During the years I have covered the Rhone for JamesSuckling.com, the region has seen every type of weather, and this year the force of the cold, northwesterly mistral wind almost knocked me over a couple of times. Even though this is a warm wine-producing region, particularly the south, it is also a place of extremes.
This also applies to how the wines are marketed. Whereas nearly all the wines of the more popular Bordeaux region are shipped roughly two years after harvest, the wines of the Rhone come onto the market anywhere between one and four to even five years after the grapes are picked.
This means that although this report focuses on the 2022 vintage, there are also a good many wines from the 2023 and 2021 vintages, plus smaller numbers from the 2020 and 2019 vintages. So, what are the personalities of these vintages in the Rhone? And how is the general situation there changing as the climate of an already warm region heats up even more?
Let’s start with 2021 because of the extreme contrast between the image and reality of this vintage. 2021 received really bad press before the wines even finished fermenting, with one of our competitors declaring during the 2021 harvest that they wouldn’t even bother reporting on the wines because they would be so poor. But last year it became apparent that this was a badly mistaken position to adopt, and this year’s tastings confirmed that.
Yes, 2021 is an erratic vintage due to the heavy rains during the early summer that led to mildew, then the unstable harvest weather. The least successful 2021s are weedy and rustic. However, the high points are very exciting, particularly in the north where the syrah grape dominates the reds. If you like those wines when they’re on the elegant side, we recommend you snap up the remaining bottles of the best 2021s. Scroll down to find those we tasted during the last months.
The highest-rated wines in this report are two reds and two whites of the 2021 vintage from the legendary hill of Hermitage – sometimes written Ermitage – in the Northern Rhone. All were made by Maxime Chapoutier and Clement Bartschi of the house of M. Chapoutier in Tain l’Hermitage.
Chapoutier said about 2021, “When the harvest began we were quite worried after the tough growing season, but then the wines turned out extremely well.”
In my opinion the results are a truly extraordinary achievement!
The red M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal 2021 has a hypnotic nose of perfectly ripe wild blackberry, wild herbs and autumn bonfires. At once expansive and extremely dynamic on the palate, the minerals ignite a turbo-drive at the finish. In contrast, tasting the M. Chapoutier Ermitage L’Ermite 2021 is like descending into a labyrinth of spices, where the perfect black fruit and violet aromas are married to an astonishing tannin structure that gives the finish explosive energy. Both are 100 percent syrah.
The whites are both pure marsanne, with the M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 2021 a singularity of the grape with an extraordinary interplay of smoky pineapple and stony character, then gigantic minerality at the totally focused, extremely long finish. The M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc L’Ermite 2021 is an essence of Mirabelle plums that starts quietly but expands and expands as it glides over your palate with gigantic concentration and perfect balance.
These wines are all selection parcellaire, each made from the grapes grown from a single parcel of vines, and quantities are limited by the size of the parcel and the low yields necessary to reach this quality level.
A number of other producers in the north showed us wines with a similar brilliance from the 2021 vintage, some of which were produced in less limited quantities. None is more deserving of mention than the fresh and floral but also concentrated and elegant JL Chave Hermitage 2021, plus the finely chiseled Domaine A. Clape Cornas 2021, with its complex aromas of dark cherries, plums, currants, wild herbs, crushed stones, undergrowth and baking spices.
The contrast between these and the 2022 Rhone wines Tasting Manager Kevin Davy and I tasted is dramatic. 2022 is a consistently generous and fleshy vintage, with the great majority of the wines released already drinking well. That makes 2022 a crowd-pleaser, but if you look closely there are important differences between the best of these wines and the rest. A couple of leading winemakers who didn’t want to be quoted suggested the reason for the differences was that in some places the grapes had enough sugar ripeness to make full-bodied wines but struggled to reach the aromatic and tannin ripeness that results in exciting wines.
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Nowhere was this clearer than in Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the south. Its wines from the excellent 2019 and 2020 vintages often have aromas of tar, black olive and roast meat, but these aromas are quite rare in the 2022 wines. In compensation, there’s no lack of fruit, and we rarely noted a perceptible excess of alcohol, although they often feature less interesting flavors than the wines we use as reference points for this appellation. The tannins are often simpler, too, holding the full body together well but not adding as much interest as they did in 2019 and 2020, or even in successful 2021s.
The most extraordinary bottled 2022 Chateauneuf-du-Pape that we tasted was the incredibly spicy and herbal Domaine de Ferrand Châteauneuf-du-Pape Garriguette 2022. Made by modest winemaking genius Philippe Bavay from vines that his ancestors planted in 1904, 1910 and 1920, it has terrific density and tension, and it tastes like a cautiously modernized version of the wines made in this appellation in the top vintages of the late 1980s and 1990s.
Back then, wines like the vibrant yet silky Famille Isabel Ferrando Châteauneuf-du-Pape Columbis 2022, with its huge wave of blackberry fruit, simply did not exist. Isabel Ferrando has created a unique new super-sensual and silky style of Chateauneuf-du-Pape that is clearly inspired by the great wines of Burgundy. It’s hard to argue with a winemaker who uncompromisingly commits themselves to sensual beauty, as she does.
At the other end of the stylistic scale is the Domaine de Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 2019, which is very muscular, meaty and gamey with enormous density at the monumental finish. Here are all the good characteristics of 2019, the massive structure typical of the best wines of this powerful vintage beautifully integrated. It could be hard to track down given winemaker Laurence Feraud’s fanatical following.
The other truly extraordinary wine from this appellation is the Domaine de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vin de la Solitude 2021, which has a mind-bending combination of berry fruit with a savory and balsamic complexity. The way the huge tannins feel so delicate, along with its energy and purity, are all astonishing.
“Using quite modern cellar equipment, I try to get close to how the wines from my estate tasted two centuries ago,” said Domaine de la Solitude’s winemaker, Florent Lancon. “Back then, the wines of my family’s domaine were sold as Vin de la Solitude.”
Most Chateauneuf reds are cuvees based on the grenache grape, but this retro masterpiece is based on the humble counoise. Counoise is the rising star of the 13 grapes allowed in this appellation because of its naturally modest alcohol content and the delicacy of its wines. It seems like everybody is planting it in order to dial down the body of their reds and avoid having to write 15 percent alcohol on the label. Of course, some wine consumers find that number or higher a turnoff.
Another answer to their increasing richness is the mourvedre grape, which the legendary Chateau de Beaucastel estate has championed for generations as the base of the cuvee for their red wines. Mourvedre is the latest-ripening grape in the Rhone and it is not easy to master, but scroll down to the notes for Chateau de Beaucastel to see what it does for these remarkable and unique wines.
The dry whites from this appellation are rapidly gaining in popularity as the winemaking improves in leaps and bounds. In many ways, the Domaine Mont Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2023, with its expansive yet subtle aromas of stone fruits, is a classic example. It nails the balance between creamy richness and salty freshness. These wines are often almost as alcoholic as the reds ,with 14 percent or 14.5 percent on the label a common feature. The Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2023 stunned me with its succulence, purity and transparency at just 13 percent alcohol. Dry whites are growing in importance not only in Chateauneuf-du-Pape but right through the Rhone, with the percentage of white grapes having almost doubled in recent years to 12 percent and still rising.
Nearby Gigondas and Cairanne are the next most important appellations in the Southern Rhone. The landscape of Gigondas is far more dramatic than Chateauneuf thanks to the Dentelles de MontmiraiI, a group of mountain ridges composed of limestone, like the soil of the higher-altitude vineyards. Here, 2021 was a better vintage than in Chateauneuf, and a wonderful example of the mineral character of these wines is the Les Pallières Gigondas Terraces du Diable 2021, which marries mountain coolness with crisp tannins. The Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Clos Derrière Vieille 2022 is an astonishingly elegant example of this style, given the generally high ripeness of the vintage.
Thanks to the Amadieu family of Pierre Amadieu, the largest producer in Gigondas, I was able to see the vineyards of this and some of the neighboring appellations from the air. Then I saw not only how extreme the rocks of the Dentelles are, but also that roughly half of the appellation of Gigondas is forest.
Likewise, the biodiversity of Cairanne is clear when the vineyards are seen from above, particularly in comparison to the extreme monoculture of neighboring Plan de Dieu, which is also strikingly flat compared with the diverse and often hilly terrain of Cairanne. We suggest Cairanne is on the right path, just like Gigondas.
To the commune’s commitment to a sound ecosystem must be added some impressive winemaking innovations of Cairanne, none more striking than the exceptionally elegant natural white wine Domaine A. Berthat-Rayne Cairanne Blanc Les Perchettes Vin Methode Nature 2023, which smells like a whole field of wildflowers. It is silky, graceful and fresh in spite of having no added sulfites! This is a triumph for young Alexandre Berthet-Rayne. “A lot of people think that the name of this wine refers to the Hoopoe bird pictured on the label,” she explained, “but it is actually a system that allows us to do bush vine training for varieties that don’t normally cope with it, like syrah.”
In the north of the region, many of the greatest wines we tasted were late-released 2020s, of which the E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2020 demands a special mention. Guigal fans will love the aromas of dark berries, grilled herbs, stones, leather, undergrowth and loads of baking spices, along with the way it is both highly textured with incredible drive yet sinewy on the palate. Less long-term are the Cornas from the well-known Domaine Colombo, whose 2020s are probably the best wines this producer has ever made. The Domaine Colombo Cornas Vallon de L’Aigle 2020 had super-ripe elderberry fruit with great smoky complexity on the extremely concentrated and velvety palate.
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The wines from the top appellations like these are selling well right around Planet Wine, but there are problems with the basic regional appellation Cote du Rhone. They were well illustrated by one of the best examples we tasted, the Delas Côtes-du-Rhône St. Esprit 2022. It has full forest berry fruit with delicate spice, bitter chocolate and licorice notes plus impressive depth and generous, rather fine tannins carry. Fans of the region will be delighted, but chief winemaker Jacques Grange, explained, “There is the danger some customers like it so much that they prefer it to wines from higher appellations.”
That doesn’t apply to great masterpieces like the Delas Hermitage Lieu Dit Ligne de Crête Les Grandes Vignes 2022, a full-throttle Hermitage with notes of raw meat, smoke and licorice plus stacks of wild blackberry fruit and plush tannins. However, excellent wines marketed under the regional appellation could be a problem for St. Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. Both those appellations are almost as variable as Cote du Rhone.
During our trip, there was much talk from winemakers about the huge range of quality under these names being a problem that needs dealing with. We doubt the political will for such steps is present, although it would certainly help the Rhone sell the very quantity of red wine produced here. And that is a challenge due to falling demand on the domestic market. Today, the French drink exactly half the quantity of red wines that they did back in 1994!
– Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor
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