Northern Rhône 2016: Full report and wines to look for
August and September saved the Northern Rhône 2016 vintage and there's some great wines if you know where to look, says Matt Walls. Read his full vintage report and see his tasting notes. and ratings...
Northern Rhône 2016 vintage report
Read Matt Walls’ appellation-by-appellation report below and see ratings and tasting notes for his favourite wines of the vintage, which may overall lack the power of the 2015 wines but has still produced excellent quality if you know what to look for.
See also: Best Rhône 2016 wines: The top scorers
See also: Southern Rhône 2016 vintage report
Hermitage is 110km north of Châteauneuf-du-Pape; Côte-Rôtie a further 50km. The conditions are bound to be different between the southern Rhône and the northern Rhône, so every vintage tells two different stories. In 2016, both sectors enjoyed a mild winter and got off to a cool, gradual start, but the cold and wet conditions were more acute and long-lasting in the north, giving the wines a very different accent.A brief uptick in temperatures in March encouraged buds to emerge, but on 17th April a hail storm hit Hermitage resulting in seriously reduced yields. Temperatures started creeping up again in May – along with cases of mildew. June saw nearly twice as much rain as normal, and by the end of the month, Yann Chave admits he thought the vintage could prove ‘catastrophic’.In July, conditions began to improve… until growers faced outbreaks of oidium. If that wasn’t bad enough, some were hit by hail.
To everyone’s great relief, August and September were warm and very dry, which turned the vintage around. After some welcome rains on 15th September, good weather returned and an unhurried harvest took place from 20th September to 12th October, around a week later than in 2015.
Despite the dry conditions towards the end of the season, it was a fairly large harvest throughout the region (except Hermitage).
Compared to the mighty 2015s, the acidity is slightly higher in 2016 and alcohol slightly lower. However, the 2016s don’t have the same concentration of fruit and weight of tannin; the general style of the vintage is fresh with sprightly tannins and well-defined aromatics.
Stylistically it’s akin to 2006 or 2012; both are vintages that were enjoyable young and have retained their balance and drinkability as they’ve developed. François Tardy of Domaine des Entrefaux predicts they will always drink well, and not close down for a period like some more structured years.
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Despite this being a fresher style of vintage it’s still a year to focus on red wines. The 2016 whites are an improvement on the often-flabby 2015s, but they still don’t compare to the taut 2014s. There are some delicious exceptions, particularly from the better sites in St-Joseph and St-Péray. White Hermitage stands apart, however – exceedingly rich and concentrated.
Côte-Rôtie
The towering 2015s were always going to be hard act to follow, but the 2016s are good – not terribly concentrated, but with ripe red fruits and only very rarely suffering any greenness or astringency. Overuse of new oak, however, is still an irritatingly common and unnecessary shortcoming that refuses to go away; but otherwise quality is fairly consistent for what can be an inconsistent appellation.
Jean-Paul Jamet says it was a notably dry year but without excess heat that he harvested unusually late, finishing on 20th October. ‘I like October maturity,’ he says, ‘it means elegance rather than power… it’s got persistence and freshness, what I love in Côte-Rôtie.’
See all Côte-Rôtie 2016 wines here
Condrieu
Condrieu enjoyed its biggest harvest on record, with yields hitting 38hl/ha. The wines aren’t as overtly rich and opulent as the 2015s, which is a positive, but some lack concentration of fruit. Acidities are marginally higher, but often still not high enough to achieve a satisfying sense of balance.
David Duclaux of Domaine D&B Duclaux was one of the more successful producers, which is remarkable since he has only produced three vintages to date. He says choosing the right time to pick is the key to quality, as the potential alcohol in the Viognier grapes can rise by two degrees in a week. There are some lovely expressions in 2016 – but be selective.
See all Condrieu 2016 wines here
St-Joseph
Jean Gonon reports a difficult year up until the end of July, with a lot of rain, hail and mildew to contend with, but the dry August saved the day. The very best sites of St-Joseph represent a small proportion of the appellation but the quality can be fantastic and they tend to represent the best hunting ground for value reds in the North.
There are plenty of smart buys in 2016; the best have a real vibrancy of flavour and aren’t far in quality from the excellent 2015s, particularly from the more southerly vineyards. Though less consistent in white this year there are still lots of enjoyable wines to choose from.
See all St-Joseph 2016 wines here
Cornas
The 2016 vintage is a success in Cornas, producing plenty of fresh, lively wines – perhaps not as rich or dense as 2015 – but nonetheless beautifully balanced and classic expressions of the terroir. Pierre Clape’s vines suffered some blockages in maturity due to the heat and dryness in August, which led to higher acidity that he was expecting. He compares it to 1991: “typical, but with a certain elegance, and good fruit.”
Laurent Courbis however would choose 2006. ‘It’s not a vintage to age for a long time,’ he says, ‘it’s very perfumed, and good to taste young.’
See all Cornas 2016 wines here
St-Péray
Roussanne and Marsanne fared better than Viognier this year, so if you enjoy northern Rhône whites, but aren’t familiar with its most southerly appellation, this could be the year to explore St-Péray. The wines rarely hit the same peaks as the finest Condrieus but it’s more consistent than its northerly counterpart this year and often represents better value.
Committed St-Péray fans will find this to be a fresh, breezy and aromatic style of vintage, and just a touch up on the very good 2015.
See all St-Péray 2016 wines here
Hermitage
Marc Sorrel has been making wine for decades in Hermitage, but this is the first year he has seen hail. It nearly halved his yields – just 20hl/ha for his Hermitage Classique this year compared to the normal 35hl/ha.
It was worse at Domaine JL Chave. Jean-Louis harvested as little as 6hl/ha in some of his white vineyards. Quality, however, was not adversely affected; the hail came in April, knocking off buds, but grapes weren’t yet formed.
The naturally reduced yields have led to concentrated wines. The thunderous reds have the sinew and muscle to see them age with real interest; the whites can be low in acidity but are irresistibly opulent.
See all Hermitage 2016 wines here
Crozes-Hermitage
This is another good vintage in Crozes-Hermitage, not quite on a par with the concentrated 2015s, but with bright, defined red fruits and great drinkability. Like most of the northern Rhône in 2016, yields were high in Crozes-Hermitage due to the wet weather during the first half of the year.
Green harvesting was necessary to achieve good ripeness and concentration, and growers had to wait often into mid-October to harvest. Yann Chave says “it’s not powerful like 2015 or 2017, but it has good balance,” comparing it to the 2006 – a vintage which he enjoys drinking now.
Crozes remains an excitingly dynamic appellation – the number of producers has nearly doubled in the past 20 years and there is always someone new to discover.
See all Crozes-Hermitage 2016 wines here
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Matt Walls is an award-winning freelance wine writer and consultant, contributing regular articles to various print and online titles including Decanter, where he is a contributing editor. He has particular interest in the Rhône Valley; he is chair of the Rhône panel at the Decanter World Wine Awards and is the owner of travel and events company www.rhoneroots.com.