Okay, just to close this out, we decided (purely for scientific reasons of course...) to try a variety of Rhone wines over the past week, north and south, based on some of the recommendations in this thread. From the north we had Cornas, Cote Rotie, St. Joseph, and Crozes-Hermitage, and from the south we had three more CDPs, Gigondas, and Rasteau (we also had four wines from Languedoc-Roussillon as 'palette cleansers').

Of the northern Rhone wines we liked the Cote Rotie the best. I think the Cornas would probably be great - in six or seven years. Just felt like it needed more time in the bottle. I liked the Allan Graillot Crozes-Hermitage a lot as well. The St. Joseph didn't really compare well with the others, but was significantly cheaper and still quite drinkable.

From the south the Gigondas and Rasteau were both great value and very drinkable also. Two of the CDPs were great, however, the cheapest one tasted like grappa. We couldn't get it down but I did give a hell of an effort.

After all this drinking I think I finally get it. I find myself now sort of craving the mouthfeel of those southern Rhone wines. The better ones were soft and gave a sensation of the wine melting in your mouth. It's very seductive and I can understand now why people pay good money for it.

Heading to the states for a couple of weeks - hopefully my liver will recover