Bordeaux beauty stars with French reds from Cotes du Rhone, Beaujolais and Languedoc

The wine deal of a lifetime was sealed in Bordeaux in the 1960s and today we reap the rewards with six French reds and bonus Champagne in a unique Christmas offer.

The French reds you can receive in this year’s Christmas offer.

Like the ancestry of Australia’s most successful vineyards, The Australian Wine Club’s origins can be traced back to France.

We go back to Bordeaux actually, back to the 1960s when a British student, uncertain of his path in life, found a summer job washing bottles in a wine co-operative in Bordeaux called Lussac Saint-Emilion.

Tony Laithwaite would find his destiny in the French countryside, coming up with the idea of selling wines directly from France to customers in the United Kingdom. His mail order wine business, Bordeaux Direct, would evolve into Laithwaites Wine, a global business today worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Australian Wine Club has worked with Laithwaites over the years to source high quality wines directly from wine producers around the world, ensuring prices are fair but affordable for wine lovers.

Today we wrap up the year with an expansive French collection that showcases gems discovered by the Laithwaites team through their networks established over the past 50 years. We’re also getting in the Christmas spirit with bonus Champagne and French sparkling offers below.

One of the wines, a beautiful Bordeaux blend, comes from Vieux Château Guibeau, the first property Tony started buying wines from all those years ago.

The wine was from the 1966 vintage and was purchased from the estate’s founder Henri Bourlon. Today, Tony and his team buy wine from Henri’s granddaughter Brigitte, who lives on the estate and makes wine with her husband Eric and their three children.

Sitting on one of the highest pieces of land in Bordeaux, the sustainably farmed and certified organic vineyards produce some of the most consistent wine in the famous appellation. It’s one of six French reds, hand-selected from the Laithwaites team.

As one of Laithwaites’ traders in France, Jehan Sacaze, says: “These wines represent amazing value with a cherry on top – all of the selected wines were produced during stellar vintages in each of their respective AOCs (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée).’’

From The Australian Wine Club and the Laithwaites team, Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy 2023.

Vieux Chateau Guibeau 2019

From Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion, a satellite of Bordeaux’s esteemed Saint-Emilion, comes a smooth and rich merlot-based blend, with plum and blackberry aromatics, laced with cloves, leafy herbs and earthy tones. Ripe plums and cassis float on the palate, with fine grained tannins framing the path to a long persistent finish. A blend of merlot (80 per cent), cabernet franc (10 per cent) and cabernet sauvignon (10 per cent), sourced from vineyards of between 30 and 50 years old. Matured for 14 months in French oak. Decant before enjoying this high-quality Bordeaux from an excellent vintage. 14% alc; RRP $60 a bottle

SPECIALS $49.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

Chateau Les Grands Marechaux Blaye 2012

This 10-year-old merlot blend is in grand form, opening with mellow cassis and soft black fruits with touches of cedar and leather. From a brilliantly run estate at Cotes de Blaye, on the right bank of the Gironde estuary in Bordeaux. Influential wine critic Robert Parker Jnr rates the estate as one of his favourites in Bordeaux. “This lovely 2012 is dense ruby/purple, with plump black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, good flesh, a complete mouthfeel from beginning to end, ripe tannin and a long, heavy finish,” he wrote. Superb value. 13.5% alc; RRP $40 a bottle

SPECIALS $32.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

Chateau de La Grange 2019

From Fitou, one of the top appellations of the Languedoc, comes this savoury shiraz, grenache and mourvedre blend. The Dellova family gained organic status for their 40-hectare estate in 2012. Plum and cherry flavours mingle with herbaceous notes of garrigue (a French term describing the aromatics of southern France’s wild coastal herbs like thyme, lavender, rosemary and fennel). Velvety, soft and balanced. Combine with a slow-cooked coq au vin. 14.5% alc; RRP $28 a bottle

SPECIALS $23.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

Domaine Martin Rasteau 2020

This grenache-based blend (70 per cent grenache, 20 per cent shiraz and 10 per cent mourvèdre) from the Cotes de Rhone opens with earthy, herbal aromas mingling with hints of blackberry and raspberry. Herbal-scented dark fruit flavours drive the supple palate with smoked meat and spicy notes adding complexity. Nice natural acid flows to the lingering finish. 15% alc; RRP $36 a bottle

SPECIALS $31.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

Chateau Gicon Cotes du Rhone 2019

Rich and powerful, this grenache-shiraz blend is a value-packed alternative to much higher priced Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines. Dark fruit aromas lead the way, hinting at the ripe flavours of black cherries, raspberries and strawberries, with aniseed and sweet spicy notes emerging on the long finish. Decant for an hour while you barbecue lamb cutlets with garlic and oregano. 15% alc; RRP $35 a bottle

SPECIALS $28.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

Domaine Francois 1er Roche-Gres 2018

Velvety Beaujolais, packed with an array of concentrated flavours: juicy cherries and strawberries, decadent black forest gateau and Christmas cake spice combine in a mouth-filling palate. Pure fruit, no oak. Created from a 60-year-old vineyard in Moulin à Vent, one of Beaujolais’s best-loved crus. A cracking Beaujolais with an impressive depth of flavour. 14% alc; RRP $38 a bottle

SPECIALS $29.99 a bottle in any dozen; $29.99 a bottle in French dozen.

FRENCH DOZEN Two bottles of each wine above for $29.99 a bottle. Save $144.

SPARKLING BONUSAdd three bottles of Roche Lacour Cremant de Limoux NV (RRP $35 a bottle) for $27.99 across the 15-bottle buy. Save $159.

CHAMPAGNE BONUSAdd two bottles of Didier Chopin Brut Champagne NV (RRP $80 a bottle) for $31.42 a bottle across the 14 bottles. Save $194.

Order online or telephone [phone] Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm AEST. Deals available only while stocks last. The Australian Wine Club is a commercial partnership with Laithwaites Wine, LIQP770016550.