Cornas, Côte-Rôtie & Hermitage 2010: Panel tasting results

Christian Honorez, Tanguy Martin and Matt Walls tasted 33 wines with one exceptional, seven outstanding and 19 highly recommended.

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit any 2010 vintage reds from Cornas, Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage

The verdict

‘The 2010 vintage was one of the most hyped vintages at the time in the northern Rhône’, Matt Walls recalled. ‘It was the most impressive vintage I’ve ever tasted young.’ But, 10 years down the line, how has the evolution of these wines progressed? Are they ready to drink, to keep, or simply past their best?

Walls remembered that ‘for such a structured vintage, I didn’t know when the best time would be to drink them’, and Christian Honorez also had his doubts at first, believing this tasting might be ‘quite limited’. ‘For me, uniformly I thought the 2010 vintage was better in the southern Rhône,’ he said, ‘but today I’ve changed my mind – it’s just as good and exceptional in the north, or even possibly better.’On this occasion, the results seem to speak for themselves, with an impressive one Exceptional and seven Outstanding from a relatively small sample size of 33 wines submitted. ‘Quantity is one thing, and quality is another, and the quality was there today – the ratio is the best I’ve ever had in a tasting,’ said Honorez. Tanguy Martin agreed, believing he had some of the best flights of wine in his Decanter tasting experience.

Scroll down to see the tasting notes & scores

Walls emphasised it further, commenting: ‘The exceptional wines we tasted today were probably the best I’ve ever tasted in a Decanter panel tasting. Every wine was good and some were great, particularly in Hermitage, where the quality was greater than the other two appellations.’ Honorez concurred, believing that the Hermitage wines as a group ‘were just incredible’. He continued: ‘I’ve tried young Hermitage many times, and I’ve always struggled to find the level of quality that we had today. The consistency there was far greater than we found elsewhere.’

While there were only six wines from Cornas, Martin found them ‘focused and interesting’, although for Honorez the appellation seemed to be a bit of a ‘loose cannon’. Walls advised to ‘drink them now’ as they are already showing ‘full maturity, balance and real Cornas character’.

In Côte-Rôtie, the wines showed evidence of a certain up-and-down nature, but our judges nonetheless found them interesting. Walls explained that ‘this is something to be expected from all the young vines planted back then in the appellation’, however he was also keen to emphasise that ‘the Côte-Rôties are really hitting their stride and I think now is a good time to open them up’.

Hermitage is different, with Walls advising ‘don’t touch these for another 10 years’, and adding: ‘There were one or two that were so tannic, monolithic and intense that I don’t know what will happen to them – but it would be interesting to see.’ Overall, of the three appellations, Hermitage was the most appreciated by all three judges, who were impressed by the ‘quality and consistency’ across the flight of nine wines.

In an overwhelmingly positive tasting, the one criticism concerned the use of oak and its influence on the wines back in 2010. Walls stressed that the wines were ‘possibly over-oaked in all the appellations, which can be seen even in maturity’. However, he added: ‘This has since been dialled down, which I’m glad about as some of the wines out there are still showing too much, and always will.’

So, has the 2010 northern Rhône vintage lived up to the hype that was promised at the time? ‘Yes,’ asserts Walls, ‘particularly in Hermitage, where it is of historical greatness.’

Discussion copy by Vahan Agulian.

The scores

33 wines tasted

Exceptional 1

Outstanding 7

Highly Recommended 19

Recommended 5

Commended 1

Fair 0

Poor 0

Faulty 0

About Cornas, Côte-Rôtie & Hermitage

Often foreboding in their youth, given time, the Syrah-based reds from this trio of northern Rhône appellations can reveal tremendous depths of nuanced complexity and texture, writes Matt Walls.

Tasting the 2010 northern Rhônes on release was unforgettable – it remains the most impressive vintage I’ve ever tasted en primeur. The wines were endowed with everything needed to age beautifully: concentration, freshness, incredible depth. It was clear that these were going to be long-lived – but for how long?

Côte-Rôtie lies at the northern end of this slender wine region, 50km north of Hermitage, and the wines enjoy a marginally fresher climate. Much of the best terroir of the northern Rhône is granite, but here the rumpled terraces consist of schist and gneiss. The vineyard area covers little more than 300ha but it’s the largest of these three appellations by far, and home to 80 independent wineries. These are lithe, red-fruited wines that often exude resinous sylvan aromas, then dried leaves and flowers as they age. The Syrah here can be co-planted with up to 20% Viognier (though more than 10% is unusual), which adds further roundness and perfume.

Strictly savoury

Most of the northern Rhône vineyards follow the west bank of the Rhône, but not Hermitage. It’s a majestic hill that rises up at a kink in the river, facing due south. About a quarter is granite, the rest being ancient glacial and alluvial deposits, with some loess at the top. Almost always pure Syrah, the style here is very different to Côte-Rôtie. These are densely tannic, regal wines, darkly fruited and impenetrable when young. They take their time to become comfortably drinkable, and have extraordinary staying power.

The facts (2018 figures)

Cornas

Appellation granted: 1938

Area: 150ha in production

Average yield: 33hl/ha

Grapes: Red wine only appellation, 100% Syrah

Côte-Rôtie

Appellation granted: 1940

Area: 319ha in production

Average yield: 40hl/ha

Grapes: Red wine only, minimum 80% Syrah, with a maximum 20% Viognier

Hermitage

Appellation granted: 1937

Area: 136ha in production

Average yield: 38hl/ha; 70% red wine, 30% white wine in 2018

Grapes: Reds – Minimum 85% Syrah, with a maximum 15% Roussanne and/or Marsanne. Whites – Roussanne and/or Marsanne permitted

Northern Rhône: The 2010 vintage

The winter of 2009/2010 was exceptionally cold and spring came late. Conditions weren’t perfect; there was localised hail and minor outbreaks of downy and powdery mildew after a damp spring. Poor fruit set further thinned out the crop, and final yields were small. Summer 2010 was hot but not excessive, and producers picked the grapes late into the autumn under fine, dry conditions. At the time, many considered the southern Rhône to have fared better than the north, but the resulting wines show that 2010 is a superlative vintage for both.

The Côte-Rôties we tasted were almost all ready to drink now, and most will happily last until 2025, some past 2030. Cornas from 2010 is approaching readiness, but for the best wines hold off until at least 2022, and these too will last towards 2030. The Hermitage wines, however, are still far from ready; keep your hands off until 2025, then enjoy into 2040 and beyond.

A further 10km south is Cornas. Largely on granite at the most southerly part of the northern Rhône, the wines display their own distinct character. Always pure Syrah, and less stylistically consistent than Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage, they tend to have an untamed, windswept nature, often with edgier, more serrated tannins. These punishing terraced vineyards were largely abandoned after World War II, but have since enjoyed a renaissance, and quality has been improving in leaps and bounds.

What these Syrah-based Rhône wines share is a deeply savoury character; they often bring to mind flowers, herbs, spices and dried meats before you notice the underlying forest berries, taking on autumnal and earthy aromas as they age. I love their strict inner architecture; they are often intensely textural wines, searching, tense and saline. This not only means they work brilliantly at the dinner table, it also helps them to develop and improve with age. And in vintages like 2010, that can mean decades.

Cornas, Côte-Rôtie & Hermitage 2010: Panel tasting results

The judges

Christian Honorez

Honorez is managing director of London wine merchant H2Vin. He began his career as a chef near Avignon before moving to the UK in 1985 to work in the wine trade, setting up H&H Fine Wines in 1988. Today he brings with him 35 years’ experience supplying wines to top UK restaurants and hotels, and is a DWWA judge.

Tanguy Martin

Now wine manager at New St Wine Shop in London, Martin grew up in Lyon, attending the Lycée Viticole de Beaune, then finishing his oenology diploma in Montpellier. Moving to the UK in 2011, he worked at Hotel TerraVina under Gerard Basset OBE MW MS, rising to head sommelier. In 2015, he won the title of UK Sommelier of the Year.

Matt Walls

Walls is a Decanter contributing editor and DWWA Regional Chair for the Rhône. A widely published and awarded writer, broadcaster and presenter, his first book Drink Me! Was published in 2012 (Quadrille). He works with restaurants to develop wine lists and train staff, and publishes at www.mattwalls.co.uk