Go south for Rhone’s best

The northern Rhone may produce the valley's most famous and expensive wines - Hermitage, Cote Rotie etc - but the southern Rhone has fabulous, reasonably priced wines to add to its wonderful architecture, sense of history and general magic.

The wines from there are predominantly red, their characteristics being full-bodied wine, with lots of fruit and some spice, made from Grenache, Carrignan and Syrah grapes. Hardly any white is made here – it's too hot. (White grapes need

far less heat and sunshine than red which is why you don’t really find red grapes in England!) There are also good quality roses, the best being Tavel.

The centre of the region is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, with its distinctively embossed bottles and powerful, peppery wines. It has the distinction of having been awarded, in the 1920s, the first 'Appellation Controlee' in France, thanks to the efforts of its then most important vigneron, the redoubtable Baron Le Roy. This system of growing and winemaking rules, though somewhat out-dated, established France as the world's premium wine growing region (although it actually produces less than Italy).

Next in the pecking order are Gigondas (a small mountain with deep red soil) and Vacqueras,