Over the course of a typical year, I’m lucky enough to visit the Rhône around six times, and I often think to myself how enjoyable it would be to share my travels with like-minded wine lovers.

So this year, I developed a week-long tour of the Rhône Valley from north to south, to showcase the very best that the region has to offer. And what a week it was!

On Sunday evening, our group met up in Lyon, the capital of French gastronomy, where we kicked off the tour with a meal at one of my favourite local restaurants, Armada. We shared a raft of different dishes and some serious wines, including a beautiful bottle of Yves Gangloff Côte-Rôtie La Barbarine 2022 – impossible to find in the UK. A full and firm iteration of this sought-after cuvée that smelt of church incense.

On Monday morning, we set off to explore the Northern Rhône, with two winery visits per day making for an unhurried pace. We started at Domaine Jasmin in Côte-Rôtie, where we met Patrick Jasmin, who’s in the gradual process of passing the reins to his daughters Coraline and Elodie. Aged bottles of Jasmin are a rare treat, and their 2005 was in great shape; it still had dark fruits and tannic grip, and had developed gamey, menthol depths. Amazingly youthful still.

We had a fine lunch at Les Gagères overlooking the terraced hillsides of Côte-Rôtie, with bottles from Domaine du Monteillet, Domaine Monier-Perréol and Maison Stéphan before making our way to Domaine Pierre-Jean Villa, an estate making exceptional wines in every appellation they turn their hands to. Which is a lot!

After checking into Hotel de la Villeon in Tournon, some of us made our way through their terraced gardens up to their swimming pool, with its views over the hill of Hermitage. That evening, we walked to one of my favourite restaurants in the Rhône, Le Tournesol. Chef Cyril turned out a succession of delicious plates (his truffled croque monsieur being a perennial favourite) and Hea brought out some special bottles, including wonderful whites from Domaine Bernard Gripa and Christelle Betton.

It was a real treat to compare what are arguably the two greatest of all red Saint-Josephs: Domaine Gonon and Jean-Louis Chave’s Clos Florentin. Both were exceptional, and proved that the very best of Saint-Joseph can rival serious bottles from Côte-Rôtie.

On Tuesday, we explored the southern pole of the Northern Rhône, starting with a look at Emmanuelle Verset’s new plantation on the ruggedly beautiful slopes of Cornas. Back at her winery, we tasted through her range, including the Cornas Signature 2023 – Cornas elegance personified.

We continued the Cornas theme with some open-fire cooking at the Auberge de Crussol, comparing a crunchy, young 2022 Brise Cailloux from Domaine du Coulet and a deliciously mature 2016 Les Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Alain Voge.

Our next stop was Domaine Combier, one of the most iconic and forward-thinking producers of Crozes-Hermitage, now using glass globes and amphorae to great effect. We all had our favourites: mine were a perfumed 2024 Clos des Grives and a very elegant (and extremely rare) 2023 Hermitage.

Dinner at Le Cerisier never disappoints. All bottles were on song: Fayolle’s Clos les Cornirets 2019 showed the potential of Crozes’ granite terroirs, and Sorrel’s 2023 white Crozes showed what Larnage’s kaolin soils can do. Philippe Belle quietly makes some of the very finest white Hermitage. And Faurie’s Bessards-Greffieux 2015 was the summit of red Hermitage finesse.

On Wednesday we travelled to the Southern Rhône, where we spent the morning in the picturesque mountain vineyards of Gigondas, with Jean-Baptiste Meunier of Moulin de la Gardette as our guide.

He’s in the process of handing over to his daughter Zoë Meunier, who, it turns out, is also an excellent cook. It was too hot to eat in the vineyards, so we all ate together in the cool of the cellar, with some delicious older vintages. Their wines are highly vintage-expressive, and their 2017 in particular was on great form.

Then we ambled over to Rasteau, where Madeline Ferran of Domaine des Escaravailles filled us in on the other main appellations of the Vaucluse. It takes some elaborate equipment to draw out sweet Rasteau Vin Doux Natural from an amphora, and it was worth it to taste this fascinating style. She also let us taste her 2023 Rasteau ‘Heritage 1924’ from a 99-year-old plot of vines that was pulled out (not by them) last year. A bitter-sweet moment.

We checked into our Avignon hotel, La Mirande, with views over the Palais des Papes and live Portuguese fado echoing through the halls. Its reputation as the best hotel in the city is well deserved.

On Thursday morning we crossed the Rhône River to the west bank where we met with Ralph Garcin, Philippe Guigal’s man in the south, who manages Château de Nalys in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and their latest purchase – the historic Château d’Aqueria in Tavel.

We tasted their new vintages in the gardens among singing cigales. Progress here has been swift thanks to Ralph’s depth of knowledge and attention to detail – their new Heritage range of Tavel and Lirac is outstanding. We all learned a lot.

Over lunch, we compared Château d’Aqueria’s Tavel with that of Domaine l’Anglore; two contrasting styles that both had their fans. Afterwards, we shared a bottle of 2013 Château Rayas. It has all the classic markers from this incomparable estate: blood orange, caramelised strawberry, paprika and rosemary. Then so fresh and saline, with huge drive and power on the palate. An unforgettable moment.

After lunch, we visited an altogether more modern Châteauneuf estate – Domaine Mayard. Arthur talked us through his new ways of working in the vineyard and the cellar, and it was clear from tasting why this estate has become so popular so quickly.

Dinner in the garden at La Mirande started by comparing two whites: Le Bastide du Claux’s crisp Odalisque 2022 and Domaine de Beaurenard’s opulent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard 2022. Then we moved onto reds; an established cult classic, Gourt de Mautens, from 2012 was deep, intense and gamey. A future star, Gour de Chaulé Gigondas No.7 2023, excelled in an opposing style; light, bright and vibrant.

We finished the trip on Friday with an outstanding visit to Domaine de la Solitude. It’s a historically important Châteauneuf estate, but also one of today’ most experimental.

Florent Lançon is planting a dizzying array of other plants among his vines: juniper, Szechuan pepper, pears… he’s aiming for 40 different species per hectare. It’s good for the health of his vineyards and will give him a range of new products to play with, from gin to tea to eau de vie. A highlight was tasting his newest project – a perpetual reserve of his iconic Vin de la Solitude direct from wine globes.

We finished the tour with an excellent lunch at La Mère Germaine with young whites
and older reds: a glittering Clos du Caillou Les Safres Châteauneuf blanc 2024, and a nailed-on classic, Château de Beaucastel 2009, was a great note to end on.

Overall, we managed to pack in 100 wines during our week together, and enjoyed some of the best food in the region. Mission accomplished!

I’m going to run another tour around the Rhône in 2027 – if you like the sound of it, here are the details:

– Sunday 27th June to Friday 2nd July
– Maximum 14 guests
– To keep things interesting, most of the visits and wines will be different – but just as good

To apply, email Matt at mw@mattwalls.co.uk