Rhone in the zone with a string of solid vintages
La Chappelle refers to the little chapel at the top of Hermitage, found on the label of Hermitage wines.
The Rhone Valley’s three most recent vintages are very distinctive and deliver quite clear influence over the wines they made. The most recent, 2017, is in a difficult position to be compared with the extremely strong years of 2015 and 2016. However, after tasting a few hundred wines this summer in the Rhone Valley and visiting a few dozen producers, the 2017 has made some excellent wines.
The 2015 wines show the character of the vintage, which was rich and ripe. Red wines show ripeness and concentration that is not commonly achieved. The best producers were able to explore the full range of possibilities while maintaining balance. These wines have smooth, plush tannins and will age very, very well. It was more challenging to find balance in whites in 2015, and only those producers able to deliver noble phenolic structure made whites that are age-worthy. The vast majority of 2015 whites we classify as ‘drink now’, as acids are uniformly low.
The quality of the 2016 vintage is more evenly balanced between white and red wines and ‘balance’ really sums up the spirit of this harvest. The wine are not as ripe as 2015, but instead track a near-perfect course of freshness, ripeness and structure. The reds are so detailed in terms of aromas, flavors and textures and show the character of terroir. Whites are intense, fresh and carry impressive length. You really can’t go wrong in 2016.
The 2017 Hermitage harvest produced some great wines.
Rhone’s 2017 complexity
The 2017 is a vintage that is vastly more complex and diverse than both of these previous harvests combined. While the characteristics of both 2015 and 2016 are quite universal, the 2017 wines are very different from the north to the south. Syrah was a resilient success in the north and the reds are rich, deep, soft and fresh. The textures of 2017 syrah wines are plush with deeper tannins than 2015 and there’s not the granular character of the tannins seen in the 2016 wines. “We’ve always talked about the fat tannins of the 2017 reds and these are going to be very popular,” says Philippe Guigal of the famous winery bearing his family name
“I am so happy with 2017,” says Stephane Ogier, another legend of the Rhone. “I like the balance. It is better balanced than 2015 and is really the style I like. The wines have depth, power and balance. It could be like 1991 which is a legendary vintage for balance and aging.”
Jean-Louis Chave, the master of Hermitage, speaks with a similar fondness for his Northern Rhone syrah wines: “There is good concentration in the 2017 reds but they are also pretty friendly wines. They aren’t concentrated and tight like 2010, they are concentrated and softer and more open,” he says.
Grenache had real challenges in the south in 2017 and yields were very low, in many cases due to poor flowering. Thick-skinned, later-ripening varieties like mourvedre and roussanne fared well in the hot and dry conditions in and around the Southern Rhone and a number of producers report that the late-ripening mourvedre was a key structural element in their Chateauneuf-du-Pape blends. Patience is always a virtue in making great wine and there was a need for much patience in 2017 as the harvest was late and lasted from September to November in some cases.
The region had endured a very dry period beginning in late spring and “was like a crazy horse” according to St. Cosme’s Louis Barroul. “I had to deal with small berries and low crops and the relationship with berries and stems was difficult to get right. It is a vintage that will require a bit of time I think.”
Many producers talk of gentler extraction being a key and using stalks strategically to lighten the wines and generally working hard in the cellar to steer the wines towards balance. The natural balance from the difficult growing conditions in the vineyard was just not there in grenache like it was in 2015 and 2016.
Rhone’s 2017 reds show their quality
But while the 2017 harvest presented many challenges in the south, there’s much to enjoy about the quality of red wines made here albeit in smaller than average quantities. Château de Beaucastel has delivered a stunning Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2017 which is based on a 60 percent mourvedre component. Rated 98 points (it follows the 100-point rating for the 2016 vintage), this was harvested later and delivers intensity of flavor and such attractive plushness to the tannin. Château de Beaucastel, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe La Crau, Domaine de la Charbonnière Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Domaine de Ferrand and Château La Nerthe Cuvée des Cadettes are all standout Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 2017 and are all rated 96 points here.
A duo of Gigondas from Château de Saint Cosme, the Gigondas Le Claux 2017 and Gigondas Hominis Fides 2017 both achieved a 97 point rating. The former is from a parcel originally planted in 1870 and demonstrates such immense power with purity, and the latter is a show of strength and deeply articulated tannins. Louis Barroul has threaded the needle accurately across this vintage. Elsewhere in Gigondas, the duo of Les Racines 2017 and Terrasses du Diable 2017 from Les Pallières are also of impressive quality, rating 95 and 94 points respectively. Gigondas is an appellation that excelled in quality in 2017.
Chateau Rayas’ 2017s tasted from cask all emanate their unique brand of power and elegance. These are extraordinary wines, they almost always are, and the freshness here given the lateness of harvest speaks to the unique terroir of Rayas.
Nick tastes with Pierre Marie Clape in Cornas.
“The balance in our 2017s is interesting because we waited for rain and the harvest was late,” reports owner Emmanuel Reynaud. “Grenache for Fonsalette was harvested in the first week of November and grenache for Rayas was not harvested until mid-November.” These wines show such complexity of fresh fruit and Reynaud attributes their intensity to the ability to harvest so late and still deliver freshness, the key to this unique site.
“2017 is the kind of wine you have to keep and age, it is vin de garde,” he says.
A triumphant 100-pointer
Back to the north and the much-anticipated trio of 2015 single site Côte Rotie wines from Guigal have produced the sole 100-point rating of this report which was awarded to the 2015 La Landonne. I describe this wine as “triumphant” in that it really represents the mastery of all that was possible in the 2015 harvest.
“We claimed since the beginning that the 2015 La La’s were the greatest vintage ever, the one we had been waiting for,” says Philippe Guigal. “We have not changed our mind. They will need time. They are above 2016s, which have fashionable approachability and freshness but not the sheer greatness of 2015.”
The 2015 La Mouline is rated 99 points and the 2015 La Turque rated 98.
Stephane Ogier’s collection of single site 2017 Côte Rotie wines are a fascinating exploration of individual characters and collectively show the prowess of the vintage across nine wines reinforced by the pair of blended offerings, Mon Village and La Reserve. It is a vintage that shines bright in Ogier’s cellar with the Côte-Rôtie La Belle Hélène 2017 taking the highest rating of 97-98 closely followed by the La Viallière 2017 on 96-97 points. Both were tasted just prior to bottling.
The ever-thoughtful Jean-Louis Chave presented a thorough explanation of the 2017 harvest and has amassed such elite texture and complexity in both reds and whites. The various parcels all demonstrate such uniformly high quality in 2017 and yet all possess quite different emphasis in terms of style. Le Meal has a strong role to play with a core of such freshness and fleshy fruit and Bessards does the heavy lifting in structural terms giving the 2017 Hermitage a strong backbone. The rating from cask for Chave’s 2017 Hermitage is 97-98 points.
Chapoutier’s single site Hermitage wines, both white and red, are extremely impressive in 2017 with Pavillon, L’Ermite and Le Meal all rated 96 points. The white Hermitage Le Meal 2017 and Hermitage De l’Oree 2017 are also standout wines, demonstrating textural richness and harnessing freshness and balance. The overall quality of Chapoutier’s wines is on the rise, and there are many worth seeking out in this report.
In 2017 the winemakers at Chateau Rayas chose to harvest late and the wines now show great complexity of fresh fruit.
Chave’s 2017 Hermitage Blanc 2017 was rated 95-96 from cask in last year’s report and is a wine that trades on the merit of phenolic ripeness and sturdy, intensely textural palate structure. The 2018, again tasted from cask, is rated a notch higher at 96-97 points here. The thickness of the grape skins in Chave’s old vine parcels is what gives this wine its unrestricted depth and intensity, as well as its ability to age for a very long time. This wine is so well-balanced and fresh.
Rhone wines offer great value
“It was important to harvest at the right time in 2018,” recalls Chave. “We are normally picking later than most producers but in 2018 we were one of the first.”
This was a reminder that old vines adapted well to warm and dry growing seasons.
Those looking for value in this report have much to choose from, but the quality of the Guigal Côtes-du-Rhône 2016 is staggering given the production is in the vicinity of four million bottles. You simply must buy a bottle of this wine just to see the extraordinary results of the work done in every aspect of this wine’s production. Jaboulet’s Côtes-du-Rhône Parallele 45 2017 is another worthy best-value contender. In fact there is a lot of good value wine here with ratings of 90 points and above.
With this trio of successful vintages and some outstanding quality early release 2018s offering much to enjoy, this report highlights many wines of quality, value and character. There is just so much good Rhone Valley wine in the market right now and the 2018 harvest looks set to contribute even more again. “2018 is the fourth good vintage in a row for us,” says Philippe Guigal. “The wines will be charming when young and also have the capacity to age well.”
It is a very good time to buy and drink the wines of the Rhone Valley.
– Nick Stock, senior editor