we were looking for: a good, unpretentious but well-made big, red wine.

We randomly picked up dozens of Rhones to test our thesis, almost all of them below $10 (some were just above, and one Chateauneuf-du-Pape was $17.99). We're happy to report that we were correct -- and that our best of tasting was the cheapest, most easily recognizable bottle of the whole bunch. As we expected, these wines do not aspire to class. These are peasant wines -- proud to be a bit rough, yet, in their own way, surprisingly drinkable because they're so comfortable being what they are: a beverage to have with big, brown food. The smell of our wines was almost uniformly a bit biting, with some offering slight hints of green pepper and what we call "a bit of the vines" -- think green and tight.

Bottle after bottle, the taste was similar, too. Some were better than others, of course, but the average quality level was good. The wines had an aggressive, grapey taste at the start that grew into a sharp, earthy mouthful. The "finish," or after-taste, was generally pretty hot or warming and a bit leathery or chewy. We had several favorites, although the differences weren't that great. Wines from Jaboulet and Guigal, the big producers, were quite nice -- nothing special, but solid, drinkable reds. One of the difficult things about Cotes-du-Rhone, though, is that there are lots of labels out there, and you can never be sure which bottle contains liquid gold. We tried Domaine d'Andezon, a Cotes-du-Rhone we'd never seen before, and it turned out to be a wine with real character, richer and fruitier than most and, like most good Rhones, definitely worth hiding in a closet for a few years.

The best of tasting, though, turned out to be the most ubiquitous name of all. Georges Duboeuf, who is famous for his Beaujolais, sells a plain Cotes-du-Rhone he calls Domaine des Moulins for just $5.99, and it was our clear best of tasting. (In fact, we had accidentally bought two bottles, and it was the best in both of the groups of wines we tasted blind.) This was a Rhone without the edge of some. It was drinkable, light, fruity and pleasant. But at the same time, it had some of the traditional depth of a classic Rhone. It doesn't have the guts of some, but it's a righteous bottle of wine.

Here's a tip: Most people decide what they're going to have for dinner and then figure out what wine to buy. This weekend, do the opposite. Go out and buy an inexpensive red Rhone. Then think about your favorite winter food -- the kind of dinner that reminds you of a fireplace on a cold night. We guarantee that, by the end of the night, you'll feel much warmer. We'd love to hear from you. While we can't promise to respond to all letters, please write to us at The Wall Street Journal, 200 Liberty St., New York, N.Y. 10281. ---

The Dow Jones Red Rhone Index

It's cold outside -- time for the big, warming red wines from the Rhone Valley of France. There are a lot of Rhones out there, but make it easy on yourself: Spend maybe $10 on a simple Cotes-du-Rhone. You'll probably see only young ones, but buy the oldest you can, because these benefit from age. In any event, let the wine "breathe" for a while before drinking it. Even then, keep in mind that these are aggressive, big, rough-hewn wines that will warm you up along with a big, hearty winter meal.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Georges Duboeuf/Domaine des Moulins/Cotes-du-Rhone 1996
PRICE: $5.99
RATING TASTERS': Good/Very Good
COMMENTS: Best of tasting and best value. Pleasant, creamy and surprisingly drinkable. A great deal from a well-known name -- and it's widely available, too.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Parallele `45'/Cotes-du-Rhone/(Paul Jaboulet) 1996
PRICE: $7.99
RATING TASTERS': Good
COMMENTS: Chewy and very much midrange in its power -- not as intense as some, but more serious than others.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: E. Guigal/Cotes-du-Rhone 1995
PRICE: $9.99
RATING TASTERS': Good
COMMENTS: An easy-drinking Rhone from a well-known name.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Domaine Santa Duc/Cotes-du-Rhone 1996
PRICE: $9.99
RATING TASTERS': Good
COMMENTS: This is it: unrepentant Rhone. Hard and green, with a real taste of green peppers. In a few years, this will be terrific.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Domaine d'Andezon/Cotes-du-Rhone 1996
PRICE: $9.99
RATING TASTERS': Good
COMMENTS: Richer and fruitier than most, with some real seriousness of purpose.

VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Clos du Mont-Olivet/Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1996
PRICE: $17.99
RATING TASTERS': Good
COMMENTS: Young and surprisingly light, but lovely in the mouth. Lots of character and breeding.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale that ranges: Yech, OK, Good, Very Good, Delicious and Delicious! These are the prices we paid at New York City retail stores. Prices vary widely over the country. -/wsj_DorothyJGaiter+JohnBrecher_02.18.99