Matt Walls: Reflections on 2025 and his favourite Rhône wines of the year

Last year’s calendar goes in the bin; this year’s, freshly peeled from its cellophane wrapper, is fixed to the wall.

The reassuring customs of Christmas and New Year lend a steadying hand through this time of endings and new beginnings.

One tradition I like to keep is counting down my top 10 wines of the year. The most memorable wines, those that have moved me, those that have made the greatest impression. Counting my blessings.

This year the process brought some painful recent closures into focus. But it also flagged up hopeful new beginnings.

Farewells

Let’s start with the losses.

On 18 November I was honoured to host a tasting of 12 wines made by Emmanuel Reynaud of Château Rayas.

A week later, he was no longer with us. I could easily have filled this list with those wines; instead, I’ll dedicate an article to the tasting early next year.

Two days after Emmanuel, Peter Fraser of Yangarra in McLaren Vale also passed away, aged just 51. He made some of the finest Grenache I’ve ever tasted. I wish he could have made more.

And in June, we lost Pierre Clape of Domaine Clape. He was a teacher before he joined his father Auguste in the vineyards. No one taught me more about Cornas than he did.

For estates touched by tragedy, it will take time for those left behind to find pleasure or excitement in the new.

New beginnings

The birth of a new cuvée feels insignificant by comparison. But for estates launching a new wine, it’s a cause for cautious optimism.

In fact, we can easily underestimate what a new bottling means to a producer. A new label often hides years of rumination and experimentation. Winemakers agonise over blends, barrels, the cuvée name – any number of details.

And what if their customers reject their new creation, into which they’ve poured so much care and consideration? Releasing a new cuvée takes courage.

Especially when your product goes against the grain. In the 1980s, Châteauneuf-du-Pape estates traditionally made just one red wine, and perhaps a white.

But in 1986, François Perrin at Château de Beaucastel bottled an old vine selection of pure Roussanne. It was fascinating to taste that first vintage again this year; four decades on, it’s still going strong. How right he was.

More recently, brothers David and Benjamin Duclaux in Côte-Rôtie starting bottling a single vineyard Coteaux de Tupin.

I revisited their first vintage again this year, the 2018. Their 2019 is arguably even better, but there’s something special about tasting the first iteration of a wine; a bold decision vindicated.

Every time I open one I want to pat them on the back.

I tasted it with David’s son Matteo, who had just joined the estate. More green shoots worth celebrating.

Another first on my list is from Domaine l’Anglore. In 2023 it bottled two new single-vineyard Tavels, named Vaucrose and Les Sables; wines that represent confident steps forward as this appellation gradually regains its former glory.

For many of us, Christmas is a time for both looking back and looking forward.

It’s also a time to share our most treasured bottles with people we love. We have winemakers like these – both past and present – to thank for that.

Matt’s favourite Rhône wines of 2025

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