Cotes du Rhone wines easy on the lunch tab

Cotes du Rhone is a red wine that you order for lunch without breaking the pocketbook.

In France, I found it served regularly as an easy-drinking wine with informal food.

Made in the Rhone River Valley, these wines are primarily made from Grenache (especially in the south valley) and syrah (in the north valley).

In past years, these wines tended to have a heavy body, but new winemaking techniques have produced more fruity and medium-bodied wines.

Grenache can give the wines lots of spice and fruit; syrah can give the wine body. The blend of the two represents the individual wine maker's style.

The consensus has been that the 1998 and the 1999 vintages were good for Cotes du Rhone, while wine makers struggled with the 2000 vintage. 2000 vintages are more common on the shelves, but you can find some 1999 wines.

The wine-tasting group compared Cotes du Rhone wines ranging in price from $11.99 to $17.99.

Here is what we found:

- 2000 Chateau Mont-Redon Cotes du Rhone at $14.99. This wine had an intense aroma, peppery and fruity, with chocolate notes. We found it young and tasty with good strawberry fruit. Some tasters thought it might be better after aging a year. It was very dry. This wine ranked first in our tasting.

- 2000 Chateau de Segries Cotes du Rhone at $12.99. This wine had brighter fruit, along with a taste of candied apples and black raspberries. This wine definitely was influenced by Grenache said the tasters. The spiciness really kicked in on the finish.

- 2000 Domaine de la Solitude Cotes du Rhone at $13.99. This wine's aroma was more muted, but we did detect perfume, nutmeg and cedar. In the mouth, it had a soft, velvety texture. It had more tannins than the others. Tannins are the chemicals in wine that can, with aging, give wine structure and character. When young, tannins can make wine taste astringent and/or dry out the mouth. While the tannins were quite strong in the mouth, the finish was a bit watery. My tasters thought this wine would go better with food.

- 1999 Le Clos du Caillou at $17.99. This wine had an intense aroma of raisins and plums. In the mouth, it proved to be a big wine, big like a zinfandel with chocolate notes. It was full-bodied with explosive tastes. We thought this wine would work well with food such as red meats. It ranked second in our tasting.

Questions can be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 or e-mailed to editor