Top five Southern Rhône vintages ready to drink now

What does a red wine need in order to age? Some say acidity; others, tannin. Grenache proves you don’t need a great deal of either of these elements to ensure longevity. Grape varieties can offer a clue as to how long a wine will age, but really it’s the terroir that counts.

With such a variety of terroir in the Southern Rhône – diverse soil types, grape varieties, microclimates and winemaking approaches – it’s not always easy to generalise about which are the best vintages to drink now.

Most reds are drinkable on release and a generic Côtes-du-Rhône typically lasts for four years or so. Good wines from ambitious estates, even from relatively lowly appellations, should develop steadily for around eight years.

Scroll down for Matt Walls’ top Southern Rhône wines from vintages ready to drink now

In good vintages, the best wines of Rasteau and Cairanne can develop for 15 years or more. Gigondas can travel even further, with 20 years not troubling the best cuvées. But it’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape that holds the secret to longevity; the best wines here can double this without breaking a sweat.

Grape mix does have an impact, but mostly upon the texture and flavour profile of a wine as it ages, than longevity per se. A good dollop of Mourvèdre in the mix however is a promising sign. And older vines are more likely to deliver wines with the depth and potential complexity that makes longer ageing worthwhile.

The quality of the vintage and the character it gives to the finished wines also has a big impact. Here are some years that are worth pulling out at the moment.

2014

A sweet spot for Southern Rhône reds is often at around eight years from vintage. Difficult vintages are usually ready sooner and don’t last as long – as it is with the 2014s. July was cold and wet, which left some reds struggling for ripeness. When the rains returned in September, it brought rot and led to some diluted wines. Some estates – those who could afford to react robustly and reduce yields – did make some good wines, in a fresh, lean, aromatic style.

The east bank did better than the west. In fact, the further east you go, the better the quality. In Ventoux, the best estates made some beautiful reds, expressive, peppery, aromatic and well-defined. And it’s the last truly exceptional vintage for whites in the region.

Reds from Saint Jean du Barroux in Ventoux are looking great, particularly his ‘Microclimate’ and ‘La Pierre Noire’, but no rush to drink up. In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château de Beaucastel was successful, and Mas Saint Louis shows the aromatic, peppery style of the vintage.

2012

When Bordeaux has a less exciting vintage, such as 2012, the rest of France can get tarred with the same brush. Don’t make that mistake with the Rhône in 2012. This is a vintage I love, full of joyful, generous but well-balanced wines that are starting to come into their own now.

It wasn’t an easy vintage, with a cool, wet spring to contend with, but there was fine, largely dry weather throughout the summer and cooler weather at harvest. The result is a clutch of juicy wines with a great feeling of freshness, despite the fact the acidity can occasionally be on the low side, and alcohol can be a little warm. It’s a vintage that will age well, if not way into the long term like the 2010s. Though I suspect some will surprise us.

Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Châteauneuf all did particularly well this year. The single vineyard Gigondas wines from Château de Saint Cosme are all opening up now, as is Clos du Joncuas.

In Châteauneuf, all the wines of Mas de Boislauzon are in a good place, as is Clos des Papes. The rosés of Tavel were outstanding in 2012, the best of which will still be good today.

2009

A hot, dry vintage which produced a fairly consistent crop of wines. This is a reliably ripe year, but some wines did tip over into an overly lush, potent style. Although this is only 11 years after vintage, the wines are comfortably ready to drink, much more so than the considerably more structured and longer-lasting 2010s.

The 2009s are taking on complexity now, and settling into a mature phase with spices and tobacco inlaid into their ripe, sunny fruits.

Some hotter terroirs such as Rasteau are starting to show their raised alcohol levels now. The naturally more austere microclimates of Gigondas and Ventoux that deliver more upright tannins are looking better and holding up well, such as Château Pesquié Ventoux rouge ‘Artemia’.

The best wines of Châteauneuf such as Château de Beaucastel’s ‘Hommage à Jacques Perrin’ are deliciously harmonious now, and will continue to age well for another decade, if not more.

The robust reds of Beaumes de Venise, often overlooked, did particularly well in 2009.

2006

This is a vintage that you can reach for with confidence. It was sandwiched between two particularly hot years which were lauded at the time, meaning the 2006s were somewhat overlooked.

Today, I often find the 2006s to be fresher than the 2005s (which are often overly boozy) and better balanced than the extreme 2007s (not all of which have aged as well as some suggested). The 2006s have developed at a fairly uniform rate, and I haven’t tasted any wines lately that needed more time.

Apart from cooler weather in August, it was a fairly hot summer, interspersed with showers which helped keep ripening steady and on track. Reds are particularly fine, well-balanced and harmonious now; Domaine des Bosquets and Château Rayas were both in a particularly satisfying state of maturity last year.

If you still have any Châteauneuf whites, now is a good time to bring them out.

2001

Another hot, dry year, this time with a considerable bout of Mistral (north wind) at the end of the season, that further concentrated the berries. These were powerful but balanced wines on release, and the best still have a lot to offer today, especially the top Châteauneufs.

It was a great vintage for much of the Southern Rhône, and the best wines of Cairanne, Rasteau, Vacqueyras and Gigondas are still going strong – if you think only Châteauneuf can develop for 20 years in the Southern Rhône, try a Domaine Alary Cairanne rouge ‘Estévenas’ or a Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas ‘Les Hautes Garrigues’ from 2001.

You can expect their 2016s to do the same.

See Matt Walls’ top Southern Rhône wines from vintages ready to drink now

Other ‘ready to drink’ vintage guides

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