Best Rhône 2017 wines: The top scorers

Rostaing's Côte Brune is only made in the best years, which recently have been 2013, 2016 and 2017. It's sourced from 20-year-old vines on very...

When this 100% whole-bunch wine is ready it will give you goosebumps. It has the brisk, saline tannins of 2016 and the fruit depth of...

Harvested on 14 November - very late even by Rayas' standards - the three main parcels are normally matured separately, but in 2017 half of...

A fairly straightforward vintage for Jean-Louis. 'Everything was nice', he says about the growing season, which was very warm during the summer but with enough...

I think it's the best vintage I've ever made', says Marc, and you can see why. It's 100% whole-bunch fruit, harvested at a yield of...

Harvested on 13 September at a yield of 20 hl/ha, this wine spends 18 months in barriques and demi-muids, 25% new - representing a move...

This is part of a welcome move away from oak influence in Chapoutier's Hermitage range: they first moved to using only Burgundian barrels, then gradually...

A tasting of five different barrels, drawn from 24 blocks across 19 lieux-dits, mostly schist terroirs in Ampuis and St-Cyr. It's almost 100% whole bunch...

Belle Hélène is Ogier's only single-vineyard bottling not named after its lieu-dit. It was first bottled by Stéphane's father and named after his mother. It's...

Much more introverted than the Mouline and Turque of this vintage at this stage. Dark chocolate and liquorice, but very savoury with slightly herbal, woody...

Fermented in concrete and aged for 14 months in new or one-year-old barriques, this wine is aerial and lifted with precisely delineated, resinous blackberry and...

From south-exposed vines in lieu-dit Le Meal, the fruit is all destemmed and fermented in concrete, then aged for up to 18 months in barrel,...

A damson juice nose is joined by a hint of dark chocolate and plum sauce, and also a warm stone aroma reminiscent of a young...

The winemaking at Domaine Rostaing is now in the hands of René's son Pierre, and it follows the same format for all the Côte-Rôties: four...

You can almost smell the fresh clay, immediately a different register compared to La Mouline with star anise, incense notes and rolling tobacco as opposed...

First made in 1989 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the estate, Centenaire comes from Domaine Les Cailloux's best parcel of Grenache, a small plot...

Low yields of just 23hl/ha in 2017. The partly destemmed old-vine Grenache is grown mostly on sand, fermented in stainless steel then aged in tronconic...

Bottled October 2019. Little touch of acetate on the nose, which isn't unusual in recent vintages. Powerful and intense on the palate, a really driving,...

A blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Counoise, Vaccarèse, Cinsault, Syrah and Muscardin from tiny yields of just 12 hl/ha, this wine is aged for 30...

The winemaking at Domaine Rostaing is now in the hands of René's son Pierre, and it follows the same format for all the Côte-Rôties: four...

Ogier owns 1.5ha of lieu-dit Lancement and although most goes into La Réserve, the best block is bottled separately. It has amazing softness, plumpness and...

This has an expressive nose with notes of blackcurrant and spice (liquorice). The palate is ripe, supple and fragrant, again with blackcurrant notes on the...

From 118-year-old vines planted on north-facing clay and sand in the lieux-dits of Charbonnières and Esquières, all co-fermented. The wine is sprightly, spicy and high-toned...

Grown on galets, the fruit for this wine is all destemmed and fermented in stainless steel before being aged for 16 months, half in concrete...

Grown on sand in lieux-dits La Guigasse and Pignan, the fruit is destemmed and fermented in tronconic vats, then matured mostly in demi-muid, and 10%...

Vines with an average age of 60 years from lieux-dits Combe, Patou, La Côte, Les Mazards and Chaillot provide the fruit for this Cornas. It...

Thomas Farge took over the estate from his father earlier in 2018. This is the first vintage of a new special cuvée by this stellar...

The Vieilles Vignes is a blend of three exceptional Côte Brune terroirs: La Landonne, Lancement and Chavaroche. This sees no destemming, and spends 12 months...

Château de Fonsalette is owned by Emmanuel Reynaud of Château Rayas. A tasting of the different varieties from barrel suggests an exceptional year for the...

Grown on sandstone and marl, the fruit for this wine is hand-picked, destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts then bottled without filtration or fining after...

From vines on clay-limestone soils in lieux dits Beaumes and Diognières, the fruit is fermented in concrete than aged for 18 months in demi-muids, 30%...

Sourced from lieux-dits Les Plantiers and the bottom of Les Bessards, yielding just 15hl/ha in 2017 - coulure led to small yields, making for a...

From south-facing vines on clay-limestone soils, the fruit was fermented in concrete and will be aged for up to 18 months in oak, around 25%...