With over 1000,000 acres in vines and innumerable terroirs and microclimates, with much of the quality controlled by large cooperatives, quality ranges from insipid and sterile to very good to excellent. Readers need to focus on the estate-bottled level, where some terrific overachievers make beautiful wines that sell for a song.

Tardieu-Laurent Rhone Valley Cotes du Luberon Bastide
An elegant, straightforward wine without much complexity, but a pleasant brasserie-style red.

Tardieu-Laurent Rhone Valley Cotes du Rhone
Another bistro-style red, made mostly from Grenache, with good acidity, a dark ruby color, and superficial strawberry and black cherry fruit.

Tardieu-Laurent Rhone Valley Cotes du Rhone Guy Louis
A blend of mostly Grenache with some Syrah, this wine is rich, full bodied, and gorgeously plump and opulent.

Tardieu-Laurent Rhone Valley Cotes du Rhone Villages Les Becs Fins
This wine shows delicious black currant and blackberry in a medium-bodied, soft, round, generous style.