Southern Rhone's New Balance Achieved With 2015
Perfect weather and a great deal of anticipation surrounding the 2015 vintage meant that we could not get to our annual tasting of the sunny Southern Rhône quick enough this year. With a terrific tasting of more than 1,200 wines in Spain the week before under our belts, the JamesSuckling.com team’s palates were primed.
The Mistral greeted us, along with around 250 wines and visits to some of the region’s best producers. Marc Perrin hosted an extraordinary opening tasting at Château Beaucastel, where the excitement associated with the assembled 2015 vintage red was almost topped by the rare opportunity to taste varietal components of the 2016 vintage just days before finalising the blending. “Everything is perfect in 2015,” Perrin said with a smile, “and I think 2016 is perhaps even better!” Beaucastel was in beautiful form, and outside the Mistral continued to sing.
Great weather in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
lineup at Domaine du Vieux Télègraphe
The Brunier family’s vineyards atop the plateau of La Crau sat bathed in sunshine and soothed by a now-waning wind, while deep in the cellar Daniel Brunier ran me through the meticulously conceived and considered setup. This family produces consistently precise Châteauneuf-du-Pape at Domaine du Vieux Télègraphe, a quality seen across all the family’s projects.
The Brunier’s 2015 vintage wines are staggeringly good. From the very base level to the top of the tree, precision and power are consistent themes. Brunier himself exudes a dry wit and an acute mind, and his leadership, uncompromisingly high standards and expectations are clearly evident in every aspect of the operation. This tasting underlined the exceptional quality of the 2015 vintage, which is a year of power, flesh and exuberant fruit intensity coupled with the requisite structure to carry the fruit weight in balance.
The classics were in good form, dangerously good, in fact, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape across the board presented its own magic mix of power and finesse. These wines are full of interest and detail, faithful to the terroir and exuberant without being simplistic or showy. Worry not that the Southern Rhône’s lustre had faded, for it exudes polish, charm and power for the 2015 vintage. It is one to celebrate, moving away from the caricatures of excessive ripeness and oak use.
The highlights are many, topped by Beaucastel, Vieux Télégraphe, Mont Redon, Charvin, Domaine de la Charbonnière, Ferrand and the groovy, down-tempo wines of Gramenon. The classics are on form and they’ve trammelled the boldness of the 2015 vintage with style and grace. The depth of quality across Gigondas, Rasteau, Vacqueyras and through to basic Côtes du Rhône Villages is extremely impressive, and value is abundant.
Highlights from Gramenon
It is crystal clear that 2015 stands ahead of both the 2014 and 2013 vintages for Southern Rhône reds. There is a level of maturity and freshness that is rarely seen, and certainly was not visible in either of the preceding years. The ‘15s are suave and impressive wines.
Strap in and hold tight for the 2016 vintage, too, as the components I tasted from barrel indicate an excitingly powerful and sleek follow-up to the exuberant 2015s. The 2016s have a sense of sharpness, precision, finesse and elegance that is coupled with perfect maturity and concentration. Daniel Brunier described it neatly: “If I have to summarize, I would say 2015 is a very good vintage and 2016 is magic. Honestly, ’16 is really magic, it is very rare.”
Contributing Editor Nick Stock at Beaucastel
It looks like we may be able to look forward to a pair of adjacent vintages that hark back to the 1989 and 1990 duo. 2015 is rich and powerful, dense and fleshy, with plenty of ripeness and the requisite structure and freshness to carry it all off (resembling the 1990), while 2016 is sleeker, more powerful and compressed, less fleshy, and refined; it’s one for the purist (as was the 1989).
Next year’s visit cannot come soon enough!
Nick Stock – Contributing Editor