For well over twenty years, our everyday wine of choice has been a blended Côtes du Rhône sold under the brand name Cellier des Dauphins. The makers claim that one bottle in every six Côtes du Rhône sold is one of theirs, and I can well believe it. It’s simple and unpretentious, whilst remaining distinctively of the region. And it’s remarkably good value. Here’s a Cellier des Dauphins review.
We discovered it during our time in France, and we’ve not found a glugging wine that suits us better. We’d a thousand times rather drink a bottle of Cellier than even a premium label from the popular Californian or Australian wine-makers. The New World wines are undoubtedly skillfully made, but often have no more complexity than alcoholic fruit squash.
But I fear our love affair with Cellier may be ending. We’d finished our supply of 2012, and had a case or two of 2013. It was a disappointment. Unlike its soft and pleasant predecessors, the newer wine that we opened was rather thin and astringent. We gave it the benefit of the doubt, though, thinking that perhaps we’d hit a bad batch. On a recent booze cruise, we bought some more, although not as much as we would normally. By now, only the 2013 is available. But our new purchases are just as poor. They’re drinkable, but not any sort of a treat. So until the 2014 becomes available, that’s it for Cellier. And if the 2014 doesn’t go back up to standard, that’s it for ever. Meanwhile, we’ve got some Carrefour own-brand to keep us going!
John Norman's Blog 
Is it just the dauphins blend that’s poor, or have you found other 2013 producers similarly affected?
We’ve bought several other “everyday” 2013 Côtes du Rhône to try but none was great value for money, although we did find some very acceptable red Beaumes de Venise. Maybe we just need to move a tad upmarket for our house red. And maybe we were spoiled by the generally excellent quality of CdR from 2009 to 2011.