Rebecca and Crozes-Hermitage

Du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece is all shadow and suspense, and it wants a wine with some darkness in it. Northern Rhône Syrah delivers: black olive, blackberry, smoke and a distinct crack of black pepper.

Crozes-Hermitage is the most approachable of the region’s appellations — less tannic and far less expensive than its famous neighbor Hermitage — so it never overwhelms the reading. It simply deepens the atmosphere, one dangerous chapter at a time.