This year Château-Grillet celebrates the 90th anniversary of its appellation, granted in 1936. It felt like a fitting moment for me to pay a visit to the only estate that makes wines under this appellation.

Admittedly I arrived without a gift or even a card, but I needn’t have worried. There were neither balloons nor bunting. It appears this birthday isn’t having undue impact on the serious business of making wine here.

And anyway, it has more significant anniversaries on the horizon. For a start, 2027 marks 200 years since the estate was bought by the Neyret-Gachet family, the previous owners that ran the property for generations and secured its appellation.

And in 2048, Château-Grillet will have mark its 400th anniversary, after the architect and adviser to Cardinal Richelieu, Girard Desargues, moved into the property and made wine in 1648.

How much further back winemaking history extends at this site is unclear, but given that the Romans were making wine in the area over 2,000 years ago, it’s quite possibly millennia.

Though no birthday cake was forthcoming, I did get to meet the new technical manager, Aloïs Houeto, which made my visit more than worthwhile.

He’s making some small but consequential changes to this ancient estate.

Château-Grillet AP: An appellation is born

The first five wine appellations of France were Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tavel, Arbois, Cassis and Monbazillac, all established in May 1936.

At the time, if you owned a château (defined as a building with at least two turrets), and your vineyard was in one single block around your property, you could apply for your own appellation d’origine contrôlée.

Canny Château-Grillet did just that, and was granted an appellation despite the fact it only amounted to 3.5ha of Viognier vines.

Sitting as it does at the heart of the larger Condrieu appellation, does it really deserve its own AP?

Houeto believes it does. ‘That’s the goal,’ he says, ‘to make a wine that’s unique, not like other terroirs in Condrieu.’

‘Salinity is the signature of Château-Grillet,’ says Houeto. He believes it becomes more apparent as the wine ages, ‘but the texture is different from the start… It can be rich, but it’s always ethereal.’

Acquisition by Artémis

In 2011, the Neyret-Gachet family sold the property to Artémis Domaines, the French wine group — owned by the billionaire Pinault family — that also includes Château Latour, Clos de Tart and Domaine d’Eugénie.

The last time I visited Château-Grillet, the technical director was Jaeok Cramette, a winemaker of South Korean descent.

She stepped across to manage Domaine d’Eugénie in Vosne-Romanée in 2024, after longstanding previous winemaker Michel Mallard stepped back.

Houeto took the reins at Château-Grillet during the 2024 harvest, aged just 29. He had joined Artémis Domaines in 2021 after studying agricultural engineering, followed by a diploma in winemaking.

He began by working on a research and development project at Château Latour, then in 2023 he was given a research and development role for the group as a whole. Not long after, the managing director of Artémis Domaines, Frédéric Engerer, asked him to take on Château-Grillet.

He was surprised, as it wasn’t something he had requested, but ‘I’m feeling really lucky,’ he says, ‘I’m really grateful’ to be asked.

He points out that Engerer was put in charge of Latour in his 30s, and as such he’s happy to trust other young people with positions of responsibility.

Finessing the details

When I think about what I was doing aged 29, I can’t help but be impressed by Houeto’s relaxed and confident demeanour, given that he is now responsible for one of France’s most historic estates.

He describes his tenure in 2024 and 2025 as a learning phase. ‘Viticulture is all about observing,’ he says, ‘and you need to be in the vineyard every day.’

His first objective was to increase the organic matter in the soil, because ‘if you don’t have life in your soil, you can’t make great wines’.

Since my last visit, he has planted a number of saplings among the vines to provide them with shade.

Cover crops are more abundant; it helps the sandy granite soils retain water, says Houeto, and what he sews depends on whether the vines need more nitrogen or more carbon.

The harvest is delivered into a refrigerated cool room, ‘one of the biggest changes this year,’ he says, as it helps him to pick and press at exactly the right moment.

Each block is then vinified in miniature 10hl tanks and aged separately before blending. The winery is tiny, closer to a gym in size, with just as much polished steel.

He’s been tinkering with the maturation too, now prioritising 300L barrels over the traditional 228L size.

He uses only 5%-15% new oak, and only for the grand vin — not for the estate’s Condrieu or Côtes du Rhône.

‘It’s just details,’ he says. He has no plans to propose any major changes to the estate. But ‘the vines are like pro athletes,’ he says, ‘you have to work on small details, aiming to improve by just one tenth of a second.’

Consistency was historically Château-Grillet’s weak spot, but since 2014 it has been delivering excellent wines year in, year out.

In its current form, it will take another 90 years in its stride.

Château-Grillet wines are available in the UK via Yapp Brothers Wine Merchants.

Château-Grillet latest releases:

When you’re buying wines from a relatively lowly appellation such as Côtes du Rhône, does vintage really matter?

It does. In fact, you’re even more likely to feel the unalloyed effects of the vintage at this level compared to the more rarified crus.

Scroll down for the best of the Côtes du Rhône 2024 wines

The main reason for this is financial. The wine buying public has certain price expectations for generic appellations like this, so winemakers find it difficult to charge above a certain amount.

This means they can’t drastically reduce yields, for example, to counter the effects of bad weather. Neither can they apply flattering new oak, as barrels are so expensive.

One misconception about Côtes du Rhône wines is that they are mostly regional blends, which can reduce or blur the stamp of the vintage. Some negociant bottlings are of course, but almost all of the wines selected below are from independent wineries with their plantings close by. Many of them are from single vineyards in fact.

What can you expect from the 2024s?

Winemakers had a rough ride in 2024. Incessant rains during spring and early summer caused a host of problems, including poor fruit set (coulure) and outbreaks of downy mildew. August brought with it warm weather, but September and October were relatively cool.

Producers who managed to overcome the worst of the season’s challenges made approachable and elegant reds, a pleasant contrast to the rich, ripe 2023s and more structured 2022s. Where crop loads were too heavy, however, some lack full ripeness, and can taste green and thin. Whites are much more reliable this year.

Of the 71 Côtes du Rhône wines I tasted, 25 scored 90 points or above. This is a better result than I expected given the trials of the growing season, but the style of 2024 actually has a lot to offer at this level.

It’s a vintage that’s fresh, not too concentrated, with moderate alcohol – ideal for Côtes du Rhône reds that you want to drink straight away.

It’s also a year that clearly expresses terroir. Very hot years can accentuate fruit and varietal character over any sense of place in young wines. The best 2024s have vibrant acidities that bring immediate focus and precision to their flavours.

By their nature, extensive appellations like Côtes du Rhône will always be varied in style and quality; even more so in a tricky vintage like 2024. But choose with care in 2024 and there are plenty of brisk, vibrant wines to enjoy – and most of them are under £20 a bottle.

Top Côtes du Rhône 2024 wines to seek out:

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Despite the trials of the growing season, St-Joseph has delivered a surprisingly consistent set of wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for St-Joseph wines

The reds are light- to medium-bodied, tense and spicy.

I can’t remember the last time I detected so much black pepper in the wines – a welcome effect of cooler conditions.

The tannins in many of the wines are fine and elegant, in contrast to 2022’s beefier wines. Though some are a little weedy, it’s essentially a very drinkable and refreshing vintage thanks in part to low levels of alcohol.

Most will be best drunk young, to enjoy their fragrance and delicacy.

If anything the whites are even better. While the reds are lean and fresh, the whites are relatively rich and opulent. Acidity levels can be on the low side, but most are very enjoyable and speak clearly of their origins.

Jean Gonon, who works organically, says that he had to spray the vines even more in 2024 than 2021, which was notoriously tough and beset with bad weather. But 2024 is a better year.

‘In 2021, it rained and then it was grey,’ he says ‘in 2024, there was brightness between the rains. And the light is important.’

See all St-Joseph wines tasted

Key St-Joseph producers in 2024

• Domaine Benoît Roseau
• Domaine Bernard Gripa
• Domaine Coursodon
• Domaine Gonon
• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
• M Chapoutier
• Pierre-Jean Villa

Best-value St-Joseph wines in 2024

• Benoît Roseau, Sur le Quartz, St-Joseph Blanc 2024
• Benoît Roseau, La Ribaude, St-Joseph Rouge 2024
• Domaine Coursodon, Olivaie, St-Joseph Rouge 2024
• Jeanne Gaillard, La Relève, St-Joseph Rouge 2024

Compare vintages: See coverage from previous years

St-Joseph 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

St-Joseph 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

St-Joseph 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

See the full Rhône 2024 vintage report

St-Joseph wines in 2024

Related articles

• St-Joseph: Revisiting 2022 in bottle
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• Northern Rhône 2015: Panel tasting results

In tough vintages, it’s often Crozes-Hermitage that suffers the most.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Crozes-Hermitage wines

While not as bad as calamitous years such as 2014 and 2021, 2024 ‘was psychologically and physically difficult,’ says Guillaume Sorrel of Domaine Marc Sorrel, ‘a vintage we don’t want to repeat’.

There was incessant rain in the spring, and the appellation struggled in the wet weather, especially on flatter vineyards where water can collect. Vineyards on slopes tend to fare better.

Organic growers faced particularly difficult dilemmas, with the threat of rot and mildew, with many having to carry out a record number of treatments in the vineyards

Many of the reds are dilute, and lacking in length and generosity.

There are some exceptions, however, particularly those from the north of the appellation around the village of Larnage. But it’s important to choose your Crozes-Hermitage carefully in 2024.

It’s not all bad news, however. Thankfully there are some very good whites.

With bright natural acidity and no excess flab or richness, this is a vintage that combines freshness and amplitude. Many of the wines are therefore nervy, savoury and balanced. There are many good-value options to explore.

See all Crozes-Hermitage wines tasted

Key Crozes-Hermitage producers

• Domaine Belle
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• M Chapoutier

Best-value Crozes-Hermitage wines

• Chapoutier, Sicamor, Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2024
• Domaine Mucyn, Les Charmeuses, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2024
• Domaine Vendome, Les Bruclas, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2024
• Domaine Belle,Les Pierrelles, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2024
• Domaine Combier, Cuvée L, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2024

Compare vintages: See coverage from previous years

Crozes-Hermitage 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

Crozes-Hermitage 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Crozes-Hermitage 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

See the full Rhône 2024 vintage report

Crozes-Hermitage wines in 2024

Related articles

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‘In 2022 and 2023, Côte-Rôtie had the advantage,’ says Maxime Chapoutier. ‘But in 2024 – Hermitage is back!’

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Hermitage wines

There are some very good red Hermitage wines this year in an elegant, fresh and appealing style, following a cool, wet end to the growing season.

That being said, some don’t quite have the power you might expect from this renowned appellation.

Jean-Louis Chave, of his eponymous domaine which is based in the village of Mauves just south and across the river from Tain-l’Hermitage, believes that 2023 is a better vintage in general, ‘but the best 2024s are as good as the best 2023s,’ he says.

While only good for red Hermitage, this is an excellent vintage for its whites.

They’re unusually consistent; in fact, it’s hard to go wrong with white Hermitage this year, so you can buy confidently from many producers in this appellation.

What impresses is the sheer verve and dynamism of the wines, teamed with the natural breadth and richness of this terroir. They will drink well young and age well too.

See all Hermitage wines tasted

Key Hermitage producers in 2024

• Château de St Cosme
• Domaine Belle
• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Emmanuel Darnaud
• M Chapoutier

Best-value Hermitage wines in 2024

• Cave de Tain, Au Coeur des Siècles, Hermitage 2024
• Domaine des Remizières, Cuvée Emilie, Hermitage 2024

Compare vintages: See coverage from previous years

Hermitage 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

Hermitage 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Hermitage 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

See the full Rhône 2024 vintage report

Hermitage wines in 2024

Wines rated 97+ are featured in the main report

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• Getting to know red Hermitage

During my en primeur tastings in October this year, I ask Franck Balthazar what he thinks of the 2024 vintage.

‘I love it,’ he says, and to taste his wines you immediately see why. It’s the kind of vintage that really chimes with his fragrant, elegant style of Cornas.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Cornas & St-Péray

According to Olivier Clape, ‘it looks more like an old-school vintage, less big and impressive, but more detailed’.

Here, like elsewhere in Cornas, it’s a return to a more measured style that’s more about classicism than exuberance or power.

Some wines are a touch dilute and lack breadth, but most have energy and freshness, often accompanied by a herbal note to the aromatic profile.

Most will be approachable young, and apart from a few notable exceptions, this isn’t a vintage for long ageing, so pay attention to the drinking windows advised.

See all Cornas 2024 wines tasted

See all St-Péray 2024 wines tasted

Key Cornas & St-Péray producers in 2024

• Frank Balthazar – Cornas
• Domaine Clape – Cornas
• M Chapoutier – St-Péray
• Domaine Bernard Gripa – St-Péray

Best-value Cornas & St-Péray wines in 2024

• Chapoutier, Haut Chamblard, St-Péray 2024
• Domaine Johann Michel, St-Péray 2024
• Domaine Courbis, Champelrose, Cornas 2024

Compare vintages: See coverage from previous years

Cornas & St-Péray 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

Cornas & St-Péray 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Cornas & St-Péray 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

See the full Rhône 2024 vintage report

Cornas & St-Péray wines in 2024

Wines rated 97+ are featured in the main report

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Conditions were challenging throughout the Rhône Valley in 2024, but the northern pole of the northern Rhône struggled the most.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for wines from Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu

Quality is heterogeneous in Côte-Rôtie. Rather than single-vineyard wines, it was the blends that often showed best.

In fact, Stéphane Ogier won’t be making his single-vineyard Côte-Rôties this year; ‘It’s a fresher vintage,’ he says, ‘and they have their place.’

Yields were very varied even within individual parcels, and several estates said they had to chaptalise.

This being said, there are some lovely individual wines, in a delicate, compact style. These should largely be best drunk young. But overall, this isn’t a brilliant vintage for Côte-Rôtie.

Though white wines are often excellent in 2024, across both the northern and southern Rhône, the picture in Condrieu is mixed. Although many are largely fresh and balanced, some lack enough concentration and length.

The best wines are head and shoulders above the rest however, showing intensity, vitality and no excess alcohol. It will pay to do your research in this vintage.

See all Côte-Rôtie 2024 wines tasted

See all Condrieu 2024 wines tasted

Key Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu producers in 2024

• M Chapoutier – Condrieu
• Domaine Merlin – Condrieu
• Pierre-Jean Villa – Condrieu
• Domaine JP Jamet – Côte-Rôtie
• E Guigal – Côte-Rôtie

Best-value Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu wines in 2024

• Roland Grangier, Les Combéluz, Condrieu 2024
• Mouton Père et Fils, Côte Bonnette, Condrieu 2024
• François et Fils, Rozier, Côte-Rôtie 2024
• Domaine Billon Christophe, La Brocarde, Côte-Rôtie 2024

Compare vintages: See our coverage of Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu from previous years

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

See the full Rhône 2024 vintage report

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu wines in 2024

Wines rated 97+ are featured in the main report

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Matt Walls, Gearoid Devaney MS and Fiona Hayes tasted 46 wines, with 9 Outstanding and 26 Highly recommended

Northern Rhône: Panel tasting scores

46 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 9

Highly recommended 26

Recommended 9

Commended 2

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their 2015-vintage red wines from any northern Rhône appellation

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from our northern Rhône panel tasting

Poised and raring to go

It’s an easy sequence to remember: ’05, ’10, ’15, ’20.

All were great vintages in the northern Rhône, but some – particularly 2005 and 2010 – have been agonisingly slow to mature.

This enjoyable tasting of nearly 50 wines from 2015 showed that the vintage deserves the hype that it received on release. What’s more, most of them are opening up and drinking well already.

The preceding winter was rainy, topping up the water table. Spring was damp, too, and warm; the season got off to an early start.

All of that water proved crucial, as 2015 turned out to be the hottest year on record after 2003. Yields were generous and the grapes were in perfect condition at harvest.

Despite the summer heat, the style of 2015 can be described as remarkably classic.

Fiona Hayes said: ‘I was expecting a warmer profile, but overall they were very well balanced… with a lot of freshness.’

Appellation analysis

The 2015 Crozes-Hermitage flight was remarkably strong. ‘You often think that Crozes-Hermitage doesn’t age well, but this showed that it does,’ said Hayes.

At 10 years of age, none were over the hill. Even better were the St-Josephs, which yielded three Outstanding wines.

‘A really strong flight overall,’ according to Gearoid Devaney MS. ‘Some really good expressions of Syrah – freshness, elegance and good balance.’

The Côte-Rôtie flight, though impressive, was more mixed in style; when the oak was in balance, there were some thrilling wines to enjoy.

While the 2015 Côte-Rôties are largely ready now, the best Hermitage wines need a little longer – but the quality there is even higher.

Certain styles proved divisive. More delicate wines, such as Domaine Belle’s Hermitage and Pierre-Jean Villa’s Côte-Rôtie Fongeant, were scored at 95 or 96 points by one or two judges but not all.

Most contentious was Jean-Michel Stéphan’s atypical, carbonic-maceration Côte-Rôtie So’Brune, which was both adored and not-so adored.

Overall, with an impressive nine Outstanding from 46 wines, this tasting proved that 2015 is a vintage that has lived up to its potential – and is now just beginning to deliver on its promise.

What to eat with northern Rhône Syrah, by Fiona Beckett

With most Rhône wines in restaurants coming from recent vintages, it’s most likely that you’re going to be drinking any older vintages at home.

But what should you pair them with? It depends of course on the appellation.

There’s a considerable difference pricewise between a Crozes-Hermitage and a Hermitage or Côte-Rôtie, which will no doubt make you think you ought to up your game with the latter pair, although there’s an attractive rusticity to mature Crozes that will satisfy any yearning for hearty grills and stews or good, meaty sausages.

With the finer wines you’re more likely to be looking at a roast – maybe salt-aged beef or a roasting joint from a herd of older cattle, mutton rather than lamb, or a haunch of venison.

Game, of course, is excellent with mature northern Rhône wines. Pheasant or grouse, maybe, rather than more delicate partridge – or a rich game pie.

A cheeseboard, too. Older wines are more mellow and less angular than younger ones, so they’re more accommodating when it comes to pungent, strongly flavoured cheeses.

See all notes and scores from the northern Rhône panel tasting

The judges

Matt Walls is a Contributing Editor to Decanter and the DWWA Regional Chair for Rhône. His latest book, The Smart Traveller’s Wine Guide to the Rhône Valley, is available now from Académie du Vin Library, priced at £12.99

Gearoid Devaney MS is an awarded sommelier, a director at London-based merchant Flint Wines and co-founder of restaurant Cabotte in the City. He has also worked at Michelin three-star Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and became a Master Sommelier in 2009

Fiona Hayes is a buyer at The Wine Society, responsible for categories including Rhône. She has worked at Fields Morris & Verdin and Berry Bros & Rudd, and was a buyer for European wines at Lay & Wheeler until early 2024

Northern Rhône panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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The tortuous granite hills behind the village of Cornas are abrupt, corrugated and sun-baked. Viticulture is physically challenging. What you find in the bottle reflects this extreme terroir – dramatic, muscular reds with tensile tannins.

Once considered the rough-and-ready country cousin of Côte-Rôtie, Cornas has developed impressively in recent years. At the opposite end of the northern Rhône region, this hot, more southerly terroir makes for a very different expression.

If Côte-Rôtie offers a precise and polished rendition of Syrah, then Cornas plays it unplugged.

Scroll down for Matt’s Cornas vintage selection

Wild ride

Landholdings here are necessarily small and parcels are prized by the families that own them. Only relatively recently have bottle prices allowed vignerons to look to the vines for their primary income.

Until the late 1980s, the vineyards might only be tended at weekends. Back then, winemaking was more intuitive than scientific and Cornas had a reputation for rusticity, caused by dirty barrels.

Today, winemakers are professionally trained and the brettanomyces (a type of spoilage yeast which creates ‘farmyardy’ aromas that some find offputting) has been largely eradicated.

The natural wildness of these wines has been preserved, however. The French have a wonderful word for it: sauvage.

This assertive, punchy style of 100% Syrah can make for long-lived wines. Sometimes they need extended periods in bottle to settle down – the tooth-and-claw tannins of Cornas can be rapacious in youth.

But in good vintages they have the lifeforce and freshness they need in order to sustain a lengthy hibernation, resulting in wines of immense complexity, elegance and staying power.

As the wines age, expect wild herbs and smoke to emerge from the black fruits, then layers of leather, game and mushroom notes to develop, adding umami depths.

Their natural salinity and blackberry acidity remain, their cleansing tannins smoothed but not blunted.

The following are six vintages to have on your radar: three to drink now and three to tuck away.

Cornas can age unpredictably sometimes, but years such as these, from the winemakers listed below, shouldn’t let you down.

Cornas to drink now

2016

The southern Rhône garnered most of the attention in 2016, but quality in the north was also exceptional.

While the south saw ideal growing conditions, according to Olivier Clape of Domaine Clape, Cornas suffered ‘a very complicated season with lots of rain, and mildew pressure all year until the end of July’.

However, the weather in August and September was ‘magnificent’, leading to a mid-September harvest. Nine years is on the young side to open Cornas, but all eight of the 2016s that I tasted were ready now, displaying classic Cornas structure and aromatic complexity.

It’s an athletic vintage – neither massive nor very concentrated but mineral and focused, with fresh acidity and palate-cleansing tannins.

A vintage that will age well on its freshness and balance, typically to around 2035.

2010

A vintage that was lauded on release but that has largely remained stubbornly closed and introverted. Until now that is – they are finally starting to open up. Rejoice! Grab your corkscrews!

It’s a vintage that has it all: freshness, balance, harmony, complexity… It’s indisputably an excellent year and a very long-lived one – the best will last to 2050 and beyond.

Olivier Clape remembers an ‘exceptional’ vintage: ‘The weather was perfect,’ he recalls. ‘Rain but not too much, heat but not too much. Even if the vintage was early the wines are very well balanced. It’s all down to the month of August, which was hot but always had cool nights, which is rare. That’s what made the vintage.’

2006

This is a year that sometimes gets forgotten, but it’s a smart pick if you’re looking for mature Cornas.

The 2005s were talked up on release – the wines have huge energy and robust tannins – but some still haven’t reached their peak.

The three 2006s that I tasted still had life ahead of them but were fully mature, displaying a resinous complexity, harmony and a lovely sense of freshness, still. It’s all thanks to a benevolent growing season and a particularly fine September.

Back then, a typical vintage in Cornas still took place in mid-September (today, late August or early September is more common), so vignerons were free to pick at the perfect point of balance and ripeness.

Cornas to drink later

2020

A vintage with ‘silky tannins and lots of fruit’ that’s been ‘very open and accessible since bottling’, according to Guillaume Gilles.

This was confirmed during the tasting – you could drink many 2020s straight away, but try to resist if you can, as the best is yet to come.

There was some localised mildew due to a wet spring, but the subsequent season was hot and dry, producing well-balanced wines – ripe and structured with good concentration and no heaviness.

This is a very likeable year that’s an obvious choice if you’re looking for a good vintage that will be ready to drink soon then develop for a few decades. The best might surprise us with even longer lives thanks to their harmonious profiles.

2019

Huge wines! The quality is mixed, however. Some are breathtaking and will age brilliantly, others are overripe, overoaked, overalcoholic – simply too much. But choose wisely and there are some truly great wines.

It’s not the most classic expression – very powerful, even for Cornas – but the best are impossible to ignore.

It was a hot, dry vintage with some dramatic heat spikes. You can feel the extreme nature of the season in the bottle, with wines that are ‘structured and powerful with quite marked acidity’, according to Clape.

Given the heat, the wines’ acidity is a pleasant surprise – and crucial to balance out the concentrated fruit, intense tannins and elevated alcohol.

‘Even before fermentation, the juice was as black and complex as wine!’ says Gilles. Most will start opening up in the next few years.

2015

Gilles remembers a fairly easy growing season: ‘Rather dry and hot but without excess, and some rains at the right moments in summer. The resulting wines aren’t far off the perfect balance – serious wines with lots of class.’

The 2015s share a number of traits with 2019, but 2015 is more consistent overall.

It’s an immense vintage – titanic wines with skyscraper tannins, incredible concentration and piercing intensity and salinity.

Due to its huge proportions, not everybody made balanced wines – some suffer from unruly tannins – however, the best are wines for the ages. They may not be as friendly as the 2016s, but the 2015s will last a great deal longer.

They’re easily as powerful as the 2010s, and like the wines of that year, you really must wait until they’re ready, which will be around 2028, if not later.

Those who wait will be richly rewarded. It’s an excellent vintage and one that you definitely want in your collection.

10 leading Cornas producers to know

Domaine A&E Verset

Alain Verset has now handed over to his daughter Emmanuelle, one of the few female winemakers in the village. Excellent parcels of old vines create wines with sublime finesse, particularly her cuvée Signature. See Facebook

Domaine Alain Voge

Alain Voge was a leading winemaker in the village. Since his death in 2020, the estate has been successfully guided by Lionel Fraisse. The cuvées Vieilles Vignes and Les Vieilles Fontaines are delicious and ageworthy. alain-voge.com

Domaine Clape

The Clape family is a cornerstone of the Cornas appellation – its traditional style has remained largely unchanged for generations. Its wines exhibit all the intensity of its exceptional parcels of old vines and can last for decades. 146 Avenue du Colonel-Rousset

Domaine du Coulet

Highly characterful wines from iconoclast Matthieu Barret (pictured). His graffitied winery has no barrels – he matures his wines in diamond-shaped concrete tanks. His Cornas cuvées are lighter in tannin than most and have spellbinding aromatic complexity. domaineducoulet.com

Domaine du Tunnel

From his unusual winery, which occupies a disused railway tunnel just outside St-Péray, winemaker Stéphane Robert makes bold, powerful Cornas. An estate that continually evolves and improves. domaine-du-tunnel.fr

Domaine Franck Balthazar

Wild and thrilling natural-leaning Cornas, more about purity and vibrancy than huge tannic structures.

Unusually for Cornas, they often drink well young, particularly his no-added-sulphite bottling Sans Soufre Ajouté. 8 Rue des Violettes

Domaine Guillaume Gilles

Gilles worked under past master Robert Michel. When this legendary producer retired, Gilles bought some of his best vineyards.

All whole bunch-fermented, no new oak and a light touch in the cellar makes for classical Cornas of the highest standard. gillesguillaume@neuf.fr

Domaine Johann Michel

Michel bought half a hectare of Cornas in 1997 and, single-handed, has built his estate up to 4ha. Between modern and traditional in style, his wines are concentrated but also approachable. domaine-johann-michel.fr

Domaine Thierry Allemand

Thierry’s not from a family of winemakers, but after showing early promise his father bought him a small parcel of vines in 1982. He now has 5ha that he works organically with his son Théo.

Highly sought-after today, their wines bring elegance and purity to the characteristic wildness of Cornas. 22 Impasse des Granges

Domaine Vincent Paris

Paris is best known for his exceptional single-vineyard bottling La Geynale (see recent vertical tasting on Decanter Premium online).

In good vintages, his other Cornas cuvées, Granit 30 and Granit 60, offer unbeatable value for money. vin-paris.com

Other names worth seeking out include: Domaine Aurélien Chatagnier, Domaine Chaboud Cellier, Domaine Dumien Serrette, Domaine Lionnet, Domaine Thomas Farge, Ferraton.

12 Cornas wines to either enjoy now or cellar

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Côte-Rôtie is equidistant between Avignon and Beaune. It might be part of the Rhône family, but, due to its location, it can be forgiven for looking north to Burgundy as well to the southern Rhône.

Arguably, though, Côte-Rôtie has more in common with Burgundy’s Côte d’Or.

Scroll down for notes and scores of 18 wines from Benjamin & David Duclaux

If we discount an optional seasoning of Viognier, both region’s reds are monovarietal. Their climates are continental. They grow their vines on southeast-facing slopes.

There are no official premiers or grands crus in Côte-Rôtie, but the proliferation of single vineyard wines is more Burgundian in spirit than Châteauneuvois.

Until now, most have come from Ampuis’ most sacred slopes: Côte-Brune, Côte-Blonde, La Landonne.

More recently, winemakers have been singling out lieux-dits from Côte-Rôtie’s most southerly commune – Tupin-et-Semons.

Though always part of the appellation, this sector has never garnered quite the same praise as Ampuis.

But the strength of a recent tasting at Domaine Benjamin & David Duclaux suggests this terroir is ripe for reappraisal.

Brotherly love

Benjamin and David are brothers (Domaine Duclaux in Châteauneuf is no relation). They’re a jovial pair and they get on well, always cracking jokes.

David’s son Matteo has just joined the estate after a season in New Zealand, and he shares the family’s sunny disposition.

‘We’re not making wine,’ says Benjamin, ‘we’re creating moments in life to share together.’

The 5ha estate, based in the commune of Tupin-et-Semons, was established in 1928 by the brothers’ great-grandfather.

Their Syrah parcels are all planted on gneiss and surround the estate.

Except for a little Condrieu, they only make Côte-Rôtie.

Why no St-Joseph, I wondered? ‘It’s a life choice,’ says Benjamin, ‘we want to stay small and master what we do – and we have a good life as it is! We only make wine from the slopes – we were born on the slopes.’

One cuvée becomes four

Until the 2000s, they only made one Côte-Rôtie, a blend of all their plots.

In 2003 however, they decided to make an experimental barrel of their oldest vines from lieu-dit Maison Rouge, the oldest dating back to 1943.

It was never released commercially, but the quality was clear; ‘it has always been silkier, racier,’ says David. The first official vintage of Maison Rouge was 2005.

At this point they renamed their cuvée classique La Germine. This has since been joined by La Chana, a cuvée with 7% Viognier designed for early drinking.

Their fourth cuvée, Coteaux de Tupin, was first released in 2018.

The specific parcels aren’t the only differentiating factor between each bottling.

Use of whole bunch increases through the range, from 20% for the La Chana and La Germine up to 100% for Coteaux de Tupin, which is designed with long ageing in mind.

The amount of new oak increases too, but never dominates by the time the wines are mature.

As for the names of the cuvées, La Chana and La Germine both refer to obsolete place names on antiquated vineyard maps (though both are blends of several parcels).

Coteaux de Tupin means hillsides of Tupin, a large lieu-dit under the hilltop village of Tupin. So far, so prosaic.

The etymology of Maison Rouge, meaning red house in English, is more intriguing. David offers two possibilities.

The first is connected to a house in the vineyard that was once owned by the Archbishop of Vienne. Legend has it his robes were red and his house was painted the same colour.

The second possibility is that guest houses in Roman times were painted red so that travellers knew where they could get a bed for the night, and the house in the vineyards was once such a hostelry. ‘Which is true? We don’t know,’ says David.

The tasting

When I visited earlier this year, they generously opened a full vertical of Maison Rouge and Coteaux de Tupin. It was the first time they’ve ever performed such a tasting, so the experience was a first for us all.

The Maison Rouge series came first. Blonde gneiss soils are known for their exuberant fragrance and that’s what this cuvée delivers, with high-toned rose and tobacco aromas. In the spectrum of Côte-Rôtie, this is stylistically central – traditional but not dusty, modern but measured and balanced.

It’s a cuvée you can drink young, but it shows its best typically after seven to 15 years of ageing, depending on the vintage.

Only the 2008, a wet year in Côte-Rôtie, was past its best; even the 2005 has another 10 years ahead of it.

The three vintages of Coteaux de Tupin that we tasted were all superb. Compared to the crowd-pleasing, centrist style of Maison Rouge, it’s a bolder, richer, more velvety expression.

Though this cuvée will be longer lived than a typical Maison Rouge, all three vintages of Coteaux de Tupin were surprisingly approachable already.

The Duclaux family aren’t the only ones to make single-vineyard wines from these lieux-dits. Coteaux du Tupin is bottled pure by Domaine Benoît Roseau, Domaine Martin Clerc and Maison Stéphan.

A Maison Rouge is also made by Domaine Georges Vernay and Domaine Mouton. Stéphane Ogier has just bought some land here too, though it’s not yet planted. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for horizontal tastings next time I’m in the area.

While the single-vineyard wines of Ampuis attract the limelight, those of Tupin-et-Semons remain relatively well priced. But for how much longer? This tasting proved just how good they can be.

Top class single-vineyard Côte-Rôtie:

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As I snaked my way uphill through vineyards of Viognier and Syrah towards Domaine Verzier in Chavanay, I saw a lone figure silhouetted at the top of the hill.

When I eventually pulled into the driveway, there she was again, to my left: a tall statue of the Virgin Mary – the Madone d’Izeras – surveying the vines beneath her. To my right, taller still, stood a crane, pulling up new buildings.

Ahead of me – between the old world and the new – was the current Verzier winery. It was fully functioning but in disarray, with barrels, tanks, pipes and boxes stacked everywhere, waiting for their spacious new home to take shape.

Maxime Verzier emerged from the chaos to greet me. After a blustery walk around the vineyards, we sought shelter from a rampaging Mistral to taste his range.

It was a peek into a possible future for the northern Rhône.

Scroll down for notes and scores for six Domaine Verzier wines

Branching out

Maxime is tattooed, relaxed and confident, and tasting with him felt more like I was visiting an estate in New Zealand or Australia. It turns out he’s worked a season at Radford Dale in Stellenbosch, a producer I’ve always admired for its low intervention wines and innovative approach.

This approach has clearly rubbed off here.

‘We’re quite poor in varieties here,’ says Maxime. There are around 30 different grapes permitted in IGP Collines Rhodaniennes, ‘but nobody uses them,’ he says. ‘It’s a shame.’

So for his IGP Collines Rhodaniennes Bohème, he blends Viognier with Chenin Blanc – he’s quite possibly the only person to be growing this variety in the northern Rhône.

‘I love Chenin Blanc, and it has the freshness and acidity to balance Viognier,’ he says.

I was cautiously curious – or curiously cautious – but the blend works. What’s more, it weighs in at just 12% ABV.

In red, he’s planted some Mondeuse; next he plans to introduce some esoteric local grapes such as Chatus and Mornen Noir; Gamay too.

‘60 years ago there was loads of Gamay in Chavanay,’ he says, and he intends to blend it with Syrah.

South Africa to St-Joseph

Most of what he makes, however, is St-Joseph. As the cheapest red in the range, Empreinte could be described as his entry-level cuvée. It might more accurately be described as a wine that sets the scene – or a statement of intent.

Like all his wines, it’s certified biodynamic (they’ve worked organically since Maxime’s grandfather made the wines). And, as with his other St-Josephs, the vines are grown at 320m on granite around the estate in Chavanay, and they’re whole-bunch fermented with natural yeasts.

‘My style is not to “trick”,’ says Maxime, ‘so there are no additions apart from sulphites – no ascorbic acid, no gum arabic – so very natural, and as close to the terroir as possible.’

Strictly speaking however, these aren’t natural wines. Not just because he adds sulphites, but also because Maxime is ‘quite pro-filtration,’ he says, as a means to keep his wines on track.

Rather than natural, a better way to describe his reds might be clean, low intervention.

Transparent style

The result is a suite of St-Josephs that feel transparent. Like a motor with a Perspex lid, you feel like you can see the inner workings within each wine. They are detailed, easy to read and highly representative of where they’re grown.

As you taste through his St-Josephs – Madone and then Sibylline – the vines get older, the macerations slightly longer. These both spend 18 months in demi-muids, but new oak is kept to a minimum.

‘The best élevage is in barrel, but I hate the taste of wood in wine,’ he says.

These are more concentrated and structured, but they don’t lose their sense of fresh drinkability.

When I arrived at the estate, with new buildings only part-finished, I wondered if I should have waited for a year or two for the works to be completed. But having tasted the wines, there was no need. The future’s already here.

Whether by happenstance or design, Maxime is making exactly the kind of wines that more and more of us want to drink. They’re going to need that extra space.

Six Domaine Verzier wines to try

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There are many tall tales around the origins of Syrah – also known as Shiraz.

One claimed that it was Rome’s legions that brought the grape to southern France. The soldiers had been in Sicily before and brought with them vines from the city of Syracuse.

But then Pliny the Elder claimed that it was a variety called Vitis syriaca that came from Syria.

Later still a legend emerged that its origins lay further to the east, around the ancient Persian city of Shiraz.

But the truth is that Syrah is a Rhône grape through and through. In 1998, DNA testing showed its parents were Mondeuse Blanche and a (now little-used) black variety called Dureza.

It’s a telling irony that while Syrah’s origin stories talk of it coming from overseas when it’s actually a Rhône Valley native, its modern story has been all about finding new homes around the world.

Let’s take a look at where Syrah has ended up, as well as delicious examples tasted recently by both the Decanter team and our expert contributors.

Scroll down for 16 must-try Syrah/Shiraz

Rhône Valley and southern France

Syrah’s home is along the banks of the long, drifting Rhône that wends its way from the Alps to the Mediterranean.

The northern half of the valley in particular is pure Syrah territory (occasionally mixed with a smidgen of Viognier).

It’s here, in the vineyards of Côte-Rôtie, Cornas and Hermitage that Syrah achieves what many see as its smoky, spicy, peppery majesty.

In the southern half of the valley Syrah tends to play a supporting role to Grenache and other varieties, and this also true of the numerous wines produced across the appellations of the Languedoc.

If you want the Syrah experience without a price tag as steep as some of the best vineyard sites, however, then look to St-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage for some increasingly delicious examples.

Australia

After the Rhône, say Syrah to a wine fan and they’ll probably mention Australia.

While on his travels finding cuttings to send back to Australia, James Busby remarked on this tale in his notes. Syrah was first known in Australia as ‘Hermitage’ or the older toponym ‘Scyras’.

But after EU protections were put in place a change of name was needed and ‘Scyras’ got a new ‘Strine’ inflection which, coupled with the old Shiraz legend, might be how the name has stuck the way it has Down Under.

Either way, the reference for Australian Shiraz is Barossa Valley, which the likes of Henschke, Torbreck and Yalumba call home.

Aussie Shiraz has a reputation for being bigger in every sense than its French cousins and while that holds true to a point, as with most varieties the current trend is for freshness and greater nuance.

And Shiraz is grown right across the country’s wine regions, with McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills among those with both the cool sites and old vines that make for a truly winning combination.

It’s also frequently blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as appearing in the classic southern European-inspired ‘GSM’ blends (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre).

Click here to see notes and scores for nearly 5,000 Syrah tasted by Decanter

Syrah around the world

There are few places where Syrah dominates in quite the way it does in the Rhône and Australia but its presence is felt globally – especially anywhere with a warm, Mediterranean-style climate.

Looking elsewhere in Europe, one surprising source of Syrah is Switzerland. This landlocked country is where the source of the Rhône rises and there’s a pocket of the Valais where it thrives in the sheltered mountain valleys.

It crops up in southern Portugal and Italy though usually as a blending partner. Across the Mediterranean in Israel and Lebanon there’s some strong Syrah and Syrah-led blends emerging with plenty of potential.

A land where Syrah is rising fast is South Africa. Since the end of Apartheid, its been one of the country’s fastest-growing red varieties.

It’s the backbone of the incredibly popular The Chocolate Block label and the pure-Syrah Porseleinberg, as well as the Mullineux-made trio of Schist, Granite and Iron which shows off some serious terroir flex.

Not to be out-done by their neighbours, New Zealand has a good line in tightly-grained, very elegant Syrah. Look out for wines from the north of the islands, especially Hawke’s Bay.

In the US, Syrah has never had the clout of Cabernet or Pinot but it has a strong, almost cultish following among its fans.

In California, it crops up frequently in Sine Qua Non’s eclectic range of wines and it has pockets of vines throughout the state.

It’s true US foothold though is Washington State, especially the Walla Walla AVA. Up in Canada, the southern half of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia also allows for Syrah to thrive.

And finally, in the southern half of the Americas it is Chile that flies Syrah’s banner highest in both its coastal and mountain sites.

16 must-try Syrah

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When it comes to extreme vintages, I’m pretty circumspect. I was never a great fan of wines from 2003, which was an exceptionally hot and dry year.

But a recent tasting of 50 2022 St-Josephs painted a picture of a surprisingly strong vintage despite an even more severe growing season than 2003.

In 2003, winemakers didn’t know how to react to the extreme heat. But 2022 came after a succession of roasting years, during which winemakers honed their methods.

This time, they were ready.

Scroll down for notes and scores for 2022 St-Joseph in bottle

Record-breaking extremes

To describe the weather as extreme in 2022 is no exaggeration. A weather station in Orange recorded the hottest May on record. It counted 37 days when temperatures reached over 35°C – only 2003 saw more.

And it wasn’t just the days that were sweltering; average nighttime temperatures were the hottest ever recorded.

It was also exceptionally dry. Between 15 October 2021 and 1 September 2022, only 300mm of rain was recorded – compared to 600mm in a normal year.

In summary, between budbreak and harvest, 2022 was the hottest, driest year in the Rhône since records began in 1950.

Easy for growers

Conditions like this were felt throughout the Rhône Valley, and St-Joseph was no different. For winemakers, it made for a relaxed year.

‘It was easy to manage in the vineyard,’ says Ludovic Izerable of Domaine Lionnet, who has vineyards in the southern part of the appellation near Cornas.

Graeme Bott of Domaine Bott, located at the northern end of St-Joseph, agreed.

‘There was no water for downy mildew to be an issue and it was too hot for powdery mildew to be an issue either,’ he says, ‘Work overall in the vineyards was quite straightforward and it was one of the years which required a lower amount of manpower due to the slower development of the vines.’

Tough on vines

The harsh conditions were tough on the vines, however. Growth was stunted due to the heat and drought, and young vines struggled.

Damien Brisset, head winemaker at Ferraton, says, ‘we had to adapt by practicing minimalist viticulture – no leaf plucking, no trimming the canopy – and also by regulating the crop load in some plots through green harvesting, to limit blockages in ripening during August and September.’

Winemakers also had to modify the way they worked in the cellar.

‘We chose to use a higher than normal percentage of whole bunches in the reds and worked the wines with just one short pump over per day,’ says Bott.

Brisset also opted for, ‘the gentlest possible extractions’.

Powerful reds

When I tasted the 2022 red St-Josephs from barrel, there was significant stylistic variation – most had the power you would expect from such a year, but some were surprisingly lean due to blockages in ripening due to heat and drought.

After some time in bottle, this is still the case; some are light, aromatic and best drunk young. But most are in the other camp – powerful, densely tannic, darkly fruited.

So it’s a vintage with something for everyone.

Inevitably, some of the wines were less exciting. This was usually down to uneven or blocked ripening resulting in a green, bitter streak or a lack of depth. Some were very reductive; others were over-oaked.

But largely, 2022 is a very good vintage for St-Joseph reds – one with energy, intensity and serious tannic structure.

Intense whites

The whites broadly share this drive and concentration, with plenty of extract and salinity. Oak can help accentuate this, but it wasn’t always needed in 2022 thanks to the natural intensity of the fruit.

In hot vintages, whites can be prone to flabbiness – such as in 2018. But sometimes the effect is to accentuate their intensity and salinity, such as 2010 and 2017 – and 2022.

Bott was happy with both colours. ‘It is a very good vintage for both whites and reds which is not always the case,’ he says.

‘I think the reason being is that with the heat and lack of rain during the last ripening period the grapes reduced in size and concentrated both sugar and acidity, similar to 2019 in Burgundy, so we actually kept reasonable acidity levels considering the vintage.’

Wines for ageing

After a year or so in bottle, usually I would expect most St-Josephs to be ready to start drinking, but most 2022s need another couple of years in bottle to soften.

They will have unusual longevity too – typically around 10 years, but some will go on to mature and develop for 20. Be aware that the more structured wines are likely to feel quite hard and serious in youth. It’s a vintage that will really blossom in time.

So if you enjoy the smoky complexity of aged northern Rhône Syrah, 2022 St-Joseph will prove a particularly cost effective way of stocking your cellar. Some of the whites will prove deliciously long-lasting too.

‘If we compare statistics, 2022 would be similar to 2003, however it was not at all the same style of wine produced,’ says Bott, ‘much lower alcohol levels and more balanced ripeness.’

In 2003, no one had experienced such heat and drought before, so it caught winemakers by surprise, many of them were still on holiday when they needed to start picking.

In 2022, they were prepared – and the results are so much better.

St-Joseph 2022: The wines to try

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South Australian winery Penfolds and Domaine de la Chapelle in France’s Rhône Valley have teamed up to release a groundbreaking blend of French Syrah and Australian Shiraz. Grange La Chapelle was created by Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds, and Caroline Frey, chief winemaker and vigneron of Domaine de la Chapelle.

The wine, from the 2021 vintage, was presented by Frey and Gago at a global launch event in Paris on 9 February 2025. Scroll down for tasting notes of the new Grange La Chapelle and seven other wines tasted at the launch.

Scroll down for an assessment of the new Grange La Chapelle

Born out of a longstanding friendship between the two winemakers, Grange La Chapelle is a half-and-half blend of Syrah from Hermitage in the Northern Rhône and Shiraz – mostly from ancient vines – in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley.

With the harvests six months apart in two different hemispheres, the French half of the wine was made and aged in France. It was airfreighted to Australia in a temperature-controlled, custom-made stainless steel container. Blended in Australia, the final wine was aged further before release.

Inspired blend

According to Gago, the original inspiration for Grange La Chapelle dated back to a 1987 dinner at Rakel Restaurant in New York, co-hosted by legendary Penfolds winemaker Max Schubert and Gérard Jaboulet, the former owner of Domaine de la Chapelle. The wines served were Penfolds Grange 1971 and Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1978.

Those same two wines were served again at the Paris launch, alongside their 1990s vintages, demonstrating their ageing potential.

‘The fact that these wines met so many times at winemakers’ dinners before made it clear that it was meant to happen,’ noted Frey.

Gago added: ‘A bit of history is happening here tonight. It is provocative, it is courageous, and we salute the people who made it happen.’

History comes full circle

Talking about the final composition of Grange La Chapelle, Frey confirmed that the French portion of the blend was exactly the same wine that’s bottled as La Chapelle Hermitage. Gago noted that the Australian half was made from the fruit of mainly pre-phylloxera vines.

Since Penfolds’ famous pan-Australian blend Grange was known as ‘Grange Hermitage’ until 1990, Gago suggested that this new Franco-Australian co-production makes history come full circle.

‘This really is a celebration of Syrah, or what we call Shiraz,’ he said. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon is so celebrated, we hope it will do something for Syrah.’

Future plans

‘This is a real project, with a real life; each vintage is 50/50,’ added Frey. The 2022 vintage of Grange La Chapelle has already been bottled, 2023 is in barrel and so is 2024.

Going ahead Frey and Gago expect annual releases of this wine, which is made in a very limited, but undisclosed, quantity.

Penfolds is no stranger to creating international blends. Since 1998, it has regularly released American-Australian blends with fruit sourced from Paso Robles, Napa Valley and Sonoma.

More recently, Penfolds collaborated with the house of Dourthe in Bordeaux to create its first French-Australian blend.

This limited release will retail at €2,600 and AU$3,500 per bottle; £2,160 in the UK and US$2,500 in the US. It is being sold via 18 selected specialist retailers globally to private clients only. In the UK that includes Goedhuis Waddesdon.

A small allocation will be sold directly by Penfolds in Australia and the US. Buyers can express interest on a dedicated website: grangexlachapelle.com

Grange La Chapelle and other iconic bottles: Tasting notes

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It was a challenging vintage in Crozes-Hermitage, but the results are considerably better than for the disastrous 2021s.

It’s also stylistically more consistent than the varied 2022s. Alcohols are fairly moderate, and levels of tannin and acidity are also quite low; they typically have a herbal freshness, with just-ripe blackberry and raspberry flavours.

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Some are dilute and lacking depth; others have an enjoyable drinkability. Either way, it’s a vintage to drink young.

Whites are better than reds, they have freshness, balance and bright fruit.

Gifted winemakers with good terroirs really rose to the top this year, but very few were overoaked or faulty in any way.

Lots of good-value whites to choose from this year.

Rhône 2023 full report and top-scoring wines

Key Crozes-Hermitage producers in 2023

• Domaine Delhome
• Domaine les 4 Vents
• Domaine Gaylord Machon
• Domaine Laurent Fayolle
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Domaine Melody
• Domaine Vendome
• Domaine Yann Chave

Best-value Crozes-Hermitage wines in 2023

• Domaine Delhome, Loess, Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2023
• Domaine Gaylord Machon, Ghany, Crozes-Hermitage 2023
• Domaine Melody, Etoile Noire, Crozes-Hermitage 2023

Under-the-radar Crozes-Hermitage producers in 2023

• Domaine Delhome
• Domaine Gaylord Machon
• Domaine les 4 Vents

Northern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide 

Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide

Compare vintages: See our coverage of Crozes-Hermitage from previous years

Crozes-Hermitage 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Crozes-Hermitage 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

Crozes-Hermitage 2020: Report and top-scoring wines

Top-scoring Crozes-Hermitage wines in 2023:

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The style of red Hermitage this year is relatively approachable, the structures are a little more rounded and less rigid than in some vintages.

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According to Jean-Louis Chave, ‘it’s quite supple in white and in red, with relatively low acidity, a bit lactic in acidity – they are wines of softness.’

He compares 2023 to vintages like 1997, 2000 or 2007.

There are some very good wines in 2023, that will drink relatively early but won’t last as long as some more structured vintages.

Guillaume Sorrel reached the maximum permitted yields in Hermitage for the first time in the past six years.

‘Both reds and whites were successful,’ he says, and he admits he has ‘a slight preference for the whites,’ this year.

I agree; they have real vibrancy, drive and intensity in 2023 and will likely last longer than the reds.

Rhône 2023 full report and top-scoring wines

Key Hermitage producers in 2023

• Domaine JL Chave
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Famille Garon
• M Chapoutier

Best-value Hermitage wines in 2023

• Cave de Tain, Au Coeur des Siècles, Hermitage Blanc 2023
• Domaine du Colombier, Hermitage 2023
• M Chapoutier, Chante-Alouette, Hermitage Blanc 2023

Under-the-radar Hermitage producers in 2023

• Domaine du Colombier
• Emmanuel Darnaud
• Famille Garon

Northern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide 

Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide

Compare vintages: See our coverage of Hermitage from previous years

Hermitage 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Hermitage 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

Hermitage 2020: Report and top-scoring wines

Top-scoring Hermitage wines in 2023:

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• Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

Olivier Clape of Domaine Clape sees 2023 as ‘like what we used to have,’ a return to wines of classical proportions compared to some of the very ripe, exaggerated wines of recent years.

‘OK, it’s rainy and you have to fight the mildew and everything, but in the end it’s worth it,’ says Clape.

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It’s a distinctly herbal expression of Syrah this year, the wines are strict, mineral and refreshing rather than hugely concentrated.

For Fabrice Gripa of Domaine Bernard Gripa, ‘2023 was a hard vintage, but the results are not that bad… It’s a vintage where it’s possible to make very good wine, but it’s a question of what we keep and what we don’t.’

It’s not the richest, most full-bodied vintage in St-Péray, it’s not as concentrated as 2019 or 2022, but I like its finesse.

Gripa compares it to the ‘fine, elegant, less powerful years’ of 1999 and 2006.

Rhône 2023 full report and top-scoring wines

Key Cornas & St-Péray producers in 2023

• Domaine Bernard Gripa – St-Péray
• M Chapoutier – St-Péray
• Domaine Clape – Cornas
• Domaine Vincent Paris – Cornas

Best-value Cornas & St-Péray wines in 2023

• Domaine Dumien-Serrette, Patou, Cornas 2023
• Domaine Vincent Paris, Granit 60, Cornas 2023
• M Chapoutier, Haut Chamblard, St-Péray 2023

Under-the-radar Cornas & St-Péray producers in 2023

• Cave de Tain
• Domaine A&E Verset
• Domaine Dumien Serrette

Northern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide 

Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide

Compare vintages: See our coverage of Cornas & St-Péray from previous years

Cornas & St-Péray 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Cornas & St-Péray 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

Cornas & St-Péray 2020: Report and top-scoring wines

Top-scoring Cornas & St-Péray wines in 2023:

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• Expert’s Choice: St-Péray

Generalising about St-Joseph is difficult in 2023. The southernmost vineyards were hit by the storm of 18 September; the northern slopes were not.

Some vineyards were hit by hail, others were more fortunate.

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Analysis of St-Joseph is therefore better taken on a wine-by-wine basis in 2023, but the general style is relatively light, sometimes lean, leading on flowers and herbs rather than concentrated fruit.

It’s a pleasant vintage that will drink well young; not as exciting as 2019 or 2020, but riper than 2021.

‘Less concentrated than 2022,’ says Gonon, ‘but more refined.’

The whites are good if fairly mixed; some light and fresh, others overripe and heavy.

This vintage tends to be better balanced than the bombastic 2022s.

Spare a thought for Franck Balthazar this year; every grape in his St-Joseph vineyard was eaten by badgers.

Rhône 2023 full report and top-scoring wines

Key St-Joseph producers in 2023

• Domaine Bernard Gripa
• Domaine Gonon
• M Chapoutier

Best-value St-Joseph wines in 2023

• Alain Voge, Les Côtes, St-Joseph 2023
• Domaine Jolivet, Clef de Sol, St-Joseph Blanc 2023
• Vignobles Chirat, Lieu-dit La Côte, St-Joseph 2023

Under-the-radar St-Joseph producers in 2023

• Domaine Anthony Vallet
• Domaine Jolivet
• Vignobles Chirat

Northern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide 

Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide

Compare vintages: See our coverage of St-Joseph from previous years

St-Joseph 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

St-Joseph 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

St-Joseph 2020: Report and top-scoring wines

Top-scoring St-Joseph producers in 2023:

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• Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2023: Report and top-scoring wines
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2023: Report and top-scoring wines
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Côte-Rôtie

Producers were happy with both quality and quantity in Côte-Rôtie in 2023, and there’s no doubt it was the best performing appellation this year.

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‘We had good weather during harvest, which was important, as everyone had a lot of grapes that needed ripening,’ says Loïc Jamet of Domaine JP Jamet.

The wines have a good sense of clarity and detail, and will drink well immediately.

Jean-Paul Jamet compared it to 2006 and 2016, both very good years with a fresh signature.

Despite the heatwave, the vintage tastes quite classic in profile.

‘More delicate than concentrated, fresh and balanced,’ says Jamet. There is a clear difference between different parcels this year, and a detailed expression of terroir.

‘It’s a very well-balanced vintage,’ according to David Duclaux, whose estate excelled this year.

Rhône 2023 full report and top-scoring wines

Condrieu

In Condrieu, the style is full and rich, but with freshness.

Jamet confirms that it was a good year here too, ‘the vines withstood well,’ he says.

The wines don’t quite have the intensity and mineral drive required for long ageing, so it’s a vintage to drink young.

Key Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu producers in 2023

• M Chapoutier – Condrieu
• Yves Cuilleron – Condrieu
• Domaine Jamet – Côte-Rôtie
• Stéphane Ogier – Côte-Rôtie

Best-value Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu wines in 2023

• Cave Yves Cuilleron, Les Chaillets, Condrieu 2023
• Domaine Garon, La Triote, Côte-Rôtie 2023
• Benjamin & David Duclaux, La Germine, Côte-Rôtie 2023

Under-the-radar Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu producers in 2023

• Domaine Bott
• Mouton Père et Fils
• Vignobles Chirat

Northern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide 

Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur’s guide

Compare vintages: See our coverage of Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu from previous years

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022: Report and top-scoring wines

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2021: Report and top-scoring wines

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2020: Report and top-scoring wines

Top-scoring Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2023 wines:

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Northern Rhône overall vintage rating: 3.5 / 5

Fresh, supple and drinkable reds at the southern pole; more concentration in the northern reaches, making for some very fine Côte-Rôtie. Vibrant, fresh whites, particularly good in Hermitage.

Red wine of the vintage:

Stéphane Ogier, Lancement, Côte-Rôtie 2023

White wine of the vintage:

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite, Hermitage 2023

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If 2023 was challenging in the southern Rhône, it was even more troublesome in the north. The decisive climatic incidents were essentially the same, but parts of the northern Rhône had additional problems to contend with.

Despite this, there are some very good wines if you buy with care, with certain appellations performing better than others.

Role reversal

January to April was very dry, then May to August was wet – a reversal of normal rainfall patterns, which produced a big crop and rampant vegetation.

It also brought about downy mildew and black rot outbreaks throughout the season, the wet weather lasting for longer here than it did in the south.

Successive treatments were needed in the vineyard, and some areas suffered reduced yields as a result. According to Pierre Rostaing of Domaine Rostaing, mildew can give earthy, bitter notes to a wine, so careful sorting was required.

Hail menaced the area throughout the summer. It hit different parts of St-Joseph in May, June and July; Cornas twice in July; and Crozes-Hermitage in August.

The heatwave that came in the second half of August was very drawn-out. Jean Gonon of Domaine Gonon says they had temperatures of 40-42 ̊C for a fortnight.

‘We’ve never seen that during a two-week period before,’ he says.

Reports of scorched foliage, sunburnt grapes and young vines dying in the heat were widespread.

See all 400 Rhône 2023 tasting notes and scores

Harvest contrasts

‘What was supposed to be a late vintage became an early vintage,’ says Maxime Chapoutier of M Chapoutier, as they rushed out to pick the whites. But some of the reds hung on until October. ‘Six weeks of harvest – a record for us,’ he says.

I happened to be in the region to witness the storm of 18 September. The next day I tried to walk up the hill of Hermitage, but it was impossible.

The foot of the hill was a mess of wooden posts, bits of vine, mud and rock, and the torrents of rain had cut deep ravines into the paths.

According to Guillaume Sorrel of Domaine Marc Sorrel, 30mm of rain was forecast, but over 100mm fell. It caught many growers off guard, and he estimates that by that time only half of the hill had been harvested.

Some vineyards on the slopes suffered superficial damage, but at least the rain runs off here; on the flat parts of Crozes-Hermitage, the rain had a diluting effect on some of the wines.

In Côte-Rôtie, and the northern part of St-Joseph, the rain was much lighter, just 20mm according to Stéphane Ogier, ‘almost beneficial,’ he says.

He finished picking on 11 October in ‘an Indian summer… everything we picked at the end was magnificent.’

The whites are the other big success this year, particularly in Hermitage, where the wines have depth, power and freshness.

Read Matt Walls’ full vintage overview

Top northern Rhône producers in 2023

• Benjamin & David Duclaux
• Domaine Clape
• Domaine Jean-Paul Jamet
• Domaine JL Chave
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Domaine Vincent Paris
• M Chapoutier
• Maison Stéphan
• Stéphane Ogier
• Yves Cuilleron

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2023 wines:

Highest scoring wines are listed white, then red in score order.

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No matter how carefully you study a region, sometimes it’s luck, spontaneity or serendipity that leads you to the most exciting discoveries. I was reminded of this during my last visit to Côte-Rôtie.

Les Epicurieux in Ampuis is one of my favourite local places to eat and drink, it’s a wine bar, restaurant and shop all rolled into one. Co-owner Arnaud Boisset always has interesting suggestions, and he brought over a bottle as I was scanning the shelves – a 2022 IGP Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah.

Did I know it? he asked. I didn’t.

Scroll down for notes and scores for 11 Gallet Côte-Rôtie wines

The estate name was Gallet. The word ‘galet‘ in French means ‘stone’ or ‘pebble’, so it’s a common surname, especially in this part of the world. I didn’t recognise the label, so I bought one to try.

I opened it that night. It had the unmistakable smoke and spice of the northern apex of the northern Rhône. Fresh, drinkable and delicious, you couldn’t hope for more from an IGP.

Clearly I needed to taste this domaine’s Côte-Rôtie. Google said the domaine was a 10-minute drive from where I was staying. What luck! I called them and arranged a visit for the next day.

Domaine Gallet

I arrived at Domaine Gallet, high on the plateau above Ampuis, and was greeted by Valérie Gallet. We descended the stone steps underneath her house to taste her wines.

I told her how much I enjoyed her Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah. Did I mean her Vin de France? she asked, and showed me the bottle. No, that’s not it… Then it must have been her Côte-Rôtie, she said, as she only makes two wines. If not, she suggested, perhaps the wine I tasted was from the other Gallet.

That was the moment I realised that I’d made a mistake. I’d come to the wrong estate. Uh-oh.

This is a common occupational hazard in France. In the southern Rhône, you’re told that Usseglio makes great wines – but is it Pierre Usseglio or Raymond Usseglio? In the northern Rhône, if you’re looking for wines from Domaine Chave, make sure you stipulate Yann Chave, Natacha Chave or Jean-Louis Chave, as they are all very different. There are many more examples, and I’ve been caught out before.

As she poured the first wine, a potentially awkward moment arose. I knew nothing about these wines, other than the prices – which were relatively cheap. Suspiciously cheap. What if they were dreadful? I’m not very good at feigning enthusiasm. I nervously held out my glass.

The darkness of the wine was the first thing I spotted – over-extraction or concentration? Fortunately, the latter – surprisingly dense for a Vin de France, and although the tannins were a bit unruly, it had vibrancy and energy. That’s a relief, I thought; this is good.

Moving on to her Côte-Rôtie, there was no distracting new oak on the nose, just the essence of the place – traditional, authentic and herbal, but not weedy, not even in a tricky vintage like 2021. The 2022 was richer, more saline, more peppery. I had fallen on my feet.

Valérie says that she’s in charge of winemaking and cellar work, while her brother works the vines – 4ha of 50-year-old vines in the enviable lieux-dits Chavaroche, Lancement and Le Combard.

It turns out that Domaine Gallet was founded in 1807 and has been bottling for 40 years, she says they are the ‘original’ Gallet. I hadn’t come across them before as they don’t export to the UK – a situation that might soon change.

The other Gallet family are distant cousins and had just started bottling, which is why they barely featured online. But I was determined to track them down…

Famille Gallet

A closer look at the empty bottle of IGP Syrah that I bought from Les Epicurieux revealed the name Frédéric Gallet. A bit of online research suggested a phone number; I organised a visit the following day.

The story here is very different. Frédéric Gallet grew up in Ampuis, and as a young man he played a lot of sport. He was about to join the army, but in 1996 a serious skiing accident dashed his dreams.

During school holidays he used to work in the vines at nearby Domaine Stéphane Ogier, so with no other employment prospects he decided to get a job in a winery. Ogier only made reds at that time, and Gallet wanted to make whites too – so, despite having no wine qualifications or training, Gallet wrote to Yves Cuilleron in search of a job.

Cuilleron had no vacancies, so passed on Gallet’s letter to François Villard. Villard hired Gallet in 1998 – his first ever employee.

‘I learnt on the job,’ says Gallet. ‘I learnt a lot with François, particularly in the cellar – he’s a great taster… I have to thank François for that.’

Eventually, Gallet worked his way up to vineyard manager, then cellar manager – positions he later held at Domaine Stéphane Ogier too. During that time, he bought vineyards himself, and also rented some from his father-in-law. He sold the grapes to Villard, Ogier, E Guigal and Domaine Graeme & Julie Bott.

If you’ve tried François Villard’s Côte-Rôtie Le Gallet Blanc, then you might have unknowingly already tasted Frédéric Gallet’s work. This cuvée is made from grapes that Villard purchased from Gallet – hence the name. For a while, as cellar manager, Gallet not only supplied the grapes but he also made the wine!

So in striking out alone, ‘I’m not risking anything,’ says Gallet, ‘because I already know it’s good.’

To begin with, Gallet is only bottling 1ha of the 4.5ha he farms, amounting to 6,000 bottles. In addition to his IGP Syrah, he also makes an IGP Viognier and two Côte-Rôties – a blend called Trio de Brunes and a single-vineyard wine.

He has three parcels in Côte-Rôtie: Côte Bodin, La Brocade and Fongeant. For his first vintage (2022) he bottled a pure Côte Bodin; in 2023, it might be La Brocade.

Two with one stone

I was lucky enough to be the first person to taste his 2023s. I can confirm his La Brocade promises to be very special indeed – likely to be up there with the best of the appellation – so I do hope he bottles it separately. But with only 500 bottles produced, you’ll have to visit Ampuis to get your hands on one.

Gallet is in his 50s, and is planning on retiring soon; a life on these slopes is physically demanding. But in time, his 20-year-old son Maxence Gallet plans to take over.

I’m told another cousin, Damien Gallet, is planning to start his own domaine. So that will be a third Gallet making wine in Ampuis.

In the end, I got two excellent Gallets for the price of one.

The moral of the story? Leave no stone unturned.

11 Gallet wines to explore:

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Tall and slim, with bright, expressive eyes, Julien Barge has something of the mad scientist about him. His family has lived in the same street in Ampuis for 200 years, but the impression of permanence this offers is illusory. This is a Côte-Rôtie estate in constant evolution.

Julien took over from his father Gilles in 2019, and immediately made significant modifications to the way the estate worked. After converting the estate to organic viticulture in 2018 – still relatively uncommon in Côte-Rôtie – Julien decided to address the rising alcohol levels brought on by a warming climate.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 15 Domaine Barge wines

A novel method

His method is simple but effective – it’s basically a late green harvest.

Green harvesting is when a winemaker cuts off and discards a proportion of the baby bunches from his vines before they’ve fully ripened, around the time they change colour from green to purple. The aim is to concentrate ripening in the bunches that remain.

Yet what Julien has been doing for the past few vintages is slightly different; he waits longer, until just four weeks before picking, to perform a green harvest. Sugars build up as normal during ripening and are shared between bunches.

Some of the partly-ripened bunches are then snipped off and discarded – thereby disposing of some of the sugars that would have ended up in the juice.

In the last four weeks before picking, Julien says that grapes generate sugars more slowly, so when he finally picks the grapes, they have lower potential alcohol – around 12%.

He first tried this method with the 2021 vintage, and since then, ‘it’s become a vision,’ says Julien, ‘something we’re confident in’.

Getting technical – an updated process in the cellar

Barge has made some complementary changes in the cellar to accommodate this new approach. Before 2021, his wines were made using whole bunches, but he’s had to reduce the number of stems he uses to find a new balance, and now uses around 50%.

His ferments are much shorter than they once were, now just 12-18 days. He no longer opts for a cold maceration before fermentation; ‘it’s not interesting, because there’s no life activity,’ he says – in other words, no living organisms like yeast working on the juice.

He ferments with a submerged cap, and doesn’t use temperature control. Then he ages the wines in small foudres – made by the highly-respected Stockinger cooperage – for two years.

An original style

The lower alcohol levels aren’t the only way in which the wines have changed – there is a marked stylistic change here between the richer, riper wines of 2020 and before, and the finer, more delicate Côte-Rôties of 2021 and after.

Though delicious expressions of Côte-Rôtie, the alcohol is perceptible in his 2019 and 2020 Les Côtes. They are rich, velvety and potent.

From 2021 onwards, they are more fragrant, displaying an abundance of herbs and flowers. They are noticeably lighter in alcohol – and therefore body – with stricter acidity and less fruit sweetness.

Julien has stepped back from the increasingly ripe, powerful Côte-Rôties that have proliferated since 2015 – and you really feel the difference. ‘It’s a risk,’ he says. ‘When I believe in something, I just do it.’

These taste like Côte-Rôties from an earlier era; savoury and ethereal, somewhere between Burgundy’s Morey-St-Denis and Côte-Rôtie. When matching with food, it might be better to think about what works with Pinot Noir rather than Syrah.

History of invention

Julien isn’t the first Barge to affect change in Côte-Rôtie. One of his forefathers, Pierre Barge, was one of the founding members of the popular Marché aux Vins d’Ampuis wine fair that still runs today.

The family first started bottling its wines as far back as 1929. His father Gilles even installed a mini rack railway in one of their steeper vineyards to help bring the grapes in at harvest.

So it’s no surprise to see this estate continuing to evolve and innovate in the face of climate change.

This new direction has produced elegant and complex wines, but with less concentration, alcohol and richness. These are all elements that can help sustain a wine over time. So some uncertainty remains over the longevity of these new wines.

Julien’s Les Côtes 2021 is particularly lean – but it was a difficult, frosted vintage for everyone. In Les Côtes 2022, the technique feels more mastered. As alcohol levels continue to rise in the region, the eyes of an appellation will be watching to see where this experiment takes him.

Domaine Barge wines to try

Wines are listed by vintage youngest to oldest

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A tasting note is a written record of an encounter with a wine. Sometimes the meeting is brief; you shake hands and move on.

But occasionally you become embroiled. Words spread across the page and spill down it, there is so much to say. Even before you’ve had time to draw any conclusions, you know you’re in the presence of something special.

Vincent Paris’ La Geynale from the hillside of Cornas, is reliably one such wine.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for Vincent Paris’ La Geynale

When young, it’s a roaring black hole, massive, dense, drawing you in. A wine so assertive it seems to taste you as much as you taste it.

I visited Vincent Paris one grey spring morning to taste nine early vintages to see how they are developing – and whether any vintages of this famously long-lived wine are ready to drink yet.

A Cornas grand cru

Like dogs and their owners, sometimes wines embody the winemaker. But not here. Paris cuts a lean figure, he’s reserved, and doesn’t waste words.

He doesn’t seek the limelight – he’s happy to let the place do the talking. And what a place it is.

The granite slopes of the Northern Rhône can be steep and jagged, but Cornas is particularly chaotic.

Though the heart of the appellation is essentially east-facing, thanks to the streams that cut down from the plateau above, there are some south-facing vineyards.

Reynard – the greatest lieu-dit of them all – is one of them. Paris says La Geynale isn’t technically a lieu-dit itself – it’s just the name given to the eastern flank of Reynard.

‘It’s the hottest terroir in Cornas,’ says Paris, and very dry with it. His cuvée La Geynale comes principally from a 1ha parcel from this side of the hill, hence the name – but it also contains 0.3ha of Reynard.

Generational transition

When Paris’ great-grandfather replanted the site in 1910 after phylloxera, he included a few white vines.

But when the appellation was officially ratified in 1938, it was agreed that Cornas must be 100% Syrah.

‘You still find a few white grapes to eat during harvest,’ notes Paris.

It was his uncle, the great Robert Michel, who tended the site for 40 years before Paris. Michel trained some of Cornas leading winemakers, including Guillaume Gilles, Thierry Allemand, and Paris himself.

Paris’ parents weren’t winemakers, so establishing his own estate was a struggle. Thankfully his grandfather bequeathed him a hectare of Cornas vines in 1997, which gave him a crucial foothold.

After Michel’s last vintage in 2006, he decided to sell his vineyards, and he gave Paris first refusal on his parcel of La Geynale. Naturally Paris was keen – but the price of land had risen to €500,000 per hectare.

‘The bank said no to begin with,’ says Paris, so he reached out to investors – mostly other wine professionals. Having successfully reached his target, his first vintage of La Geynale was 2007.

Sticking to tradition

Paris says he’s tasted 30-year-old bottles of Michel’s La Geynale that were still in great shape, and this has convinced him to keep to similar methods.

‘I wanted to keep my uncle’s ways, so it’s still whole bunch,’ he says. ‘With climate change it’s much better, because when you ferment with the stalks it reduces alcohol by around 0.5%. And the vegetal side brings freshness and a menthol note.’

He continues to use indigenous yeasts, ferments in concrete tanks, and matures the wines in three to eight-year-old barriques and demi-muids for a year or more.

He makes two other Cornas cuvées – Granit 30 and Granit 60, the numbers referring to the steepness of the slopes where the grapes are grown.

But La Geynale is his top cuvée, amounting to just 5,000 bottles a year on average.

The tasting

Paris generously opened bottles of all the vintages of La Geynale he had in his cellar – there was no more stock of the earlier-drinking 2008, 2014 and 2016.

Despite their concentration and intensity, three of them are already good to go – including the oldest (2007) and – more surprisingly – the youngest (2018).

He didn’t add any sulfites in 2007 and 2008, and the 2007 certainly stands out for its wild side.

The bottle we tasted was a touch volatile and had an animal aroma that later vintages didn’t share. It also had more marked acidity and drier tannins, which is likely down to the vintage.

It nonetheless offered complexity and enjoyment, but the 2009 and 2010 were a big step up, even if neither were ready to drink.

These are both great vintages in Cornas, and the 2010 in particular is a phenomenal wine. It displayed the classic markers of the greatest Cornas: aromatically, it brimmed with smoke, slate and menthol.

Texturally it was bristling with the angular, pointed tannins that make Cornas such a physical experience.

One of the great cuvées

Another great vintage was 2015, which will be no great shock – an exceptional vintage in the Northern Rhône.

What might be more surprising is the quality of the 2013 – not usually considered a brilliant vintage, but Paris made an involving wine with freshness and finesse.

Cornas usually takes many years for its tannins to soften, but the exception is 2018 – these are delicious young, even from traditional estates such as Paris and Clape.

A couple of vintages (2011, 2017) showed a gamey side that some wine lovers might find off-putting, but in neither case did it dominate the wine.

But for this reason, I would consider drinking these two sooner rather than later.

This tasting confirmed what I’ve long felt about Vincent Paris’ La Geynale: it is one of the great Cornas cuvées, classically styled, with awesome longevity in good vintages.

And while some other estates’ top wines have become stratospherically expensive, La Geynale remains relatively affordable.

It reminded me that a great wine can tell you a lot – about a place, its history, a family, tradition, ideas of beauty and the passing of time. It’s the kind of encounter you don’t forget in a hurry.

Vincent Paris, Cornas, La Geynale vertical

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As the sun glimmered on the Hudson River, glinting off skyscrapers and filling the 60th floor of the Manhatta building with light, masterclass guests hung on legendary Rhône winemaker Michel Chapoutier’s every word.

Head of his family’s M Chapoutier winery, he launched into an impassioned, swooping discussion, weaving soil analysis, ampelography, the golden ratio, epigenetics (the ability of the plant to adapt its own genetics), the emotional intelligence of plants, rootstocks, vintage conditions, food pairings and his winemaking philosophy into an engaging, compelling and evocative performance.

Only the Jimi Hendrix of wine could capture an audience in such a way.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the eight wines tasted at Decanter’s M Chapoutier masterclass

Unlocking the secrets of terroir

If there is any winemaker qualified to talk about terroir, it is Michel Chapoutier. With his Sélections Parcellaires wines, he aims to showcase the unique song that different soils and vineyard sites can sing when given the chance.

To wine lovers today, this may seem an obvious conviction for a winemaker to have. After all, it is often a central part of their narrative. But, said Chapoutier during the masterclass, 40 years ago this wasn’t the case; generally soil wasn’t considered that important in the notion of terroir.

So he set out, not to try and make the best wines, but to try and take the best snapshot possible of an individual terroir. ‘Quite comfortable for a lazy winemaker like me,’ he told guests.

While there are 17 Sélections Parcellaires wines in the M Chapoutier universe – across the appellations of Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph, Cornas, Condrieu and Châteauneuf-du-Pape – it was the Hermitage iterations that attendees at DFWE NYC 2024 were treated to on Saturday 8 June. Each was an individual expression, a soaring aria, of a tiny vineyard parcel.

The intricate patchwork of Hermitage hill

Through two whites and two reds, each across two vintages, Chapoutier explained to guests the unique characters each single-vineyard plot can express.

M Chapoutier, De L’Orée, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2018

M Chapoutier, Le Méal Blanc, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2018

M Chapoutier, De L’Orée, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, Le Méal Blanc, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, Le Pavillon, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2014

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite Rouge, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2014

M Chapoutier, Le Pavillon, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite Rouge, Hermitage, Rhône, Franc 2011

Biodynamics

Having converted all of his vineyards to biodynamic farming in the early 1990s, Chapoutier has often been called a maverick. During the masterclass, he compared chemical farming to having a headache and taking an aspirin. It takes care of the symptoms but not the underlying problem.

Organic farming does the same, but instead of using the chemical molecule, it uses the natural molecule. Biodynamics, on the other hand, questions why you have the headache in the first place,; what the origin is.

One of the first things he noticed as an obvious result of converting to biodynamics was an increase in the wines’ natural level of acidity.

As well as explaining why biodynamics has such an important impact on his wines, Chapoutier stressed how the use of ambient yeasts for fermentation is also crucial to expressing the uniqueness of his terroir.

‘Wine is an aromatic symphony,’ he said. ‘With selected yeast, it’s like playing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with only the violin. But if you use wild yeast, you have a full symphony orchestra.’

According to Chapoutier, as well as soil, climate and human influence, vintage plays an important role when talking about terroir. What made this masterclass particularly fascinating was the ability to taste wines from differnt vineyard sites but from the same vintage side by side, as well as from an older vintage.

Food pairing potential

A winemaker who loves to cook, Chapoutier gave tantalising food-pairing suggestions for each of his wines.

The noble bitterness inherent in the Marsanne grape (the sole player in both the De L’Orée and Le Méal whites), lends itself particularly well to pairing – ‘a bridge for the marriage between wine and food’, he said.

Chapoutier suggested pairing De L’Orée 2018 with lamb curry, for example, or to take the pairing to another level with the traditional Chinese dish of century eggs. Le Pavillon 2014 he proposed lièvre à la royale (a French dish of hare slow cooked in red wine, heart, liver, lungs and blood), or roasted woodcock.

DFWE NYC 2024: the M Chapoutier masterclass wines

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Every year, Michel Chapoutier launches his Rhône single-vineyard wines way before his neighbours, and bang in the middle of the Bordeaux en primeur campaign to boot. You have to admire his chutzpah. Chapoutier never was a shrinking violet, and his wines are just as bold.

I’ll be visiting the Rhône in October this year to taste the 2023 vintage in more detail, working my way through every appellation, both north and south. In the meantime, this tasting always acts as a tantalising scent on the wind, a whisper of what’s to come.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the 2023 Sélections Parcellaires

One producer’s experience of a vintage will never mirror another’s, and we shouldn’t assume that Chapoutier’s experience is indicative of the region as a whole. Speaking to the owners of large houses such as Chapoutier at this juncture is useful, however, as – unlike small estates – they have a broad view over the whole of the Rhône Valley.

The northern Rhône

I spoke to Michel’s son Maxime, who is gradually taking over more and more of his father’s responsibilities. He said the winter of 2022/2023 was fairly dry, which is less than ideal after the drought conditions of the 2022 growing season. After an early cold snap, the season got off to a typical start in March, presaging a September harvest.

‘It was challenging through spring,’ says Chapoutier, due to regular small showers and warm weather. It created ‘a humid atmosphere, which was optimal for powdery mildew, so we had to be very vigilant,’ he says, particularly in Côte-Rôtie. He says it impacted quantity more than quality however, and their overall volumes were slightly down on 2022.

The defining climatic event of the vintage was the heatwave between 10 and 20 August, with temperatures above 35°C every day, ‘one of the longest and warmest heatwaves of the decade,’ says Chapoutier.

‘Within a few days the vines were shutting down,’ he continues. Some outside bunches on Hermitage suffered sunburn. They brought forward picking dates, and quickly galvanised their team of pickers, starting with Marsanne in lieu-dit Le Méal in Hermitage on 22 August. All the white grapes were picked by early September.

Some reds were picked at the beginning of September, but torrential storms around the 15 September caused delays before they could bring in their later-ripening fruit. It made for an unusually long harvesting period.

The southern Rhône

Maxime says that conditions in the southern Rhône were similar, with a little more rain in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and at the right moments. With no hail and no powdery mildew, it made for a generous harvest, resulting in ‘Grenache that tastes like Pinot.’

They’ve started using more stems in their Châteauneufs – 30% to 40% whole bunch – ‘to give some saltiness and decrease the level of alcohol,’ says Maxime. They decided to produce ‘a more infused style of Grenache’ this year. The results are impressive, attractively pale in colour, light in tannin, with a digestible, floral nature.

This year sees the first release of a new Sélection Parcellaire Châteauneuf cuvée called ‘La Grenade’. It’s from sandy soils in the lieu-dit of the same name to the east of the appellation, not far from La Crau. It’s a fine and floral expression that’s both drinkable and refreshing; fans of a lighter style of Châteauneuf should snap it up.

Maxime says ‘it’s a once in a decade vintage’ for them in Châteauneuf, comparing it to the superlative 2016. That was also a good – if not quite so exceptional – vintage in Côte-Rôtie, and again Maxime thinks it’s a fair comparison. For Hermitage, he says ‘it’s hard to say… it could be like 1991,’ which was an excellent year in a more Burgundian style.

Discover a special line up of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York on 8 June 2024

Assessing the wines

In the northern Rhône, to compare the wines stylistically with 2016 makes sense, though I’m not convinced 2023 has quite the same intensity. It does have a similar fineness and florality particularly with wines such as Le Pavillon, Ermite, Les Varonniers and Neve. Le Méal is richer and more potent.

Overall, this isn’t a concentrated vintage like 2015, structured like 2017 or thunderous like 2019; it leans more towards 2018.

Reds have the edge over whites; the Marsannes are rich and opulent, in a similar vein to 2022. They don’t match the freshness and intensity of 2019, 2020 or 2021 – but this is a very hard run to follow.

The reds are likely to age on their balance rather than structure or concentration, and given their fairly moderate acidities I don’t expect 2023 to be a terribly long-lived vintage here. Ermites of both colours will prove the exceptions.

Looking south, both their Châteauneufs are excellent. It’s not possible to infer much about the southern Rhône vintage more broadly on the back of two wines, but thanks to the quality on display here and Maxime’s enthusiasm I look forward to tasting more.

At this early stage, scores should be taken as a rough estimation only. Les Granits rouge, Le Clos, La Mordorée, Les Greffieux, Coteau de Chéry and Croix de Bois weren’t available to sample. I look forward to tasting more widely and bringing readers a complete, in-depth vintage report in November.

New York Masterclass: Tasting M Chapoutier’s Hermitage Terroir Secrets

Taste a special line up of M Chapoutier’s Hermitage Sélections Parcellaires at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York

See here for more information on the M Chapoutier masterclass in New York

Matt Walls’ exclusive first taste of M Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires

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The small Suzuki 4×4 came to an abrupt stop and we teetered at the top of a steep path in lieu-dit ‘Les Rochains’, high in the hills of Côte-Rôtie. It had been raining all day and the ground was a slick of slippery brown mud. The Rhône was flowing grey in the valley far below us. Léa Bonnefond flicked a button on the dashboard and the car switched to four-wheel drive. She pushed the accelerator, and down we went.

The cover of my notebook still displays my fingernail marks, but Bonnefond was unconcerned – just another day in the vines for this 26-year-old, who grew up next to the winery in the tiny hamlet of Mornas.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for five vintages of Léa Bonnefond’s stunning wine

Built by brothers

Bonnefond’s father Christophe cleared the trees from this parcel of Les Rochains 35 years ago, then constructed the terraces and planted the vines. The black schist bedrock is visible along one wall, shining like polished marble in the rain.

Another parcel was planted in Les Rochains just above the famous La Landonne vineyard by Christophe’s father, Charles, in 1947. Charles used to sell his fruit to E Guigal, but when Christophe and his brother Patrick took over in 1990, they built a winery and started bottling wines under the Bonnefond name. Now they have 7.5 hectares of prime Côte-Rôtie.

As well as Les Rochains, they also bottle a wine from lieu-dit Côte Rozier. Both are powerful, concentrated expressions, but while the south-facing Les Rochains majors on complexity, the east-facing Côte Rozier has great freshness. The Colline de Couzou cuvée contains fruit from both parcels and from granite vineyards further south.

The brothers’ top Côte-Rôties never fail to impress, but a new Bonnefond cuvée has been repeatedly catching my eye over the past few years: ‘Dans les Vignes de Mon Père’. It’s the wine made by Léa.

Next generation

Léa knew early on that she wanted to join the family winery, but as a woman she encountered resistance. For her grandfather’s generation, winemaking ‘wasn’t a job for girls,’ she says, and to begin with her father wasn’t entirely sure that working in the vines was right for her either. ‘I had to force it a bit,’ she says.

Undeterred, she applied for a degree in winemaking, followed by internships at Domaine Gonon and Stéphane Ogier. She returned to the family estate in 2019.

Was her family right to be concerned? ‘They were worried I might hurt myself most of all… But everything is achievable, all the physical jobs – maybe not for as long as a well-built man, but I can do it all,’ she says assuredly. She works across all areas of the business now, in the winery, the vines and the office.

A triumphant experiment

When she arrived at the winery, naturally she was keen to show off her skills. She was sure that whole-bunch fermentation (instead of destemming) would yield positive results, but this would mean a radical shift in house style. ‘You can’t change everything straight away,’ she says, so she started making her own experimental Côte-Rôtie instead, Dans les Vignes de Mon Père.

Using whole bunches requires ripe stems as well as ripe grapes, so she selected fruit from the south-facing Rochains vineyard. ‘[Using whole bunches] brings freshness, and with the hot years we’ve been having, that really works in our favour… and it helps the wine to age,’ she says.

Her first vintage was 2019, and it was one of the wines of the year – up there with names like M Chapoutier, E Guigal, Domaine de Monteillet and Stéphane Ogier. Not bad for a first attempt. Subsequent vintages have proved that it wasn’t just beginner’s luck.

Taking the reins

Working these rocky slopes is arduous, and winemaking in Côte-Rôtie is still a male-dominated profession. Traditionally women worked in the office in this part of the world, but Léa is one of a growing list of young women taking over the production side in their family estates, a list that includes Emma Vernay, Pauline Villa and Héloïse Finon. The tide is slowly turning.

With her father and uncle now in their mid- and late-50s, it will be Léa who takes over the estate when the time comes. And given that all the domaine’s Côte-Rôties now contain at least 50% whole bunch, clearly the older generation agrees with her new direction. Whether in the winery, or at the wheel of a 4×4, Lea’s is a safe pair of hands.

The Domaine Bonnefond wines are imported and sold through Lea & Sandeman in the UK.

Notes and scores for five vintages of Léa Bonnefond’s exceptional cuvée:

Wines are listed youngest to oldest

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Have you ever noticed that some labels on Chapoutier’s wines feature braille as well as printed text? I asked Michel Chapoutier how this came about. 

The wealthy de la Sizeranne family lived in Tain l’Hermitage and had three children. One of them, Maurice, was blinded while playing with a bow and arrow aged nine years old. As an adult, Maurice de la Sizeranne (1857–1924), devoted himself to working for the benefit of blind people, and one of his achievements was to develop an abbreviated form of braille. 

The Chapoutier family bought some prime Hermitage vineyards from the de la Sizeranne family, and named its top wine ‘Monier de la Sizeranne’ in their honour. In 1995, Michel decided to add braille to the labels, partly to make his wines more accessible to visually impaired people, but also to remember Maurice.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores of 12 vintages of M Chapoutier’s Mornier de la Sizeranne

The traditional blend vs. single vineyards

Chapoutier is now the biggest landholder in the Hermitage appellation, owning 34 hectares of the 134ha under vine. To describe his holdings as enviable is something of an understatement, with parcels across all the finest lieux-dits.

Before Michel joined the family company in 1989, the single red Hermitage was a blend of different parcels, which was customary at the time. One of Michel’s first decisions was to create a range of single vineyard wines from the oldest vines, now known as his Sélections Parcellaires. ‘Some people said I was going against the tradition of Hermitage,’ he says. And he was.

He didn’t discard the Monier de la Sizeranne blended cuvée, however. ‘I didn’t want to turn my back on tradition,’ he says. ‘I wanted to keep Sizeranne as a historical blend.’ The classic Hermitage blend contains three key component lieux-dits: Le Méal, Les Bessards and Les Greffieux, and these are still the main components of La Sizeranne today. 

Le Méal is made up of ancient glaciofluvial deposits with a stony topsoil; Les Greffieux is at the foot of the hill, containing silty clay and recent alluvials; Les Bessards is composed of granite. ‘Le Méal brings power, Les Greffieux brings finesse, Les Bessards brings structure,’ says Michel.

Production details

Grape variety: 100% Syrah

Average vine age: 40 to 50 years

Farming: certified biodynamic

Typical yield: 30 to 35hl/ha

Stem use: all destemmed

Maceration time: five to six weeks

Fermentation vessel: concrete

Maturation: oak barriques and demi-muids, 20% new

The tasting

I’ve heard this cuvée described as Chapoutier’s ‘early-drinking Hermitage’ in the past – surely an oxymoron. I opened 12 recent vintages to get a more complete understanding of the wine: 2021 to 2014, 2011 to 2009, and 2001. 

The only change in production during this 20-year period has been a gradually lighter touch with the oak regime. Michel says that – in around 1990 – he would expect a natural alcohol level of around 12%. Today, 13.5% to 14% is more common – and the 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintage all reached 14.5%. 

‘Alcohol is a solvent,’ explains Michel, so today’s wines extract more oak flavour from barrels than they once did. That’s why he has been replacing barriques with larger demi-muids since 2008, and have more recently started using some 1,200l foudres. 

The result is a discretely oaked cuvée, which is welcome, as overoaking in Hermitage is still frustratingly common. The overall style is typical and genuine; ripe but not overly so, polished but not glossy, and doesn’t shy away from the natural power and structure that this site delivers.

More importantly it’s a wine that faithfully reflects its vintage. This is always something that holds plenty of interest for wine lovers, but be prepared for marked vintage variation – it can be excellent in good vintages, but less exciting in lighter vintages such as 2021. 

It might only rarely hit the heights of Chapoutier’s single vineyard wines, but in vintages like 2019, 2015 and 2010, Sizeranne can be a fantastic wine in its own right. Given the relatively accessible price for a Hermitage, it makes buying top vintages a smart move.

I would however advise patience. With the exception of the light 2021 and the juicy 2018, like all Hermitage this is a wine that requires ageing, and only builds the smoky, truffley, gamey complexity that makes Hermitage so distinctive over time. And given Syrah’s propensity to suffer from closed periods, drinking windows are worth noting.

Is it an early drinking cuvée? Given that it starts drinking well after 12 years instead of the usual 20 for Hermitage, then perhaps it is. But going by the brilliant 2001, there’s no need to hurry. Young vines or old, Hermitage marches to its own beat.

Monier de la Sizeranne: 12 vintages tasted

Wines are listed in order of vintage, from youngest to oldest

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According to Michel Chapoutier, the best way to eat a lark is to stuff it with foie gras, grill it, then eat it whole, bones and all. I’m tempted to try it, but they’ve been consistently out of stock at my local Tesco supermarket. He adds that they go very well with white Hermitage.

In French, a lark is une alouette, one of the small game birds, along with thrushes and woodcocks, that were once hunted in this part of the Rhône. The small building you can see on the label of Chapoutier’s Chante-Alouette cuvée is an old hunting lodge that still exists on the hill of Hermitage.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 14 vintages of M Chapoutier’s Chante-Alouette

Blends and single vineyards

Hermitage is more commonly associated with red wine, but a surprising amount of white wine, about a third of production, is made here too. About two-thirds of white plantings are Marsanne, the rest Roussanne, and white Hermitage can be made solely from either, or a blend of both. M Chapoutier grows only Marsanne.

Chante-Alouette was the name of M Chapoutier’s single white Hermitage cuvée as far back as the 19th century, before Michel started bottling his range of single-vineyard wines, the Sélections Parcellaires. ‘It was a bit of a revolution when we did that in 1989,’ says Michel, and it’s no exaggeration. Until then, the tradition in Hermitage was to blend across various parcels, and that’s still the approach today with Chante-Alouette.

M Chapoutier makes three single-vineyard Hermitage wines: L’Ermite, Le Méal and De L’Orée. The first two are named after the lieux-dits, and De L’Orée comes from lieu-dit Les Murets. Chante-Alouette is a blend of these three lieux-dits. The difference is the age of the vines. The single-vineyard bottlings are selections of very old vines, typically with an average age of 100 years old, whereas the vines that go into Chante-Alouette are younger, around 40 to 50 years old.

Michel says that the old vines typically yield 12 to 15 hl/ha (or slightly higher now), while the younger vines produce 35 to 40 hl/ha. This explains the difference in price; at around £60 per bottle in UK retail, Chante-Alouette is a third the price of Le Méal blanc and De L’Orée.

Evolution in winemaking

Apart from a gradual increase in vine age, there were no major changes in the vineyards from 2000 to the present day. The major development was in 1991 when Michel converted the estate to biodynamics.

Old vines naturally produce less fruit, and Michel says that when he converted to biodynamics, yields dropped even further, as he transferred to using solely organic composts.

Michel says he ‘always wanted to work in a bit of a Burgundian way’ when making his white Hermitage, fermenting in barrel and maturing on the lees with limited stirring. By allowing a little carbon dioxide to remain in the wine, he finds he can get by with much less sulphite additions, and the CO2 also heightens the sense of salinity in the wine. He also finds that working biodynamically helps to further accentuate saline notes; ‘dead soils that have been killed by herbicides and fungicides… they never [produce wines with] salinity in the mouth,’ he says.

‘All the work we do on Chante-Alouette and our whites is to emphasise salinity and bitterness,’ says Michel. White Hermitage never has marked acidity, so salinity and positive bitter notes help to build structure and balance its opulent texture.

The most significant change in recent years has been the use of oak. An increasingly warm climate has led to rising levels of alcohol which, Michel notes, is a solvent, meaning more wood flavour is extracted from the barrels than before. So now only half the blend is fermented in barrels (the rest in stainless steel), and only 10% of barrels are new. Since 2008, he’s started using more demi-muids (600-litre) instead of barriques (228-litre) and has recently started introducing some even larger barrels of 1,200 litres.

The tasting

White Hermitage has a reputation for having an extravagantly rich texture, and for generous oaking. Neither is the case with Chante-Alouette; it tends to be a more compact and drinkable style, but still with strong Hermitage DNA.

The wines I tasted (2021-2010, 2007 and 2000) were impressively consistent in style and quality, and clearly reflected the personality of their vintages. Particular highlights were the rich but balanced 2020, the fresh and harmonious 2016, the focused and precise 2014, the opulent 2012 and the powerful 2010.

The 2007 had more noticeable oak work, but it wasn’t overbearing and showed how well this cuvée can age. Over time, the flowers and fruits dissipate, with nuts and honey taking their place. The 2000, though in an advanced stage of aromatic development, was still fresh and enjoyable on the palate.

I’ve long thought this wine was unfairly overlooked as a lesser ‘cuvée classique’ compared to the single-vineyard wines, and although it doesn’t always hit the same heights, it’s nevertheless an impressive wine in its own right and represents remarkable value for money in the context of white Hermitage.

With food, I’d suggest pairing mature vintages with guinea fowl and sautéed mushrooms or a veal chop with risotto alla Milanese. Michel suggests curried flavours, and I’d agree – even curried lamb I’ve found works well. At the end of the tasting, I paired them with pot-roast pheasant, Brussels sprouts and celeriac. It went well – the next best thing to grilled larks.

See Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for 14 vintages of Chante-Alouette

Wines are listed in order of vintage, from youngest to oldest

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For the third consecutive year, we are heading back to the Rhône Valley for an unforgettable tour of this iconic wine region with our regional expert, Matt Walls.

You can expect some exciting new wineries on the itinerary and impeccable vintages on the wine lists. There’s no denying, these trips just keep getting better.

Feedback for the last two trips Walls has hosted has been phenomenal, with guests reveling in his expertise and enjoying the taste of some incredible wines, all hand selected for their provenance and enjoyability. 

If you are looking to book a special wine experience in 2024, take a look at our trip brochure to get a feel for what’s in store. A private boat tour down the Rhône river, complete with an exciting wine flight of special vintages, is just one of the highlights we have in store. 

Here’s everything you need to know: 

Dates: 2nd – 9th of June 2024

Estates: Five new wineries added 

Price: $8,900 (single supplement $1,285).

Deposit: $750

Take a look at the tour brochure here.

BOOK NOW 

Caroline Frey, owner of Paul Jaboulet Aîné, has decided to uncouple La Chapelle (and its white counterpart, Le Chevalier de Sterimberg) from the Paul Jaboulet Aîné brand by creating a separate entity, Domaine de la Chapelle, which will be the new home for these two wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the 2022 Domaine de la Chapelle red and white wines

A new facility

Frey is overseeing the construction of a new winery close to the hill of Hermitage which will be entirely dedicated to production of the La Chapelle wines. ‘It’s time for the new chapter,’ she says.

The winery is being designed by celebrated Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, whose many projects include Noma 2.0 in Copenhagen.

The cellar will be ‘very integrated, not a very imposing architectural cellar,’ says Frey. ‘The star of the area is the hill of Hermitage, that’s what we want to preserve… all eyes need to be focused on the hill.’

The site is just outside the Hermitage appellation boundary, and will be visible from the iconic Chapelle Saint-Christophe at the top of the hill. There are no current plans for general tourist facilities, but the site will be used to welcome selected guests.

The new site ‘won’t change the style of the wine,’ says Frey, ‘the process will be the same.’ There will be a cold room to receive the harvest, an optical sorting table, and an ergonomic layout for punching down during fermentation. The only difference between the current set up and the future one will be the use of cement vats instead of stainless steel tanks for vinification.

There will also be a new route to market for Domaine de la Chapelle. Instead of being sold along with the other Jaboulet wines, it will be offered via the Place de Bordeaux, the traditional Bordeaux distribution network.

I wondered if this was a precursor to selling off one of the two parts, but Frey confirms she has no intention of parting with either.

I’ll be curious to taste the new La Chapelle once it’s being made at the new winery. After all, if a wine is made in an entirely new facility, can it ever be truly identical to what it was before?

Any differences will only become clear over the course of several vintages. Perhaps this dedicated winery will give La Chapelle the focus and stability it needs to regain its glory days. What’s clear for now is that a new and exciting chapter in the story of La Chapelle has begun.

The 2022 vintage

The 2022 vintage in Hermitage was marked by intense heat and drought.

Budbreak was several days later than a typical year, then the vegetative cycle accelerated, with good flowering during one of the hottest months of May on record.

There was barely any rain during the growing season, which caused localised blockages in ripening, particularly among younger vines. This led to instances of unripe tannins, but less so in Hermitage compared to other areas of the Rhône.

The general style of red Hermitage in 2022 is a relatively compact one, without huge structure or concentration. That’s certainly the case with the 2022 Domaine de La Chapelle, which is an athletic iteration, with very fine – but crucially ripe – tannins.

There are some white Hermitage cuvées in 2022 which are powerful and concentrated, but Le Chevalier de Sterimberg is at the other end of the scale. It’s medium-bodied and approachable, with good acidity (the malo was suppressed) with well-judged oak.

Both are almost Burgundian in style, but will nonetheless require significant time in bottle for them to open up and express themselves. Full tasting notes and production details are below, and a full report on the 2022 vintage in the Rhône Valley can be found here.

Tasting notes and scores for the 2022 Domaine de la Chapelle red and white wines:

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Côte-Rôtie

Young Côte-Rôties are normally fairly easy to read, but that wasn’t the case with the 2022s. Many of them appeared very fruity, with soft structures, lacking energy and aromatic detail. There were some excellent exceptions however, often from those originating from old vines grown on schist and fermented with a proportion of whole bunch.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022 wines

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2022: Full report and top-scoring wines

The grapes appeared ready to pick very early on, according to Stéphane Ogier, but to obtain full phenolic maturity, ‘you really had to wait,’ he says.

The best are very tannic and will likely close down for a period after bottling, so could disappoint if opened too soon; patience will be essential. I intend to reassess these once in bottle when they should offer a clearer image of what’s to come.

Individual appellation analysis on:

Crozes-Hermitage | St-Joseph | Cornas & St-Péray | Hermitage

Condrieu

As for Condrieu, Ogier reports ‘good volumes, but low acidity, even though we blocked the malo’.

It was a very mixed bag, with many wines lacking a sense of drinkability – simply too high in alcohol, glycerol and soft peach fruit. But this wasn’t the case for all the wines. Where producers could find freshness and balance – thanks to great terroir, smart winemaking, or both – there are some very impressive wines.

The style this year is intense, flamboyant and powerful, even for Condrieu.

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022 key producers:

• Domaine JP Jamet, Côte-Rôtie
• E Guigal, Côte-Rôtie
• Stéphane Ogier, Côte-Rôtie
• M Chapoutier, Condrieu
• Pierre Jean Villa, Condrieu

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022 top value wines:

• Château le Devay, Condrieu 2022
• André Perret, Condrieu 2022
• Pierre Gaillard, Côte-Rôtie 2022
  

Matt Walls’ top-scoring Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2022 wines:

The wines below all scored 95 points or above, and are listed Condrieu then Côte-Rôtie in score order.

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• Walls’ hidden gems: Domaine Garon, Côte-Rôtie
• Regional profile: Condrieu plus 12 wines to seek out

It felt like I was tasting two different vintages while working my way through more than 100 St-Josephs this year. Some of the reds were diminutive but fresh and well-balanced; others were soft, luxurious and liqueur-fruited.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring St-Joseph 2022 wines

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2022: Full report and top-scoring wines

There are a lot of very good wines to choose from however, particularly in the lighter style, which was more prevalent around the southern pole of the appellation near Mauves.

The whites were also very good. Though some were overdone and heavy – particularly those using excessive new oak – most have managed to balance richness and drinkability. Nonetheless, expect an opulent, bombastic style.

Individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu | Crozes-Hermitage | Cornas & St-Péray | Hermitage

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

St-Joseph 2022 key producers:

• Domaine Coursodon
• Domaine Gonon
• Domaine JL Chave
• Lionel Faury
• M Chapoutier

St-Joseph 2022 top value wines:

• Domaine Coursodon, Silice Blanc, St-Joseph 2022
• Domaine Lionel Faury, Les Ribaudes, St-Joseph Rouge 2022
• Domaine Stéphane Rousset, St-Joseph Rouge 2022
  

Matt Walls’ top-scoring St-Joseph 2022 wines:

The wines below all scored 92 points or above, and are listed white then red in score order.

Related articles

• Rhône 2022 en primeur diary: The north
• Walls: Discovering St-Joseph estate Martine & Christian Rouchier
• St-Joseph 2021: report and top-scoring wines

Cornas

It was particularly dry in Cornas, with about 100mm of rain between April and harvest, according to Pierre Clape. It’s no surprise therefore that the ripening blockages are felt more keenly here than elsewhere in the north. ‘But the leaves stayed green, in contrast to 2003,’ says Clape.

Tannins can be difficult, rough and fibrous in places, but, both here and elsewhere, sensitive use of oak has helped to paper over the cracks and add some palate weight.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring Cornas & St-Péray 2022 wines

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2022: Full report and top-scoring wines

St-Péray

It’s a more consistent vintage in St-Péray, where the wines are generous and will be at their best in their youth.

It was a tough year for Roussanne throughout the northern Rhône, but Marsanne performed well, and tended to produce fresher and more balanced wines than Viognier.

Individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu | St-Joseph | Crozes-Hermitage | Hermitage

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

Cornas & St-Péray 2022 key producers:

• Franck Balthazar, Cornas
• Domaine Clape, Cornas
• Domaine Vincent Paris, Cornas
• Cave de Tain, St-Péray
• M Chapoutier, St-Péray

Cornas & St-Péray 2022 top value wines:

• Domaine Farge, Grain de Silex, St-Péray 2022
• Domaine Mucyn, Hypsos, Cornas 2022
• Domaine Eric et Joël Durand, Empreintes, Cornas 2022
  

Matt Walls’ top-scoring Cornas & St-Péray 2022 wines:

The wines below all scored 92 points or above, and are listed in order of St-Péray and Cornas in score order.

Related articles

• Walls: 10 exciting estates to know in Cornas
• Cornas to drink now: Matt Walls’ top 20
• Expert’s Choice: St-Péray

It’s an unusual style of red Hermitage this year: smaller in structure and stature than a usual year. Again, as with other appellations, it’s primarily down to problems with ripening – Guillaume Sorrel said it didn’t rain at all on the hill of Hermitage in June, July or August, and Maxime Chapoutier remembers the mercury hitting 40 ̊C as early as June.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring Hermitage 2022 wines

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2022: Full report and top-scoring wines

When balanced, the wines are charming, approachable and fairly fresh. The best will build complexity over time, but most will be at their peak when fairly young, about the 10-14 year mark. Soils with more clay such as Le Méal supplied wines with depth and intensity, but that Hermitage grandeur isn’t always present in 2022.

Individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu | St-Joseph | Cornas & St-Péray | Crozes-Hermitage

‘It was a bit more difficult for whites as they don’t like drought,’ says Jean-Louis Chave. In contrast to the reds, the whites are often very concentrated and powerful, sometimes with confit notes like dried pear. It’s not always the most elegant vintage for white Hermitage, but the best are majestic, unmistakably Hermitage, and will be very long-lived.

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

Hermitage 2022 key producers:

• Domaine JL Chave
• Domaine Laurent Fayolle
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• E Guigal
• M Chapoutier

Hermitage 2022 top value wines:

• Cave de Tain, Hermitage Blanc 2022
• Domaine Laurent Fayolle, Les Diognières, Hermitage Blanc 2022
• Domaine du Colombier, Hermitage Rouge 2022
  

Matt Walls’ top-scoring Hermitage 2022 wines:

The wines below scored 92 points and above, and are listed white then red in score order.

Related articles:

Walls: Get to know the 20 lieux-dits of Hermitage

Walls: Tasting Hermitage 2001 20 years on

Getting to know white Hermitage

After the disastrous 2021 vintage, 2022 is certainly a step up, though stylistically it couldn’t be more varied.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring Crozes-Hermitage 2022 wines

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2022: Full report and top-scoring wines

At one end of the spectrum, the Crozes-Hermitage wines are thin, dilute and green; at the other, overripe with high alcohol. They tend toward the fuller end of the scale however, often with black fruit flavours and thick, suede tannins. Acidities are low, but so are alcohol levels.

So not a brilliant year, but there are some standout wines that transcend the vintage.

Individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu | St-Joseph | Cornas & St-Péray | Hermitage

The whites are more consistent in both quality and style. It’s an opulent and sometimes heavy vintage, but when the wines have sufficient freshness and acidity to balance out the richness, they can be delicious. Flavours often tend towards mango and pineapple rather than orchard fruit, and I would drink them as young as possible.

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

Crozes-Hermitage 2022 key producers:

• David Reynaud
• Domaine Combier
• Domaine Laurent Fayolle
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Yves Cuilleron

Crozes-Hermitage 2022 top value wines:

Domaine Combier, Laurent Combier, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2022

Domaine Mucyn, Les Entrecoeurs, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2022

David Reynaud, Beaumont, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2022

Matt Walls’ top-scoring Crozes-Hermitage 2022 wines:

The wines below all scored 90 points or above, and are listed white then red in score order.

Related articles:

Crozes-Hermitage 2021: report and top-scoring wines

Rhône producer to know: Domaine Laurent Habrard, Crozes-Hermitage

Northern Rhône whites: Panel tasting results

Northern Rhône 2022 overall vintage rating: 4/5

Diverse in style and quality due to intense heat and drought. Blockages in ripening were widespread around Cornas and Hermitage, making for some lighter wines with moderate alcohol; others more robust. Côte-Rôtie tends to be soft and velvety. Whites can be overly rich but some are enjoyably powerful and exuberant.

‘Most will drink young and into the medium term, but the more tannic, structured wines will take a long time to soften, then age for decades’

In both the northern and southern Rhône, the contrast between the 2021 and 2022 vintages couldn’t be stronger. The 2021 vintage saw widespread frosts, then a cool, wet season; in 2022, growers were spared any frost damage, but experienced a hot, dry year.

In the north, there was almost a month’s difference in picking dates between 2021 and 2022: in 2021, Domaine Clape started harvesting its reds on 20 September; in 2022, it was 23 August.

Scroll down for Matt Walls’ top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 wines

The drought was less severe compared to the southern Rhône, but it was still extremely parched. Cornas struggled with widespread blockages in ripening due to water stress, and some wines display green, fibrous tannins as a result. Hermitage suffered too, but not to the same degree. Côte-Rôtie was blessed with a little more rain, and it shows in the style of the wines; softer, more velvety, if sometimes lacking acidity.

Stéphane Ogier, of his eponymous domaine, notes that ripening issues were more common with younger vines, and stressed the importance of fermenting with stems in 2022, which contributes structure and freshness and reduces alcohol levels.

See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores

Both bunches and berries were reduced in size in 2022 – Loïc Jamet at Domaine JP Jamet says that in some bunches ‘some grapes didn’t even touch each other, they were so small’. That’s good for aerating the grapes, reducing the likelihood of disease, but bad for overall yields.

The lack of water meant that even the vines themselves were stunted, often reaching little more than shoulder height, compared to the often lofty canopies which reach above head height. This meant limited photosynthesis, which was one reason why the wines have modest alcohol levels this year – typically 12.5% to 13.5% for reds, 13% to 14% for whites.

The hot, dry weather made for a relatively hassle-free year in the vineyard. Jamet says ‘it was quite an easy year for us, there wasn’t much need to scissor the vines [to control the canopy], and no rot’.

Pierre Rostaing of Domaine Rostaing says that there was little grass to cut between the vines. ‘But it was hard to watch the vines suffer,’ he says, with many vines, particularly younger ones, not surviving the summer.

Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Southern Rhône 2022: full report and top-scoring wines

Due to the disparity of style throughout the region this year, it’s hard to generalise about ageability; most will drink young and into the medium term, but the more tannic, structured wines will take a long time to soften, then age for decades. Consulting drinking windows is advisable.

There was much optimism among growers about vines acclimatising to hot, dry summers. Clément Bärtschi, winemaker and cellar master at M Chapoutier, adds that ‘growers have also adapted’ in the way they work: leaving more leaf shadow on the grapes, pressing more gently, reducing new oak, spraying wet clay on grapes to slow down ripening, picking whites earlier and seeking more generous yields.

And unlike 2003, ‘no-one planned to be on the coast in mid-August,’ says Bärtschi. This time growers were ready to react. The result is a better vintage than 2003, and although very mixed in style and quality, there are plenty of wines worth seeking out.

Northern Rhône 2022 red wine of the vintage

Domaine JL Chave, Hermitage

Northern Rhône 2022 white wine of the vintage

M Chapoutier, Le Méal, Hermitage

Individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu | St-Joseph | Cornas & St-Péray | Hermitage | Crozes-Hermitage

Rhône 2022 score tables:

All top Rhône 2022 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines

Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines

Top 10 northern Rhône producers

• Domaine Clape
• Domaine JL Chave
• Domaine JP Jamet
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Domaine Rostaing
• E Guigal
• Franck Balthazar
• M Chapoutier
• Pierre Jean Villa
• Stéphane Ogier

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022 wines:

The wines below all scored 96 points or above, and are listed white then red in score order.

Related articles

• Rhône 2022 en primeur diary: The north
• Northern Rhône whites: Panel tasting results
• Walls: top northern Rhône reds under £30

After tasting more than 1,200 wines for his Rhône 2022 en primeur report, Matt Walls has given his full verdict on the new vintage.

Here we present a quick and easy way to see tasting notes and scores for the 66 northern Rhône wines that scored 94 points and above.

Wines are listed by score then by style.

See also

Rhône 2022 En Primeur: full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Other score tables:

Southern Rhône 2022 score table

All Rhône 2022 wines score table

Top Rhône 2022 whites score table

Top Rhône 2022 reds score table

I cannot tell you just how tempting it is to describe François Merlin as a magician in the cellar. But this would be lazy. Not to mention inaccurate. There’s no trickery here – just decades of determination, raw talent and hard graft.

As Merlin approaches retirement, his domaine can now be considered among the top tier of northern Rhône producers. This is an extraordinary achievement, as he started out with nothing. In Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu, his might prove to be the last generation of winemakers to achieve this feat.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 12 wines from Domaine François Merlin

Early years

Tasting with Merlin tends to be swift. He’s always in a hurry, speaks loudly, and you get the feeling he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Behind his round black spectacles, his weathered features tell a story of a life lived in sun and wind.

After completing a year’s national service in the army, he was aimless, so spent time shepherding a farmer’s herd of goats in Condrieu. It was his love for working outdoors, rather than wine specifically, that led to his next job – tending vines for a winemaker in Ampuis. And not just any winemaker, but the great René Rostaing.

Merlin started working for Rostaing in 1985, and he quickly developed an interest in wine. In 1987, he bought just under a hectare of Condrieu vines (from the goat farmer) and he sold the first bottles under his own name in 1990. In 1999, he quit his job as head of viticulture for Rostaing in order to concentrate on his own production.

From Condrieu to Côte-Rotie

Bit by bit, his estate developed. In 2000, he bought more parcels of Condrieu and rented his first parcel of St-Joseph. It wasn’t until 2005 that he could afford to rent some Côte-Rôtie, 1.2ha of lieu-dit Cumelle. ‘I took what I could get,’ he says. ‘It was hard to find land back then. And it’s even harder now.’

At the time, south-facing sites in Condrieu were prized and the hardest to obtain; he had to put up with east-facing plots. As the climate has warmed up, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. And the parcels were in exceptional lieux-dits: Chanson, Côte Chatillon, Poncin and Jeanraude, which borders Château-Grillet.

His aim is to avoid ‘hot and heavy’ Condrieu, so climate change is a worry. Some winemakers suggest blocking malolactic fermentation, but not Merlin: ‘Cutting malo is not the answer,’ he says; ‘you lose minerality and depth.’

The St-Joseph Les Grands Ducs (named after the eagle owls that nest there) is also a favourable terroir – a sunny vineyard of granite and schist in St-Pierre-de-Boeuf. The first vintage they made had to be bottled under IGP Collines Rhodaniennes as the vines were so young. We tried it for fun; remarkably, it’s still offering pleasure and interest 10 years on.

It was his eldest son, Laurent, that planted the site in 2010. He studied viticulture and winemaking at college, rejoining his father at the estate in 2013. Now Laurent is in charge of winemaking and viticulture, and his father looks after the commercial side.

Last of the Mohicans

Laurent is fortunate that his father bought land when he did. In Côte-Rôtie, the price of vineyard land has ballooned to €1,250,000 per hectare (an increase of 13% over the last five years), with Condrieu around half that. Merlin belongs to the last generation who could build an estate here from scratch.

It’s gratifying for locals that these vineyards are now held in the esteem they deserve. But it feels like the end of an era now that local people will have such difficulty gaining a foothold in these ancient vineyards. No wonder Merlin is so often in a rush; he got in just as the door was closing.

See notes and scores for 12 wines from Domaine François Merlin

Related articles

• Rhône 2022 en primeur diary: The north
• Regional profile: Condrieu plus 12 wines to seek out
• Walls: Best Rhône wine lists in the UK

A week in the life of a Rhône correspondent during en primeur…

Sunday 17 September

If I leave my house in the UK after breakfast, I can reach Tain l’Hermitage by train in time for dinner. It’s a journey I make several times a year, but my autumn visit when I taste the new vintage (in this case the 2022) is the most instructive – and the most gruelling. Tasting around 80 wines a day takes a lot of concentration and you finish the day exhausted. Is that the sound of tiny violins I hear as I pull into the station? I press on undeterred.

For a region so obsessed with rugby, it’s surprisingly difficult to find somewhere to watch this evening’s England game. I’m directed to a new bar on the edge of town that opened a few months ago, called Numéro 9. It does a good burger and the terrace has a panoramic view of the hill of Hermitage – a sight I never tire of.

After the match, my mind turns to the week ahead, five days of intensive tasting and visits. I’ve heard it was a hot and dry vintage, but reading some weather reports clarifies the situation – 2022 was the hottest and driest since 1950. Uh-oh. Will I find a repeat of the jammy 2003s, a year that suffered similar conditions? I sincerely hope not.

Monday 18 September

I’m woken up at 5am by a clap of thunder. It’s still raining when I get up. Normally I walk up to the Chapelle on Hermitage hill before a day’s tasting in Tain, but the lazy devil on my shoulder is rather smug – I have a satisfactory excuse to skip the morning’s exercise. I drive to the Maison des Vins, windscreen wipers on maximum, which will be my base for the next few days.

After lunch I visit Chapoutier to taste through its 2022s, including some very impressive Hermitage. Maxime Chapoutier says they saw 180mm of rain in certain parcels during the last 12 hours – that’s a quarter of a year’s rainfall. The term ‘climate chaos’ is no exaggeration.

I finish the day at Le Tournesol restaurant in Tournon. It’s run by a welcoming husband-and-wife team serving small plates of seasonal French cooking, and has an exceptional wine list with lots of hard-to-find gems. Worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Tuesday 19 September

I get up early to blue skies. The foot of the hill of Hermitage is cluttered with heaps of sandy soil washed down the slopes, broken échalas (the poles on which the vines are trained), bits of old vine…despite a small tree blocking the path I make my way to the summit. The Rhône River flows a muddy brown below.

Today I’m tasting Cornas and Hermitage. Expecting sweetly ripe fruit and high alcohol, what I find is the opposite – light, just-ripe wines, sometimes with green tannins. It’s confounding.

An afternoon visiting Pierre and Olivier Clape of Domaine Clape, then Franck Balthazar of his eponymous domaine, sheds some light on the vintage – it was so dry in 2022 that some vines shut down and stopped ripening. Things begin to make sense.

Wednesday 20 September

I work through the whites today. Some appellations, such as St-Joseph, are more successful than others. It’s certainly not as fresh and tense in style as the cool 2021 – quite the opposite, rich and potent.

A visit to Domaine Gonon is always a highlight of my northern Rhône tastings. Jean Gonon is buoyant but weary after a tough season – he’s just finished harvesting the 2023s. ‘The most stressful moment is deciding when to pick,’ he says, and stresses the importance of having a good team at harvest.

We taste the 2019, 2020 and 2021 wines from bottle; a sample of 2022 from tank; then take a peek at his 2023s, still fermenting, frothy and sweet.

Thursday 21 September

A daunting line-up of red Crozes-Hermitage today – 76 in total. The hot, dry weather is reflected in the wines here: very ripe, powerful, with suede-like tannins. They are certainly more successful than the disastrous 2021s, but not all have good balance.

Afterwards I meet with Grégory Joannès, the new managing director of Paul Jaboulet Aîné. The company has been restructured, and a new property established. The jewel in the Jaboulet crown, Hermitage La Chapelle, has been scythed off, and will now be made in a new winery called Domaine de la Chapelle. Paul Jaboulet Aîné will continue to make its other domaine wines and negociant blends, with a tighter focus on the northern Rhône. I’ll get the full low-down in November.

Friday 22 September

A day of visits around Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu today, starting at 9am at Domaine JP Jamet. Wow, its Côte-Rôties are tannic! Certainly more structured than a typical year, but still detailed, fresh and expressive.

Pierre Rostaing’s are softer and more velvety in style. The weather in 2022 made for a relatively relaxed end to the season – there was no grass to cut and no disease pressure due to the drought. But ‘it was hard to watch the vines suffer,’ he says. Usually around 1% of his vines die naturally each year. It was 3%-4% in 2022. There will be a lot of replanting to do this winter.

A comprehensive tasting of Stéphane Ogier’s single-vineyard wines, some brilliant, finishes a long and enlightening week.

I expected wines akin to 2003 or 2019; what I found was a fascinating if curious mix of 2014, 2016 and 2018. Is it a good year? Yes; but not uniformly. It will be interesting to see how the southern Rhône compares. I’ll let you know.

Look out for Matt Walls’ southern Rhône diary next week.

Related articles

• Bordeaux 2022: The en primeur experience
• Walls: 26 value Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines to try
• Northern Rhône whites: Panel tasting results

In the 1960s, Viognier nearly died out completely. Many Decanter readers would be horrified by this scenario, but certainly not all – it is, after all, one of the most divisive of grapes. Its birthplace is Condrieu, and the new president of the appellation, Pierre-Jean Villa, is under no illusions. ‘People either like it or they don’t.’ he says. ‘It’s not universally enjoyed like Chardonnay.’ But those that like it, love it. To him, ‘Condrieu is magic – but fragile’. In the face of climate change, he’s helping a new generation of winemakers adapt their winemaking to create a fresher style of wine.

Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ selection of 12 Condrieu wines to try

Founding father

Today there are more than 16,000ha of Viognier grown around the globe (source: ‘Which Winegrape Varieties are Grown Where?’, Anderson & Nelgen, revised edition 2020), but it wasn’t always so widespread. It originates in the northern Rhône, where it has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years. But the late 19th and early 20th centuries were tempestuous, and after the region was battered by phylloxera and two world wars, by 1965 plantings had dwindled to just 8ha. The late Georges Vernay never stopped believing in Condrieu, however, and he inspired a group of fellow winemakers to replant the region’s vertiginous terraces. Together they saved Viognier from extinction and since then it has spread around the world.

Strong character

For anyone studying for wine exams, being served a Viognier in a blind tasting is always a bonus as it’s so easily identifiable. But strong characters can be polarising. Some love the variety for its opulent fullness, satin texture and heady fragrance of peach, violet and jasmine. For others, its acidity is too low, alcohol too high, and the perfume and flamboyance are overpowering.

Contrarily, it’s possible to like Condrieu even if you’re not a huge fan of Viognier. When Viognier is grown on this particular sequence of airy granite slopes – particularly the dark biotite granite at the heart of the appellation – it takes on a salinity and intensity that helps to balance the variety’s natural propensity to corpulence.

But the 21st century has produced a new threat – one that can exaggerate Condrieu’s personality still further: a rapidly heating climate. It’s something of which the new generation of local winemakers are acutely aware. Aurélien Chirat, who recently took over his family estate after spending time in New Zealand, says ‘we need to find freshness – without forgetting we’re from the Rhône’.

Condrieu at a glance

AP created 1940; one of the eight northern Rhône crus

Wines 100% still white, mostly dry but a small amount of sweet Condrieu is produced

Grapes 100% Viognier

Climate Continental: hot summers, cold winters, strong north wind

Private estates 87

Annual production (2022) 215ha producing 7,961hl (average yield 37hl/ha)

Amount exported 32%

Vineyard surface certified organic 14%

Vineyard surface certified HVE 31%

Top recent vintages 2021, 2020, 2016, 2014

[SOURCE: INTER RHONE, 2022]

Leading from the front

When the presidency of the appellation became available, Pierre-Jean Villa (pictured above) hoped that a young wine-grower might rise to the occasion. But he didn’t see many hands go up, he says, and he gradually realised that most were too inexperienced for this political role. In the spirit of Georges Vernay, Villa felt a duty to lead from the front, ‘until someone from the next generation is ready to take it on’. They’re all fortunate: Villa is one of the finest vignerons of his generation.

Villa has identified two main objectives, the first of which is to update and refresh the image of Condrieu – he is currently working with an agency on branding and digital communication.

The second is altogether more crucial: to help local winemakers adapt their viticulture, ‘to avoid the wines getting overly heavy and rich in the face of climate change’, he says.

Villa is an expert in all things viticultural and has several approaches in mind, such as using massal selection instead of clones (ie, propagating new vines using cuttings from the best existing stock of old vines in a vineyard) and choosing more resistant rootstocks. He’s also keen to promote agroforestry (planting trees within and around vineyards), which can help to reduce erosion, increase biodiversity and reduce greenhouse gases – something he’s been experimenting with in his own holdings.

Villa points out that Viognier has one major strength in the battle against climate change – it’s not averse to hot weather. It’s a naturally low-acid variety that finds balance through minerality and positive bitterness. ‘We’ve always made wines at 14% with low acidity,’ says Villa.

Fighting the flab

Xavier Gérard took over the family estate from his father François in 2013 and has rapidly gained a strong following for his Condrieu. He says that the new generation of winemakers have been adapting their work in the cellar as well to create a more balanced, food-friendly style.

In the winery, keeping temperatures low during fermentation and very gentle pressing to avoid crushing the skins both help to rein in overly exuberant fruit flavours. Reducing lees stirring during maturation helps to avoid flabbiness. And dialling down on the oak also helps – particularly heavily toasted barrels that add vanilla flavours and oak tannins that ‘make the wine even fatter’, says Gérard. ‘I’m really backing off from small barrels and new oak.’

In order to preserve freshness and acidity in the wines in warmer vintages, Gérard has an ingenious approach to harvesting. He brings in half of his grapes early at just 11.5% potential alcohol with high acidity, then the other half when they’re fully ripe: the best of both worlds.

A greener future

When the late Georges Vernay retired after the 1996 vintage, he handed the estate to his daughter Christine, who still leads the estate today. Growing grapes without resorting to herbicide in Condrieu is particularly challenging, since everything on these precarious terraces needs to be done by hand. But Domaine Georges Vernay is now certified organic and they are working towards biodynamics. ‘This is a historic estate,’ says Christine, ‘and we have a duty to lead by example.’

Christine Vernay has proved an inspiration in other ways. Female winemakers were rare 20 years ago, but she has demonstrated that success is possible for the women who are taking over their family estates today. Among them is her daughter Emma. I asked Christine which areas Emma will have to master at the domaine. ‘Everything,’ she answered.

It’s not going to be easy. With Viognier, she’ll be growing a demanding grape variety in challenging terrain, and in a chaotic climate. But the new generation in Condrieu benefit from strong leadership, and are adapting their methods to make some thrillingly fresh and drinkable wines.

It’s not for everyone, admittedly. But for those of us who love it, nothing compares – just one sniff and we know we’re in for a treat.

10 names to know in Condrieu

Cave Yves Cuilleron

For many, Yves Cuilleron is synonymous with Condrieu, but when he originally took over the family estate, in 1987, it was just 3.5ha. Now he owns plots in almost all northern Rhône appellations, totalling 75ha. Winemaking, however, remains notably hands-off, and the results reliably excellent.

Clos de la Bonnette

Established by Isabelle and Henri Guiller-Montabonnet in 2009. Their picturesque vineyards are tucked away in a verdant valley in the hills behind Condrieu town and have always been organic. Their son Antoine is now taking up the reins. Try their vibrant Condrieu Légende Bonnetta (2020, £55.95 Lea & Sandeman) to see why this is one of my favourite new estates.

Domaine André Perret

When André took over from his father in 1982, the estate was mostly fruit trees. What he hands over to his daughter Marie today is one of the very foremost Condrieu estates. His cuvée Chéry is consistently one of the greatest wines of the appellation – a measured and beautiful expression.

Domaine du Monteillet

At wine tastings around France, this estate’s stand is always mobbed. It’s no surprise as owner Stéphane Montez makes complex and expressive St-Josephs and Côte-Rôties – and some thrilling Condrieu. His cuvée La Grillette from a plot bordering Château-Grillet is particularly concentrated and intense.

Domaine François Villard

François was training to be a chef when he was bitten by the wine bug and bought his first Condrieu vineyard in 1988. He now has 40ha around the northern Rhône. He makes three expressive Condrieus from different terroirs and his new fourth cuvée, Villa Pontciana, is a selection of his best barrels.

Domaine Georges Vernay

Christine Vernay, took over from her father Georges in 1996; she makes three Condrieu cuvées and all are consistently excellent. Her Terrasses de l’Empire (2018, £72.95 Wine Republic) is the most approachable and classically styled. Les Chaillées d’Enfer (2020, £98.75-£120 All About Wine, Fintry Wines, Strictly Wine, Vinvm) is more concentrated, from two 50-year-old plots of Viognier. The Coteau de Vernon is a wine of great complexity and freshness that can last for decades.

Domaine Niero

One of the rare northern Rhône estates that produces more white wine than red, and is expert at Condrieu. Established in 1985 by Robert Niero, now managed by his son Rémi. In conversion to organic.

Domaine Pierre-Jean Villa

Originally from Chavanay in the northern Rhône, Villa trained and worked in Burgundy before returning home to establish his own estate, which is now certified organic. Villa is an expert in all things viticultural and recently took over as the new president of the appellation. Wines of great balance and elegance.

Domaine Stephane Ogier

Stéphane’s father Michel established the estate in 1983 and within 30 years it reached the top tier of northern Rhône producers. Best known for his single-vineyard Côte-Rôties, but his Condrieus are equally impressive. His Combe de Malleval (2020, £45 Laithwaites) is generous but not exaggerated, while his Vieilles Vignes de Jacques Vernay (no relation to Georges) is a more intense, ageworthy example.

Domaine Xavier Gerard

Unfailingly enthusiastic, Xavier took over the family domaine from his father François in 2013, after a stage at Boekenhoutskloof in South Africa – known for its excellent Syrah. He’s one of northern Rhône’s most exciting new talents, making fresh and drinkable Condrieu that’s now among the very best.

Finest Viognier: Walls’ 12 Condrieu wines to tempt

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On 28 June 2019, France recorded its highest ever temperature: 45.9 ̊ C (114.6°F) in Gallargues-le-Montueux, just outside the Costières de Nîmes appellation. Further north in Côte-Rôtie the mercury didn’t reach quite so high, but it was still a season marked by extreme heat.

I was worried that the 2019 Côte-Rôties might resemble the jammy 2003s, a vintage I tend to avoid. Thankfully the vines coped much better this time around, and produced some exciting, exuberant wines – but not all. Some tipped over into excessive ripeness and high alcohol, something that has become even more apparent since bottling. So was 2019 a great year? Not exactly; but it was a year with some great wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the 25 top-scoring 2019 Côte-Rôtie in bottle

The growing season

It wasn’t just a hot year in the northern Rhône, it was dry too. However Côte-Rôtie wasn’t quite as parched as Cornas and Hermitage, thanks to intermittent showers in July and August.

Maxime Chapoutier, in charge of production at M Chapoutier, remembers a relatively tranquil season with little disease pressure. Benjamin Duclaux, who runs Domaine Benjamin & David Duclaux with his brother, agrees: ‘The season passed relatively calmly,’ he says. ‘We were helped by a lovely September which allowed us to harvest under beautiful sunny conditions. We started the harvest on 18 September. From then we had to harvest quickly, because the sugars were rising rapidly.’

Christophe Bonnefond of Domaine Bonnefond says that he and his brother Patrick had to adapt the way they worked in the vineyard, rising early to avoid the heat and keeping as much leaf cover as possible on the vines. They also had to work gently in the cellar. They restricted fermentation temperatures to no more than 25 ̊ C, ‘and above all no punching down, just pumping over, in order to keep fruit and freshness,’ says Christophe.

See tasting notes and scores for all 45 wines tasted

The style of the wines

The 2019 vintage is a high-octane year with huge power and impact. The quality of the wines is largely very good; although the growing conditions weren’t dramatically different from 2018, they have more vibrancy and intensity, which gives the 2019s the edge.

‘The difficulty in this kind of vintage is not to let the grapes get overripe, in order to preserve the balance,’ says Duclaux. While he produced some beautifully precise wines, others were less successful.

Most of the wines from 2019 range between 14% and 14.5%, and while some did a good job of balancing this with tannin, fruit and acidity, there are some wines that feel overly rich and potent.

Where winemakers chose their picking dates wisely, there are some seriously impressive wines. Tannins tend to be fine and plentiful; fruit is lush and ripe. Acidity can be on the low side but largely the wines have a sense of freshness and vibrancy. Of the 45 wines I tasted blind, there were no bad wines, but some had succumbed to the forceful – and not always benevolent – nature of the vintage.

See Matt Walls en primeur report for Côte-Rôtie 2019

Outstanding performers

Domaine Bonnefond’s single-vineyard wines were very impressive, and Léa Bonnefond, Christophe’s daughter, deserves to be singled out for particular praise: her first vintage was among the best in the line-up. Clearly a talent to watch.

M Chapoutier’s three cuvées were all very strong, as were those from Domaine du Monteillet and Pierre Jean Villa. It’s no coincidence that most of their holdings are on brune soils – generally speaking, vines grown on heavier schist soils produced more balanced wines in 2019 than those on free-draining blonde gneiss.

This was evidenced by E Guigal’s ‘La-Las’. La Landonne and La Turque were both stunning, but La Mouline (on blonde soils), though attractively aromatic in 2019, doesn’t have the same depth.

Two producers that seemed to buck this trend were Domaine Benjamin & David Duclaux and Domaine Georges Vernay. Though their holdings are largely towards the south of the appellation on gneiss and granite, they both made compelling wines in 2019.

Drink or hold?

Just under half the wines I tasted can be enjoyed straight away, delicious already thanks to their plump, ripe fruits and smooth tannins. It’s worth taking note of the drinking windows however, as some of the wines are more robust and will benefit from longer in bottle before opening. However it doesn’t strike me as the kind of vintage that will suffer from a closed period, unlike the 2015s.

Most will age well on their richness and concentration; 2019 will be a long-lived vintage. That said, those with high alcohols are likely to show better while they still have youthful fruit and juicy tannin, and this is reflected in the drinking window.

Fans of powerful Côte-Rôties will find a lot to enjoy in 2019. Those who prefer a more classic style might be better off choosing 2020. Me? I’m buying both.

Matt Walls’ top Côte-Rôtie 2019 wines to try

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Upon completing her PhD in Risk Management, Sophie Clusel gave up a steady job to dedicate herself to a single hectare of vines in Côte-Rôtie. Now I’m not sure what they teach in the curriculum these days, but it doesn’t strike me as an entirely risk-free decision. But there are several things that are unusual about this new estate.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for nine L’Euthymie De Sophie wines

The winemaking community of Côte-Rôtie can feel quite conservative, so it’s refreshing to be greeted by a woman with multiple piercings and a top-knot. ‘I’m not a real domaine,’ she was quick to claim, as in fact she owns just less than 1ha of vines (0.8567ha to be precise!) But I prefer to measure a domaine in terms of quality rather than size. And thankfully her brilliant wines are very real indeed.

Another intriguing element is the name. ‘Euthymia’ (not to be confused with any 80s synth-pop bands) means an internal state of tranquillity and psychological well-being. In a region whose estates almost always take the surname of the owner, it’s a bold break from tradition.

It was her grandfather who originally bought some vines. He passed them down to Sophie’s father, an artisan metalworker, who cultivated them in his spare time. He also bought some further prime parcels, back when vineyards in Côte-Rôtie were available and affordable; ‘another time, another world,’ said Sophie.

Winemaking was a part-time project for Sophie too when she took on the family vineyards. ‘You don’t know how it all works simply because you’re born into it,’ she said, so on top of a high-pressure job and finishing her PhD, she also completed her winemaking qualifications. I can only assume her state of mind during this intense period was anything but euthymic.

She started small. Her first vintage was 2015, and she made just 700 bottles, selling the rest in bulk. With samples in her hand, she walked around local towns and villages ‘as excited as a flea’ selling her wine to shops and restaurants, relying on word of mouth to promote them.

As the years have passed, the proportion of wine in bottle has increased. Her 2020 vintage will be the first to be sold entirely under glass, topping out at a modest 5,000 bottles, most of which she still sells locally.

By 2018 she was ready to give up her day job and concentrate on her passion. Her plantings are limited, but her parcels are enviable: Côte Blonde, Côte Brune, La Landonne, Rozier, Collet, Tupin. She now makes two Côte-Rôties: a cuvée classique and a single vineyard ‘La Landonne’.

She still hadn’t bottled her 2019s when I visited in the spring of 2023 – she’s aiming for four years in barrel. ‘If you wait a bit longer, the wines are much more approachable,’ she said. It’s unlikely she’ll wait quite so long to bottle the lighter 2021s though; ‘it’s the vintage that decides.’

The 2019s are around 30% destemmed, and her 2020s are entirely whole-bunch fermented. Extraction is gentle, and she favours the traditional submerged cap method rather than more energetic methods.

Her 2015 cuvée classique was highly competent if not necessarily a wine to seek out; a good first attempt. The progress she has made from there is remarkable, making leaps in quality with each passing vintage.

‘I work the same soils the Romans worked – and these vineyards were already famous when they arrived,’ said Sophie. With this kind of a track record, perhaps changing careers wasn’t such a big risk after all.

Unless her winemaking skills were imperfect of course. But if her 2019s and 2020s fulfil the promise they show in barrel, then Sophie clearly has considerable talent. It’s not just Sophie that enjoys some tranquility from tending her vines; I can happily report great psychological well-being from drinking them.

Matt Walls tastes and rates nine L’Euthymie De Sophie wines

Matt Walls, Cat Lomax and Tanguy Martin tasted 109 wines with 6 Outstanding and 50 Highly recommended.

Northern Rhône whites: Panel tasting scores

109 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 6

Highly recommended 50

Recommended 40

Commended 13

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit any latest-release white wines from the northern Rhône, made from grapes sourced exclusively from the northern Rhône growing area

When I tasted the 2020 northern Rhône whites from barrel for my en primeur report, I was captivated by their vibrancy. Then when I returned a year later, I was amazed that the 2021s appeared even fresher. So, I had high hopes for this tasting, and was keen to see how recent vintages compared now they’re in bottle.

The tasting confirmed them both to be excellent vintages for whites in the northern Rhône, but very different in style. We tasted the youngest first, and were all impressed by the vivid, zesty profile of the 2021 vintage (74 wines tasted) and its naturally crisp acidity. It is a lean and athletic year for whites, but they can sometimes lack depth and richness.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Northern Rhône whites panel tasting

Cat Lomax certainly enjoyed the vintage. ‘2021 is definitely on the fresher end of the spectrum – quite nervy wines, very tightly wound, closed, almost hiding their potential. They need time,’ she said. ‘The successful 2021s have the depth of fruit and concentration that will unravel and open out, and will overcome the bracing element of the acidity that’s still there now because they’re so young.’

Some appellations were stronger than others in 2021. It is clearly a great vintage for Condrieu: a return to classicism after a series of hot vintages. Though a few were unripe or overoaked, it was otherwise impressively consistent. It was very good in St-Joseph and Hermitage for fans of a fresh and mineral white style. St-Péray was particularly impressive, too, and we all agreed that this appellation deserves more attention. The weak link in 2021 was Crozes-Hermitage. It was a wet, complicated vintage that made for disappointing reds, and the whites are only marginally better. Although some were enjoyably drinkable, many were dilute, and you should drink them without delay.

Of the two vintages, Tanguy Martin had a clear preference. ‘There are some amazing wines in 2021, but in terms of quality you have to pick more carefully; 2020 is a consistent vintage across the board. It’s riper and more generous, and will last longer.’

Of the 2020s (25 tasted), Lomax found wines ‘at the meeting point of fruit exuberance and freshness, with lovely creamy softness’ – the kind of wines that ‘make you want to sink into the glass’. This richer character was apparent across all appellations in 2020, but they aren’t as opulent as the 2019s (five wines tasted, along with one 2018 and three 2022), some of which appeared overly ripe and alcoholic.

See all 56 highly recommended and outstanding wines from the Northern Rhône whites panel tasting

There were fewer Collines Rhodaniennes, Côtes du Rhône and Vin de France examples to taste, and the wines we did see were decidedly mixed in style, quality and value. There were some very average wines, but also some real gems. If you enjoy creative, original wines, this is where to look, with some producers experimenting with skin contact and reduction to thrilling effect.

So which vintage is better for northern Rhône whites: 2020 or 2021? Time will tell. It’s an argument I look forward to having around the dinner table for years to come!

Northern Rhône whites panel tasting scores

The judges

Matt Walls is an awarded wine writer, author and consultant, a contributing editor to Decanter and the DWWA Regional Chair for the Rhône.

Cat Lomax is a wine and wine retail consultant who has held buying and senior trading roles across key premium wine retailers in the UK, including Laithwaites, Waitrose, Majestic and most recently Marks & Spencer.

Tanguy Martin is business development manager and ambassador for Roberson Wine. He completed his oenology diploma in Montpellier before heading to England in 2011, gaining the title of UK Sommelier of the Year in 2015 while working as head sommelier for the late Gerard Basset OBE MW MS. Having moved to London, Martin was wine buyer and wine director for a number of established restaurants.

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When I taste the new vintage in the Rhône every autumn, I taste the wines blind, meaning the bottles are covered up. At the end, when the wines are revealed, many of the top performers are no great surprise. Something I find particularly exciting, however, is to see an estate that I’m unfamiliar with do better and better, year after year; a dark horse breaking away from the pack. In recent years, this is something I’ve witnessed with Vignobles Chirat.

Aurélien Chirat was tinkering with some machinery when I arrived at his winery to find out more. It’s located in the little village of Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône in the heart of Condrieu, high on a hillside overlooking the Rhône river. Aged 35, he is younger than I was expecting, a calm presence but bright and chatty.

Aurélien, a fourth generation winemaker, joined his father Gilbert at the estate in 2008. ‘When I arrived,’ said Aurélien, ‘he threw the keys at me and said “now it’s your job!”’ They worked together until February 2023, when his father fully retired.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 11 Vignobles Chirat wines to try

New tricks

After his studies, Aurélien did some internships in other wine regions. In 2012 he worked at Te Kairanga in Martinborough, New Zealand. Compared to his father’s more rustic approach, he was struck by the precision of the winemaking.

I asked Aurélien what he brought back from his visit. A lot, it turns out: an improved approach to cellar hygiene and oxygen transfer, a better understanding of chemical analysis, and new techniques such as cold maceration.

He has continued to experiment since his return. Since 2019, he’s stirred the lees (bâtonnage) of his reds – a process more commonly associated with white wines. He finds it adds body and power, which was useful in the rather reedy 2021 vintage.

He has also taken to blocking (or part-blocking) malolactic fermentation in his whites in hot vintages. He prefers this to acidifying, a practice more common in the southern Rhône, but one that’s been creeping north as the climate gets hotter.

Old ways

Learning new approaches from other regions has been valuable, but Aurélien says that benefiting from his father’s knowledge has been priceless. ‘He was the best winemaker, but hated the commerce and the administration,’ said Aurélien. ‘He knows the terroir, he knows how his father worked, how his grandfather worked. Which is great, because we need to look to the past to see how to work today.’

As a response to climate change, his father suggested two key modifications to their red winemaking, both of which were common in the region 50 years ago: chapeau immergé (submerged cap) and whole-bunch fermentation. ‘We destemmed everything before 2016,’ said Aurélien, ‘before, stems were an aberration to me. Now I hardly destem at all.’

As for chapeau immergé, he says ‘it’s like a cafetière’. Instead of letting the mass of skins and stems float to the surface of the fermenting juice, it’s held under the surface by a perforated wooden board. So no more pumping over or punching down: ‘it’s diffusion, not extraction,’ he says. Since employing these old techniques, he’s found his wines have gained finesse.

Back to the future

Often when a young winemaker takes over an estate, they have ambitions to expand. But not Aurélien – quite the opposite. He’s already reduced their holdings from 10ha down to 8ha.

This is partly a response to his father’s retirement – the loss of a pair of hands. But it’s also driven by his desire to work more sustainably. ‘I might have to give up more parcels to concentrate on just those I can work organically. Some might call me an idiot, but it’s a personal choice. Our ancestors had small domaines, and they all worked organically before chemicals arrived. You can live on five to six hectares here. I’d prefer to do this than lose part of my soul.’

Since arriving at the estate 15 years ago, Aurélien’s made a raft of changes. And the wines have gone from strength to strength. He’s clearly much more than a one-trick pony.

Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for 11 Vignobles Chirat wines:

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In Bordeaux it’s not unusual to walk through echoey corridors stacked floor to ceiling with bottles of older wines. But the culture in the northern Rhône is different. Most producers will squirrel away a few cases for special occasions, but winemakers usually sell through an entire vintage rather than hold a proportion back.

It’s understandable. A Bordeaux estate is typically five times the size of a domaine in Côte-Rôtie. Older vignerons from around Ampuis still remember when selling their wine wasn’t as easy as it is today, or as rewarding. Holding stock back wasn’t financially viable for many.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the Domaine Burgaud Côte-Rôtie vintage vertical

This difference in culture isn’t down to the longevity of the wines. Tempting though it is to drink it young, Côte-Rôtie can age beautifully. Domaine Burgaud has small reserves going back to the 1980s, and Pierre Burgaud generously opened a selection of mature bottles recently for me to taste.

Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2021: report and top-scoring wines

The key to longevity

The wines we tasted dated from 2008 back to 1988, and most of them were still going strong. What’s the secret of their longevity?

Could it be the use of stems? Some estates ferment using whole bunches in the belief that it contributes a certain framework to the wines that helps them to age. But at Domaine Burgaud they de-stem the crop. Pierre, who took over from his father Bernard in 2020, says it’s ‘not necessarily true’ that fermenting with stems helps wine to age, and that it can contribute green tannins, which he wants to avoid.

Could it be high acidity? Pierre doesn’t pick particularly early, nor do the wines taste particularly acidic compared to other Côte-Rôties. So it’s not that.

Could it be gentle extraction or long infusion? The traditional submerged cap method that favours a long, gentle extraction of fine tannins is seeing a comeback in Côte-Rôtie. But not at this domaine. Quite the opposite – they opt for a brief 10-day maceration, during which they punch down the cap four times a day. Pierre believes this robust extraction in fact improves the wine’s potential to age.

Could it be long élevage? Many estates in Côte-Rôtie mature their wines for 18-24 months or even longer. The Burgauds believe that long élevage tires their wines, so they opt for a relatively short period of 14 months in barrel.

Could it be use of new oak? Though its use is waning in Côte-Rôtie, many estates still use a significant proportion of new barrels. Domaine Burgaud uses relatively little, just 20%.

When it comes to winemaking, there is no single element that makes a Côte-Rôtie ageworthy. Whatever the approach and methods used, producing a balanced wine is really the key.

A more important consideration, says Pierre, is the terroir. A glance at the map below shows the favourable position of their parcels: Côte Blonde, Fongeant, La Brosse, Le Champin, Les Moutonnes and Leyat.

There is one factor, however, clearly highlighted in this tasting, that does make a big difference to a wine’s longevity – but it’s outside a winemaker’s control. It’s the weather. It’s no guarantee, but great vintages – such as 1991 in Côte-Rôtie – hold the trump card when it comes to how long a wine will last.

See also: Top-quality and great-value Côte-Rôtie alternatives

Vintage character

Pierre made the following comments on the vintages we opened:

2008: A rainy year with late ripening, which required severe sorting in the vineyard in order to produce a quality harvest.

2007: A decent, normal year with a reasonable yield, producing satisfactory but not exceptional quality, with no serious problems.

2006: A very generous year in volume, with high levels of sugar in the grapes, the first year when even the parcels that are last to be picked quickly achieved full ripeness. A perfectly healthy crop.

2005: Small volumes due to relatively few grapes on the vines and low precipitation during the season – but very good quality. Not much juice, producing concentrated wines.

2004: A difficult year, with a serious outbreak of mildew in the vineyard.

2003: Frost in spring led to few grapes, then a heatwave in August singed the remaining grapes.

1999: A year with hail before flowering, with greater or lesser losses according to each sector; vegetative stress for three weeks before the vines started up again; ripeness arrived however, and in the end the parcels that were hit by hail produced the best quality fruit.

1996: Frost in springtime, but the crop ripened well afterwards; a late harvest, but almost normal volumes. Wines with a decent level of natural sugar but slightly higher acidity.

1991: A beautiful vintage in Côte-Rôtie. No frost like in Bordeaux that year, the growing season was perfect, the state of the harvest was ideal.

1990: The first year when the plateau (late-ripening) was more successful than the hillside (early ripening). Very abundant flowering on the slopes, less so on the plateau, there were drought conditions that blocked the ripening process in the vineyards on the slopes. The difference in crop load and the blockage in ripening meant that the slopes weren’t ripe, whereas the plateau vineyards were high in quality.

1988: A very small harvest, yielding little juice and concentrated, austere wines, because the ripening at the end of the season occurred in cold conditions, with a north wind. Good concentration but very high acidity for a wine of this ripeness.

Domaine Burgaud Côte-Rôtie 1988-2008:

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Vienne

Located south of Lyon, La Pyramide in Vienne is a ‘temple to gastronomy’, according to Decanter’s Rhône correspondent Matt Walls.

This two Michelin star family-run restaurant offers a fine dining experience, sourcing many of its ingredients from the Rhône Valley. Led by checf Patrick Henriroux, it creates an innovative cuisine that combines traditional French techniques with modern twists.

Ampuis

If you’re looking for a casual and relaxed dining experience to enjoy local dishes accompanied by an extensive Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu wine list, then there are two great bistros located in Ampuis that will not disappoint:

Le Bistrot de Serine features an authentic local cuisine that pairs perfectly with its well thought out regional wine list. To ensure you pick the perfect tipple to match your meal, the helpful staff is on hand to share their expert knowledge of the wines.

Les Epicurieux offers a fresh, simple, tasty cuisine sourced locally and organically, with a carefully selected wine list from recognised estates and winegrowers who align with their values of respect for mother nature.

For a more formal dining experience, Domaine de Clairefontaine is an indulgent place to stop. This one Michelin star restaurant provides seasonal and signature menus bursting with fresh flavours that highlight local products. 

Tain-l’Hermitage

Visit Le Mangevins for fresh dishes perfectly paired with exceptional wines by the glass or bottle.

Tournon

Travel over the river in Tournon to visit the highly recommended Le Cerisier restaurant renowned for its excellent wine list and homemade dishes. This is a small establishment with two uniquely different rooms, both offering a warm friendly environment. The second room leads on to an elegant hidden terrace. Delicious dishes, creatively modernised and made from good quality local ingredients, are served at Le Cerisier.

Get the chance to experience some of the culinary delights of the northern Rhône as part of the Decanter Wine Experiences.

 Walls will take you on a guided tour of the Rhône Valley giving you exclusive access to wineries and top dining experiences you wouldn’t get anywhere else.

Dates: 25th of June until the 2nd of July 2023 

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Fifteen years ago, I arrived late with a couple of friends to the village of Tain l’Hermitage. It was dark, it was cold, we were hungry. We left our hotel on foot to find something to eat. It was only 9.30pm, but a couple of brasseries in the main square were already closing.

There was one place that was still busy, a local pizza joint. We asked the waitress if we could order some food. She asked the chef. He said no, it was 9.45pm, far too late. But she was still serving desserts, she said, if we wanted one? My dinner that night was ice cream, chocolate mousse and a crème brûlée.

It used to amaze me that the home of Hermitage, and the Northern Rhône more generally, was so uninterested in tourism. A lot has changed since then.

It’s surprising that any kind of tourism took so long to establish itself here – after all, these steep, terraced vineyards are some of the most dramatic in the world. It’s an unspoilt landscape that attracts a lot of walkers, cyclists and water sports enthusiasts.

Most of the other main draws are wine-related: walking tours through the vineyards, winery visits, and plenty of places to eat and drink to balance out all that healthy daytime activity.

It might be possible to get a meal after 9.30pm these days, but it’s still important to do your research before arriving. Most wineries are small, family-run domaines and though most will be happy to welcome visitors, you should always book in advance. It will probably be the owner or their family that receive you personally – no polished marketing droids here.

A few tips. Make sure you get directions, as some can be hard to find – and French addresses can be exasperatingly vague. It might also be worth checking what languages they speak if you don’t speak French. And if possible, leave the kids at home; for a four-year-old, a winery is a uniquely intoxicating blend of the boring and the hazardous.

Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu

The two small towns to know at the northmost end of the region are Ampuis, at the heart of Côte-Rôtie, and Condrieu.

You could choose either as a base, but there are more eating options in Ampuis: Le Bistrot de Serine and Epicurieux are both informal spots with good simple food and great wine selections.

If you’re in the mood for fine dining, a different option is Le Beau Rivage in Condrieu. A 15-minute drive away on the opposite bank of the river is Domaine de Clairefontaine – the best option for both food and lodging.

I can’t imagine that many visitors to this part of the world aren’t wine lovers – there’s not an awful lot else to do. But seeing as you are, you’ll be in seventh heaven. The following domaines are easy to locate in either Ampuis or Condrieu, and make excellent wines from both appellations: Domaine Georges Vernay, Domaine Xavier Gérard, Domaine Stéphane Ogier, Domaine Barge and Domaine Rémi Niero.

Tain l’Hermitage and Tournon

These two towns are on either side of the Rhône, connected by bridge. Tournon is slightly larger and perhaps prettier, but Tain has more accommodation and restaurant options – both make a good base to explore the Northern Rhône.

The village of Tain, squashed between the river and the hill of Hermitage itself, has spruced itself up immeasurably over the past 15 years. Jaboulet and Ferraton have opened reliable brasseries. My favourite wine bar is Le Bateau Ivre, which has a great list of Rhône wines.

More formal options include the unmissable Les Mangevins, a husband-and-wife team offering fresh, precise cooking in an elegant room on a quiet backstreet. Another good option is Marius Bistrot in Chapoutier’s newly-refurbished hotel, Fac & Spera. It’s also a good option for somewhere to stay, as is Hôtel Les 2 Coteaux.

Chapoutier and Cave de Tain both have boutiques, where you can plan a variety of tours or walks around the vineyards. And Delas has just opened an architecturally impressive new winery and visitor centre.

If you’re looking for a wine shop, try Le Cave aux 5 Sens. It’s in a commercial park next to a supermarket, so don’t expect old-world charm; but you can expect an excellent selection of wines. For more personal service and a tighter range, visit La Compagnie de l’Hermitage.

Over the river in Tournon, if you’re looking for a chic, boutique hotel, Hotel de la Villeon is a fine place to stay. To eat, try Le Cerisier, which has a comfortable but contemporary feel.

Take a stroll along the river and you’ll find two good small wine shops if you feel like a browse: La Vinothèque du Quai and Cave la Balthazar. There aren’t many wineries within either town, so you’ll need a car to get around. Some good nearby options are Domaine Guy Farge, Domaine Laurent Habrard, Domaine Laurent Fayolle and Domaine Yann Chave.

Cornas and Saint-Péray 

These neighbouring villages are smaller than Tain and Tournon, but certainly worth a day trip.

On the way from Tournon, go via the village of Mauves, home to an inordinate number of excellent producers, including Domaine Coursodon, Domaine Marsanne, Domaine Bernard Gripa, Domaine Gonon and Domaine Jean-Louis Chave.

You’ll also drive past the village of La Roche de Glun which inhabits a small island in the Rhône River. Here you’ll find the restaurant and wine shop Auberge Monnet, which has a good selection of natural wines within their broader range.

Between Cornas and Saint-Péray, the latter is the prettier. Take a walk up to the ruined Château de Crussol and grab a spot of lunch at bistrot La Ruche – its list of Cornas and Saint-Péray is second to none.

There aren’t many wineries to visit in Saint-Péray, but Domaine Rémy Nodin and Domaine du Tunnel are both in the village.

In Cornas there are plenty; try Domaine Alain Voge, Domaine du Coulet, Domaine A&E Verset – perhaps even Domaine Clape if you’re lucky.

When to visit

The best time to visit is between April and July, when you’re likely to get good weather. In August many producers will be on holiday, and in September they’ll be concentrating on the new vintage. October can be rainy.

Getting there 

Grenoble Isère Airport is an hour’s drive from both Ampuis and Tain L’Hermitage. Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport is an hour’s drive from Ampuis and an hour and a half from Tain.

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Rhône Valley Wine Tour with Matt Walls

Warhol. Turner. Dali. If I showed you some of their most famous works, could you identify the artist? Even for those who rarely visit art galleries, I suspect the answer would be yes.

Wine, however, is different. Could you reliably name great winemakers just by tasting their wines? Not impossible; but even for the most dedicated wine lover, not always easy.

Sure, there are some winemakers with a style that’s so distinctive that their wines are unmistakable. In this group, I’d include the wines of Emmanuel Reynaud of Château Rayas, Chateau Musar or Jacques Selosse.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Domaine Garon wines

But at the other end of the scale, some winemakers somehow remove all trace of themselves from their wines. It’s as if the wine made itself. You taste the place; the hand of the maker is invisible.

In this second camp I would put Domaine Garon, who I visited in January this year.

Lonely flakes of snow fell as Kévin Garon and I scaled the steep steps built into the drystone walls that support the vineyards behind the winery. He’s tall, with a close, dark beard, and wears a plain black padded jacket. He’s friendly but discreet, quietly self-assured.

Domaine Garon: origins

His family traces its winemaking roots back to 1475, to a Jean Garon who made wine here. But the recent history of Domaine Garon is more closely tied to Kévin’s father, Jean-François. He bottled his first vintage in 1995, after clearing and replanting the family’s overgrown vineyards in his spare time.

Kévin joined him in 2000, then Kévin’s brother Fabien. At that point they had just 2ha of Côte-Rôtie. Now they have 8ha.

The majority of their holdings surround the property at the southern edge of Ampuis: lieux-dits Le Mollard, Le Combard, Lancement, La Triote and Le Goutay. All adjacent, all blonde side. They have a little Rochains too, on the brune side.

All of Domaine Garon’s Côte-Rôties are pure Syrah. ‘They naturally develop fine and floral aromas without having to use Viognier,’ says Kévin. It’s a growing trend here. ‘People are moving towards a more Burgundian model, with a single grape variety.’

‘Organics is not as binary as it’s sometimes portrayed’

Some of their parcels are so steep they have just three rows of vines before another raised terrace is required. Tractors can’t reach these vines, so it’s no wonder so many Côte-Rôtie producers resort to herbicides. But not here. Domaine Garon stopped using herbicides several years ago. Their yields dipped, so they had to put their prices up. But their customers stayed loyal.

The estate isn’t certified organic because they use some chemical products to control mildew. Kévin believes this method is less toxic for the soil than using copper, the go-to treatment among organic producers. Organics is not as binary as it’s sometimes portrayed. If anyone has doubts, ‘people can come in the vineyards and see our work,’ he says.

They also make some Condrieu, St-Joseph, and Côtes-du-Rhône, purchasing some fruit to supplement their own vineyards. Their Condrieu is mostly bought grapes, but they pick the grapes themselves on the day of their choosing. This way they can access ‘parcels that we just couldn’t buy today.’

The latest planting was 2ha of Syrah in 2012 and 2013, over the river in Seyssuel. ‘There’s nothing more exciting than planting a new terroir,’ he says. The vines are young, but the results are already impressive.

The quality across the board has been gradually increasing over the past few years, which is what prompted my visit. Their 2021s are surprisingly strong for such a challenging year. Though their style is their own, if forced to compare I’d place them somewhere between Ogier, Barge and Jasmin.

Use of both barrels and stems is measured, gradually increasing through the range. The St-Joseph has 10% whole bunch and 10% new oak; this increases to 25% and 30% for the Rochains cuvée.

The wines, when tasted, speak first and foremost of their origins – not the hand that made them. The confident but understated approach means this domaine isn’t yet as well-known as some of the starrier names of Côte-Rôtie. But with quality like this, it’s only a matter of time.

10 top picks from Domaine Garon:

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Northern Rhône 2021 overall vintage rating: 2.5/5

Consistently excellent white wines, but reds very mixed due to severe frost and a mild, rainy season. Some are weak and green, others very good in a fresh and structured style.

‘The style of 2021 is light, lean and fresh, with high acidity, low alcohol and strict tannins…but for many producers making red wines, 2021 will be a year best forgotten. For white wines, the opposite is true.’

Northern Rhône 2021 red wine of the vintage

M Chapoutier, L’Ermite, Hermitage

Northern Rhône 2021 white wine of the vintage

Stéphane Ogier, Les Vieilles Vignes de Jacques Vernay, Condrieu

If the southern Rhône had a tough year in 2021, the northern Rhône had it even worse. When talking to growers, one word that came up time and time again was ‘exhausting’. On paper, this was a disastrous vintage, but it was worth fighting for – some producers pulled excellent wines out of their hats. Not many, but some.

Like the southern Rhône, the north was hit by a brutal frost. Not just on the night of the 7 April, but the following night too. Vineyards in Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu in particular were severely damaged. But while the south enjoyed a fairly dry growing season, in the northern Rhône it was a different story. ‘After the frost,’ said Jean Gonon of Domaine Gonon, ‘it rained and rained and rained.’

Scroll down for Matt Walls’ top-scoring northern Rhône 2021 wines

Bunches were heavy with swollen, thin-skinned grapes. ‘The grapes remained fragile all year,’ said Gonon. Reports of oidium, mildew and black rot were widespread, if contained. There were also three hailstorms, including one during the night, which is as cruel as it is rare: growers were woken in the darkness by the clattering storm, but couldn’t survey the damage until the sun rose the following day.

If this wasn’t challenging enough, the summer saw lower than average temperatures. All this made for a late, slow growing season, and many growers struggled to ripen their grapes. François Villard said he has never seen such low levels of alcohol. Almost everybody chaptalized.

See all 400 Rhône 2021 tasting notes and scores

‘For people looking for big wines, it’s not the best vintage,’ said Matthieu Barret of Domaine du Coulet. Stylistically the wines have little in common with the recent run of powerful, concentrated years such as 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The style of 2021 is light, lean and fresh, with high acidity, low alcohol and strict tannins.

Those with the energy, resources and experience to fight the elements were often rewarded, however. ‘The year was complicated,’ says Jean-Paul Jamet of Domaine Jamet, ‘but the results were far better than we could have hoped.’

For many producers making red wines, however, 2021 will be a year best forgotten.

See also: Rhône 2021 full vintage report and top-scoring wines

See also – individual appellation analysis on:

Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu | St-Joseph | Cornas and St-Péray | Hermitage | Crozes-Hermitage

For white wines, the opposite is true. From Condrieu down to St-Péray, whites have bright acidity, fresh aromatics and quality is consistently high throughout the northern Rhône.

Though candid about the arduous challenges he faced, François Villard retained a glimmer of optimism. ‘We might have some good surprises in 10 years’ time,’ he said. And I think he’s right.

Rhône 2021 score tables:

All top Rhône 2021 score table

Top-scoring southern Rhône 2021 score table

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2021 score table

Top-scoring 2021 red wines

Top-scoring 2021 white wines

Top 10 northern Rhône producers

• Domaine A&E Verset
• Domaine Clape
• Domaine du Tunnel
• Domaine François Merlin
• Domaine Garon
• Domaine JL Chave
• Domaine JP Jamet
• Domaine Marc Sorrel
• Domaine Niero
• M Chapoutier

Back to the Rhône 2021 homepage

Top-scoring northern Rhône 2021 wines:

The wines below all scored 95 points or above, and are listed white then red in score order.

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