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Cotes du Rhone Blanc (And Imitators)

Lee Coursey/flickr

They make white wines in the Rhone, and they are great. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

The Wines

Price key:  $=less than $20  $$= $20-40   $$$=$40-60  $$$$=above $60

Quality key:  * = decent  ** = very good  *** = superb  **** = elite    

Ogier "Les Vignerons d'Estézargues" Cotes du Rhone Blanc '15  ** $ VALUE

(Grenache blanc, etc, aromatic, fleshy, lychee notes, crisp.)

Brunel Cotes du Rhone Blanc "La Bécassonne" '15 ** $

(Fleshy, full-bodied, classic russanne flavors, a little wild.)

Alary La Grange Daniel, Roussane, L'Orange '07 *** $ SUPER VALUE

(Complex, full bodied, deeply flavored, amazing for 10 year old, buy lots.)

Cline Viognier, California '17 ** $  VALUE

(For about $12 you get a very convincing aromatic viognier.)

Tablas Creek "Patelin de Tablas" white blend, Paso Robles *** $$

(Classic powerhouse Rhone blanc made in California, wonderful.)

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.
As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.