A LOOK BACK OVER THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE MILLENNIUM

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

THE NORTH, THE SOUTH AND THEIR WHITES

With a mostly healthy and abundant harvest safely gathered in for 2020, the third decade of the millennium is up and running. It’s a good time to cast a look back over the first two decades, to gauge quality in runs of 10 years. Which was the better decade? Here are some selected years – subscribers can find the full review of the 20 vintages under the VINTAGE REPORTS tab.

2000  A mild vintage, soft tannins, approachable wines, aromatic in the NORTH; correct in the SOUTH, but a large crop diluted some of the REDs. There is less style in the fruit than 1999. It’s a vintage short on real stars, a slippers beside the fireplace year.

N RHÔNE 6 S RHÔNE 6 WHITES 7

2005  Chunky, tannin-laden year, on the wild side, dark colours, energy, boom. Wines of character, demanding cellar time, can be stubborn. Not for the boulevardier consumer, more for the philosopher, probably a Nordic such as KIERKEGAARD. Still making their way. Decanting essential. High intervention winemaking - in pursuit of 100 points - in the SOUTH means the NORTH shades it. Firm WHITEs, capable of longevity.

NR 9 SR 8 WHITES 7

2014  Pests and flies, and rot, but you know what – there are some very pretty wines, so while most amateurs of body building felt cheated, I felt happy. Beautiful fruit in the best REDs, a serenade from CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE CLOS DES PAPES, for example, and great, shapely WHITEs. A classic vintage – still – for la table, relaxed moments, Glou Glou on the go.

NR 6 SR 6 WHITES 8

2015  A mighty year in the NORTH, with large scale, abundant REDs, dazzling depth, heft in the tannins. The SYRAHs have tightened up recently, and must be left alone for another five years. It’s a quieter vintage in the SOUTH, where late rain, followed by MISTRAL wind, came in early September to nourish the vines. Slow ripening, high degree GRENACHE, excellent MOURVÈDRE. Extraction in the cellar was a punishable offence. There is freshness, with tannins a little dry here and there, robust packing in the REDs.

NR 9 SR 7 WHITES 8

The challenge for the wines of the 2020s centres on two essential words and one desirable word:

BALANCE, FRESHNESS, PERSONALITY.

BONNE DÉGUSTATION TO ALL

ALAIN VOGE 1939-2020: AN APPRECIATION

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

TENACITY AND A HUNGER FOR WORK

ALAIN VOGE was a man without direct contemporaries at CORNAS, which set him apart from his milieu, the more so since he was suddenly obliged to take over the running of the family’s then four hectares of vines in 1965 after the premature death of his father LOUIS.

By then, ALAIN had already experienced the horrors of the war in ALGERIA, events that stayed with him for the rest of his life; older than him, LOUIS SOZET was another CORNASIEN who had done time in that bloody event. “I learned to live there,” he once told me, somewhat ominously.

His mother was a forceful, dominant, resolute personality, and when I first met ALAIN in 1973, he was wired and energetic, even a little chaotic, always in a hurry, as if he had to keep up with her firmly expressed wishes; his work ethic certainly tallied with hers. He had a lot on his plate: the vineyards and the winemaking, the commerce of the family domaine, but also activities of the VOGE family set up by previous generations.

There was the threshing machine service for wheat; there were fruit trees - apricots, pears, cherries; a nursery for vines, and most photogenic of all, the mobile alambic still that trundled into place on the side of the square at the end of each harvest, a fiendish assemblage of pots, pipes, spokes and boilers. It was a regular sight every autumn until 1980, used by many of the local domaines; to fit in everything in one working day while it was on the go, ALAIN would rise at 4.30 in the morning. In typical, gritty ARDECHOIS fashion, its spirit wasn’t used for anything fancy like a Marc or Fine, but for surgical spirit, so everyone received a few Francs from the State.

As an ex rugby man for the then extremely successful First Division team VALENCE SPORTIF, their Number 8 at the back of the scrum, ALAIN was used to physical challenges. His drive led him to expand his vineyard, and to run with two appellations, CORNAS and SAINT-PÉRAY at the same time. Indeed his commitment to SAINT-PÉRAY was extremely strong, going as far as setting up a mini-Co-operative under the then good HOTEL DES BAINS, where I was a habitué during the 1970s – half bottles of old HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE at no price at all, and a functioning of sorts tennis court beside a wonderful cedar tree.

The cellar master had worked at the SAINT-PÉRAY négociant of AMÉDÉE DUBOURG, and because sparkling SAINT-PÉRAY could not be made outside the village, ALAIN took the practical solution of hiring the space and the man for a group of about ten people, who included AUGUSTE CLAPE and a FRANCE TELECOM worker. It died a natural death once people started to sell their small vineyards for housing and the cellarman retired, with vinification subsequently allowed to occur beyond SAINT-PÉRAY – all the way in CORNAS!

In 1986, at a time when CORNAS was still on an unsure economic footing, ALAIN started to plant on what he called LA CÔTE, below TEZIER. ROBERT MICHEL, around six years younger and his nearest young contemporary, and AUGUSTE CLAPE also planted at that time, allowing a little momentum and statement of confidence in the future to develop.

His vineyard methods were traditional, with insecticides and pesticides employed, not especially detailed, allowing one old-timer to describe him as “a very good vinifier given the state of some of his harvest.” But his association with ALBÉRIC MAZOYER who joined as the manager and part shareholder from CHAPOUTIER in 2004, led him, at times somewhat unwillingly, towards organic and then biodynamic practices, which he ultimately embraced.

By then his liking for new cuvées had enlarged his range of CORNAS to include a VIEILLES VIGNES – his top wine, and regularly in the four star and above bracket - and a wine called LES VIEILLES FONTAINES, while his SAINT-PÉRAY, from owned but also rented lands, had expanded to three cuvées, with an emphasis on new oak fermentation, started in the mid-1980s, with American as well as French oak used. The oak was most obvious on the - wait for it – CUVÉE BOISÉE, better integrated and emphatic on his more stylish FLEUR DE CRUSSOL, which received 18 months’ raising when first launched.

Recalling ALAIN, PIERRE CLAPE told me: “ALAIN did a lot for the appellations of CORNAS and SAINT-PÉRAY; he was notable at spreading their reputation in the Restaurant trade, in LYON and VALENCE, but also widely across FRANCE. He was a very good communicator, and always liked to look forward, to have projects. His very latest was to enlarge the cellars under his house, but his wife ELIANE, was not much in favour of that.” A woman of few, but pinpointed words, ELIANE is known at CORNAS as “The Sniper”!

The other aspect of ALAIN’s later life that deserves maximum respect is how he kept going in the face of serious illnesses. He underwent a liver transplant in 1998, and for around the last ten years of his life he received kidney dialysis treatment three times a week.

The current manager of the domaine, LIONEL FRAISSE, took up the reins in 2018 after a few years alongside ALBÉRIC MAZOYER, so continuity has been assured - the 2018 VIEILLES VIGNES was a stylish, generous and convincing ****(*) wine, for example. If I were to toast ALAIN with one of his wines, I would select the 2010 or 2013 VIEILLES VIGNES, both years with STGT or Soil to Glass Transfer credentials, from recent vintages, or the 1999 from an older year.

The casquette at a jaunty angle, his staccato delivery intact and a smile for old friends, ALAIN was a true old soldier, a credit to the village and life of CORNAS, his rugged resolve well in keeping with his rocky surroundings. His was a life extremely fully lived.

RIP, ALAIN. May you be tinkering with new cuvées up in Heaven.

THE BEST DOMAINES ADAPT

JULY/AUGUST 2020

IN PRAISE OF LESSER VINTAGES

There have been three supposedly “off” vintages in the RHÔNE this millennium – 2002, 2008 and 2014. “Off” in the sense that the ripening seasons were tricky, perhaps dogged by wet conditions and blights such as mildew or oïdium, their harvests requiring careful sorting and selection to ensure only the best, cleanest grapes entered the fermenting vats.

At issue, such vintages are regularly written off by the great mass of critics, some of whom [one notably has now retired] have not even bothered to travel to the region to inspect the young wines of the year. However, I learned at an early age in the 1970s that the best domaines made good wines even if the years were complicated, AUGUSTE CLAPE at CORNAS the prime example.

Such wines often provide great drinking à table after around 10 years, and give variety and low-key complexity – pleasure for both palate and mind. Crucially, they are much cheaper than the GRANDES ANNÉES, which can fail to live up their reputation due to a variety of interim reasons: going through a closed phase, tannins not yet in tune with the content, wrong dish selected, and so on. I have probably had more success in serving underrated wines that please than I have serving highly rated wines that properly deliver their qualities to an audience beyond the committed enthusiasts.

When I visit CLOS DES PAPES at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, something I have been doing since the 1970s, VINCENT AVRIL always offers me the chance to taste back vintages. On my last visit in late 2019, I asked to taste lesser years to see how they were getting on; intellectually this can be more stimulating than asking to taste a majestic 2010, and confirming that it’s still way too young.

On this occasion, we tasted 2008 and 2002, flanked by years of expressive fruit, 2012 and 1999. 2008 was very rainy, a year of mildew, if not on the massive scale of 2018, the yield only 16.8 hl/ha. At ***(*), the wine on its fifth tasting by me was joli, interesting, still going well, worth studying, what I term a Thinker’s Wine: lots of variety on the bouquet including truffles, spice, smoke, red fruits with a breezy attack, and a rose-floral nature that went beyond the mineralised effect that one usually expects from a wet summer. VINCENT’s summary: “given all the mildew it is not at all a small vintage. For me this is similar to 2001 or 1993, both elegant years. It is 14.7°, a lot less than 2007 and 2009. It is a finesse, fruit year that can keep. If people like great BURGUNDIES from the NUITS, they will like this; a shoulder of lamb would be ideal.”

2002 was the year of antediluvian rains in September, 600 mm (24 inches) in 24 hours on the 8-9^th of the month. The adaptation of this year was that VINCENT performed a 10-minute bleeding of juice off the skins [saignée] to help it. There was no SYRAH, resulting in a 60% GRENACHE, 35% MOURVÈDRE, 5% MUSCARDIN and VACCARÈSE blend, yield at 17 hl/ha. Here the bouquet had something of a horse stable about it, with a PINOT NOIR connection, and spices of Christmas time. The palate attacked on cordite, red plum fruit, combined iron and floral moments, the freshness commendable, the finish quiet. a *** wine, VINCENT commented: “I find this vintage PINOTÉ (like a PINOT NOIR) in its fruit. It is 13.8° without any chaptalisation, I would eat a TOMME DE BREBIS cheese [firm ewe’s milk cheese from the PYRENEES] with it.”

As a postscript to this tasting, I would add that the 2014 CLOS DES PAPES is absolutely one of my favourites of that rather sodden vintage – record JULY rain, an absence of MISTRAL wind. This was a ****(*) wine described by VINCENT as “very BURGUNDIAN”, one that summons symphonic thoughts, marked by cloves [the signature of a cool vintage], bearing ace finesse and serving much pleasure.

VINCENT’s adaptable approach is a continuation of his father PAUL’s. A determined, skilful man of vision, PAUL built a temperature controlled cellar in 1981 – an unheard of facility at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE at the time, and also ensured that the harvest was introduced by gravity, not pumping, something also done at DOMAINE DU VIEUX TÉLÉGRAPHE in those days. 1984 was a most testing year, and demanded special measures. There was much coulure - flowers failing to convert into fruit – which lowered the GRENACHE proportion to just 50%, the complement 30% MOURVÈDRE, 20% SYRAH, the yield a lowly 24 hl/ha.

This was the vintage when the domaine first destemmed some of the harvest: “we destemmed a bit due to a lot of stems and a small crop, implying that the presence of all the stems would make the wine too hard,” in PAUL AVRIL’s words at the time. The result was a ***(*) wine, with a ripe, rich bouquet, the palate attack approachable, clean and also rich, very easy to drink and still fresh in 1991, the finish marked by some chewiness in the tannins.

I recommend readers to see what they can find in auction rooms when it comes to less fanfare vintages, the sort of bargain being one of a mixed case of different wines from low profile years. Stick to the best, most adaptable domaines, whatever the region, and enjoy the fruits of walking more on the wild rather than the mainstream side. BONNE DÉGUSTATION.

THE AGE OF SIMPLICITY

MAY/JUNE 2020

A RETURN TO THE ESSENCE OF A PAYSAN EXISTENCE

The Coronavirus has been hurting different segments of the wine trade, while a few have gained. If the sales model of an importer is based on the Hotel-Restaurant trade, there has been a scramble to change tack, to try to shift the model towards retail clients. But I know of companies now trading at 35% of their usual volume. Restaurants in CALIFORNIA have offered prized wines for sale in order to raise cash. Top class Sommelières and Sommeliers are on furlough.

On the flip side, well established retailers with good website and mail order systems report levels of business that resemble Christmas time at the very least, even if spend per bottle is a little down on that particular time of year. CHAMPAGNE is absent from many people’s buying list, ROSÉ is soaring.

On the growers’ side, the immediate task in the vineyards is to ensure that excess buds are taken off and that young shoots are attached before any wind damage. Soils, where they can be, are often worked at this time of year. Temporary labour is required for some of these tasks: that can be a challenge at present. Small domaines are also telling me that it’s hard to impossible to ship orders at present. Sales of wines such as CORNAS from solid names have ground to a halt.

The virus pandemic has also steered people towards decisions that may have otherwise been postponed for some time during easier days. This situation has encouraged some to re-appraise how they wish to work in future, to take work-lifestyle decisions with the bigger picture in view. One such couple is PAUL and CHRYSTELLE ESTÈVE of the DOMAINE DES MIQUETTES up on the plateau at CHEMINAS, in the middle section of SAINT-JOSEPH.

PAUL was a CO-OPERATEUR with the CAVE DE TAIN, and has worked six hectares as the DOMAINE DES MIQUETTES since the mid-2000s, half SAINT-JOSEPH, the other half IGP. He has always eschewed the high profile route, hunkered down in his farm away from the limelight, and going for organic practices, as well as biodynamic ones latterly.

His wines are all made on zero-added SO2, with the leaning towards out and out VIN NATURE more pronounced recently. He also abandoned oak use from 2013, and most of his wine is now raised in buried amphorae, an inspiration taken from a visit to GEORGIA, south of RUSSIA.

With so much emphasis on bars and restaurants in big cities, the VIN NATURE movement is certainly feeling the pinch. The ESTÈVEs are part of that world – they sell most of their wine to what is termed the CHR [CAFÉ/HOTEL/RESTAURANT] trade in FRANCE - and this has collapsed.  

When speaking to CHRYSTELLE recently, she explained: “with all the restaurant trade sales, commerce has been difficult; we will now be developing sales to local customers, but we also have decided to go back to being what we really are – we like to be paysans [literally peasants/country dwellers], and we want to be doing all the work ourselves, with no dependence on anyone else. That is why we are going to share the exploitation – the six hectares – and work with three hectares ourselves, which would allow us to be true paysans.”

The idea is to rent out the remaining vineyards to friends or local vignerons/vigneronnes, with potential sharing of equipment. This has brought in a recent starter, ERWAN MASSE, a young man born in POITIERS in the West of FRANCE 33 years ago. He did his wine studies at BELLEVILLE in the BEAUJOLAIS, then moved around FRANCE working and seeing what he liked, taking in SAINT-ÉMILION, SAINT CHINIAN, the MÂCONNAIS, and finally, in 2013, the NORTHERN RHÔNE, which is where he decided to put down roots.

ERWAN is based in ARRAS, part of the middle sector of SAINT-JOSEPH; he originally bought a four hectare plot, of which under one hectare was taken with vines [for SAINT-JOSEPH] and apricot trees, the rest wooded and overgrown. However, the vines are at an altitude above the limit allowed to produce SAINT-JOSEPH after the 2021 vintage, so he next went in search of another location for a further smidgin of ST JO.

This he found on a site called LUBAC in the excellent commune of SAINT-JEAN-DE-MUZOLS. Having cleared its 0.7 hectare and unearthed walls and terraces which he wanted to keep and restore – “they were here long before me, for good reason” – ERWAN crowd funded via a website called MIIMOSA www.miimosa.com/fr/projets the final costs which involved the young SYRAH vines and their individual wooden stakes [échalas]. Their cost was €13,000, of which ERWAN needed €8,000 to complete their purchase.

In the event, more than €9,000 was raised; contributions started at €15, with the package for those giving €550 a domaine visit for two, a tasting, the aperitif with nibbles, your name on a cask, two nights at a bed and breakfast, six bottles and one magnum of wine. Now there is a tiny plot of 2018 SYRAH waiting to come on stream from one of the top three communes of SAINT-JOSEPH, the result of hard labour, graft and determination.

Added to that, the instant access to 0.8 hectare of SAINT-JOSEPH from an established, organic vineyard at SÉCHERAS previously handled by the ESTÈVES gives ERWAN an immediate propulsion as he sets out to establish himself. His story of a morsel here, a morsel there is very much one of the NORTHERN RHÔNE de nos jours. The idea of one door opening as another one closes comes to mind in an arrangement that is satisfactory for both parties, an arrangement prompted by the dreadful virus. No doubt more such stories will emerge in the months to come.

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

FRESH, WELL AND ENTERTAINING AT 30

Since I made my first RHÔNE visits in June, 1973, there have been three universally great vintages across the RHÔNE, both NORTH and SOUTH. They are 1978, 1990 and 2010.

With my future son-in-law BRENDAN chalking up his 30 years in JANUARY, 2020, it was an occasion to show him the wonders of such great vinous years. The two bottles selected were the 1990 HERMITAGE E.GUIGAL RED, and the 1990 GIGONDAS DOMAINE SAINT GAYAN RED.

1990 was a vintage of high sunshine, and completed what seemed like a trio of very good vintages. 1988 had been a dry year, with small, thick-skinned grapes and therefore firm tannins, but it was so far clear of the dodgy 1987 that it garnered attention for that fact alone. 1989 was a robust, full-blooded year, more sunny than 1988 and more generous of content.

1990 was impressive from the outset, a year with more sun and better balance than the previous two vintages. Its impact was immediate when tasted pre-bottling. At HERMITAGE, the harvest started around 22 September for vignerons such as BERNARD FAURIE, who, for the first time, spoke of cuvées coming in at 14°, his average around 13.5°. That was high for those days.

The difference with 1989 and 1988 was some August rain in 1990, a late in the month storm at GIGONDAS included, and that was the touch paper for its splendour. As JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE remarked, “nature was very generous.”

My Tasting Note of what is now regarded as a legendary 1990 HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE from PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ, which I tasted from cask on 11 February, 1992, included “very ripened fruit aromas, a touch of surmaturité; perfect harmony of really big elements, very prolonged aftertaste, carries the great success of the tannins being completely enveloped by the fruit and the flesh. Challenging, Grand Vin, 30 years minimum.”

The GUIGAL 1990 HERMITAGE [made before the purchase of JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT’s 1.5 hectares in 2001, and the 2 hectares of de VALLOUIT, therefore pre-EX-VOTO] was raised for two years-plus, with no new oak – the new oak on it started in 1994. It was based on BEAUME and MÉAL, and was a wine that always lay in the shadow of the CÔTE-RÔTIES de la maison.

I bought a case of it on release, and have nibbled at a bottle here and there over the years. It has always shown well, with some reserve. The absence of new oak has always permitted it to be pleasingly more naked than many wines from GUIGAL. This bottle, with a very good level and a perfect cork, showed exemplary freshness, and bore the balance owned by only the very best vintages. It actually blossomed and improved from Day One to Day Two.

Its note: ****(*) good lustre in the red, pale topped robe. Smoky red fruits, lots of brightness at 30 years, notes of white pepper. The palate is also fresh, even linear, good bustle in its red fruits with cedar-smoke notes and tannins that sparkle. The main impression is how young, and Nordic, it is, with further gras and flesh to come around its spine. Has great style, true pedigree, the aftertaste salted. 13°. Day 2: violets, floral tunes on the nose, ground black pepper, mixed in with rocks – a bouquet of much elegance. The palate is getting into its stride, smoothing out, has brilliant length and a softer texture than yesterday. Up to *****, another 20 years.

Moving to the SOUTH, but not entirely, given the innate stamp of its fresh terroir, we come to GIGONDAS, and one of my favourite petits chous over three decades, the 1990 DOMAINE SAINT GAYAN, of which I bought numerous cases. Its composition in those days was 70% GRENACHE, 20% SYRAH, 5% MOURVÈDRE, 5% CLAIRETTE BLANCHE, CINSAULT from 14 hectares largely on the northern part of the GIGONDAS vineyard towards SABLET, clay-limestone with chipped stones, a little sand. Raising was two years in concrete vat, then one year in old barrels of 18 hl to 30 hl.

At the time, JEAN-PIERRE MEFFRE rated 1990 highly, ahead of a “sometimes very good 1986, a good-ish 1988 and a 1989 with its very big drought, and rather hard tannins that may soften with time.”

My Tasting Note from concrete vat on 15 October, 1992, was ***** good dark purple robe. The bouquet is an earthy affair, lots of dark fruit and meaty, bosky aromas. The palate leads on striking fruit, really exemplary; it runs very well, the length is primo. There is good all-round substance here, very nice depth without being plush. This has great scope for the future.

I have drunk this wine at regular intervals, bar a stretch of two to three years around 2010 when it curled up, became grainy and dry, and led me to believe that its finest days might have been over. Now, at 30 years, it boomed out of the glass, the level and the cork also perfect: ***** good, clear ruby red; shapely, sensaround bouquet of appealing sunny depth, sweet plums, toffee apple, has a buttery association. The palate produces typical Gigondas freshness, a spine of menthol-cut, comes with real good forward movement, carries spiced, Christmas box flavours. The aftertaste has a discreet thickness, which is the main clue as to the high sunshine hours of the vintage. It’s well orchestrated, well balanced, is a wine of detail, with lovely lift on the aftertaste. 14°. Day 2: nose is still vigorous, up front, more spiced than yesterday. Menthol and licorice prominent on the finish. This can certainly continue for another 15 years.

Both wines were remarkable due to their balance, which meant that the vintage imprint was barely noticeable – almost no suntrapping on the HERMITAGE, and just the thickness of the late texture on the GIGONDAS. Both these 1990s carry great detail and definition – study of them is well rewarded.

I am left wondering how the recent super-dooper vintages – 2015 NORTHERN RHÔNE, 2016 SOUTHERN RHÔNE, 2019 NORTHERN RHÔNE will show in 30 years – built as they are from dry summers, but increased heat levels compared to 1990. Will they show the same deft balance and detail? Bonne question, SHERLOCK.

2019: WELL, AT LEAST WE HAD A HARVEST THIS YEAR

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

2018 at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE turned out to be a nightmare for three of its finest names, CHÂTEAU RAYAS, CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL and CLOS DES PAPES. Their harvests were ravaged by mildew, the problem exacerbated by working organically, and, in the case of BEAUCASTEL, unable to rustle up workers to get into the vineyards at night and at weekends, which was the only salvage option for the lesser sized family domaines. Tractors were also stuck if they tried to enter the waterlogged ground as the mildew moved relentlessly on to the bunches in just 24 hours in May.

At CHÂTEAU RAYAS, the birth of EMMANUEL REYNAUD’s first grandson, AUGUSTIN, the son of BENOÎT, was the reason to celebrate the year - the vineyard certainly wasn’t. “99% of the bunches were destroyed, the leaves also,” EMMANUEL recounted. “The leaves re-generated with grapillons or secondary bunches later on. On 28 November, 2018, in one day, we harvested 12 hl of RAYAS, 4 hl of CHÂTEAU DE FONSALETTE, and 5 hl of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE PIGNAN. There will be 400 litres of RAYAS BLANC and 800 litres of RAYAS ROUGE.” This will hopefully all be drunk en famille to toast AUGUSTIN as he grows up.

“I am quite content to have a year like that, since it shows the young generation why I keep wines back to sell,” affirms EMMANUEL philosophically. “It’s good if they can learn that early in their careers.”

In 2019, EMMANUEL was once again the last estate to harvest, bringing in his crop in the last days of October, and on 1 November. “It’s a large harvest,” he tells me, "a good budding, with very joli grapes aided by the mid-October rain, which served to re-balance the sugars, to render the fruit supple and less bitter than it was.”

Talking of 2018, CÉSAR PERRIN of BEAUCASTEL told this tale: “we lost 70%, and concentrated on the MOURVÈDRE, since the mildew hit the GRENACHE and then the SYRAH first. It is a high MOURVÈDRE vintage for the BEAUCASTEL ROUGES. Our yield was 7 hl/ha, the white crop a complete catastrophe. We are only selling our 2018 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE WHITES in FRANCE and GERMANY – you can’t sell six bottles here and there to different countries.”

At BEAUCASTEL, there is delight over the 2019 harvest, too. “The vineyard was very generous at 26-27 hl/ha this time round, which is high for us,” states CÉSAR. “The old vines didn’t feel the drought: the fact that they didn’t give harvest last year, coupled with their deep roots, saved us. We could take our time over the harvest, starting the first CÔTES DU RHÔNE whites on 27 August, and finishing with the last of the CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE MOURVÈDRE on 10 October. Fermentations have been rapid, there’s enormous colour on the GRENACHE, degree isn’t much past 15° [that’s on the MOURVÈDRE], and the wines seem complete, balanced, elegant.”

VINCENT AVRIL has worked organically at CLOS DES PAPES for many years now, and suffered the consequences in 2018, with just 9 hl/ha. “The mildew attack at the end of May spread in 24 hours from a few spots on one leaf, just one leaf, into being all over the leaves and bunches. The last such year, I am told, was in the late 1940s. We took 18 days to harvest, to ensure that absolutely no dry matter entered the vats, and at least the quality of what we have is good. The wine has been pre-assembled this year, rather than being raised in six portions – there isn’t enough for six vats!”

In 2019, many fewer copper treatments were necessary, as the harvest was healthy, no sorting required, no maladies. “We are at 20 hl/ha this year,” states VINCENT. “Colour is very good, the tannins are jolis, and there’s good acidity. With only 72 mm [just under 3 in] of rain between 1 May and mid-September, when we started the red CHÂTEAUNEUF harvest, the profile of the year will be very distinct from 2018.”

THE PERILS OF RECORD TEMPERATURES

JULY 2019

The highest temperature ever recorded in FRANCE was on Friday 28 June, 2019: 45.9°C in the afternoon at GALLARGUES-LE-MONTUEUX in the GARD département [30]. GALLARGUES stands just west of the COSTIÈRES-DE-NÎMES vineyards, which duly suffered from the consequences of this extreme episode.

ANNE COLLARD, of the excellent, organic CHÂTEAU MOURGUES DU GRÈS, told me: “the vines were stressed by that heat spike; for us, burning on the grape bunches was limited, but I know of vignerons across COSTIÈRES who lost 20-30% of their harvest. It’s very dry now, and there is a risk of fires. For the vineyards, the undersoil of clay below the galet stones has helped to lock in some humidity. We’d love an August storm!”

Up the road at TAVEL, RICHARD MABY, whose TAVEL and LIRAC rosés are winners each year, explained: “I have never before seen what is termed chaudages – the grapes burned in one day, the bunches grilled, turning a brown-black colour in just a few hours. That day, temperatures in the vineyards were over 50°C – the 45° was in the shade!”

The real problem occurred if growers had treated their vines with powdered or micronized sulphur shortly before the sudden jump in heat. With memories of the vast mildew attacks of 2018 still fresh, it is unsurprising that people were keen to treat with the sulphur to combat mildew [and to a lesser extent, oïdium]. The trouble was that the combination of extreme heat and leftovers of the sulphur applications combined to burn the bunches on the vines – the leaves were not affected.

“In my view, it would have been better to treat at the start of the night,” says RICHARD MABY, “and there were also those who were merely following their regular 10-day treatment cycle just before the 28 June – they were just unlucky.”

The intense heat was also experienced in the next département to the north of the GARD, the ARDÈCHE [07]. OLIVIER LERICHE of the organic-biodynamic DOMAINE DES ACCOLES – a great source for stylish VIN DE FRANCE wines that include a CARIGNAN GRIS white - told me: “if you treated two days before, your bunches were burned. I treated our vines on 20 June, and on 21 June a rainfall of 15 mm (0.6 in) washed away a large part of the sulphur, so we were OK. However, I know that people who treated on 3-4 July, after the record heat, also ran into trouble. We renounced all treatments across a three week period – even if you treat at night, you can have burning the next day.

I found that the SYRAH was more prone to the grilling than the confirmed southern varieties such as GRENACHE, CARIGNAN and CLAIRETTE. Younger vines were also more affected than the older ones.”

“This year, the handling of the vineyards is extremely important, even vital,” he continued. “The root structures are so important in these arid conditions. We’ve had 35 mm (1.2 in) of rain in June, 37 mm (1.5 in) in May, 64 mm (2.6 in) in April, and 20 mm (0.8 in) in March. If comparing to 2017, this year has had more June rain – in 2017, there were only 2-3 mm, for instance, and a total of just 30 mm (1.2 in) for the three months June to August in 2017.”

Savage heat, dry soils, the lottery of sulphur treatments – as I have written before, these are times when the parameters for viticulteurs are vastly broader than they were when I started out in the 1970s, when the growing seasons year after year roughly resembled one another – the one hundred day rule from flowering to harvesting was intact, you could harvest at any time of day, not just at dawn, and degrees ranged between 12° and 13.5°. There were many more certainties in those times.

FAREWELL TO MY BELOVED

JUNE 2019

It is with the deepest regret that I must announce the passing away of my dear wife FIONA at the end of May, 2019. She had suffered from complicated health for the past two years, but seemed to be overcoming these challenges.

I am sorry to have to use this space for that announcement, but I would like to explain that service on drinkrhone will be patchy for the time being. As you know, I work on my own. I will send subscribers brief bulletins on latest tastings and visits undertaken before FIONA’s end.

Thank you all for your understanding.

CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS 25 YEARS IS A LONG TIME

MAY 2019

The 2021 vintage is the last year when the current SAINT-JOSEPH vineyard area will be allowed to produce SAINT-JOSEPH. After that date, there will be a ban on vineyards above 300 to 320 metres, and on low level ones on the plain, whose soil is alluvial derived from the RHÔNE rather than from the higher streams that supply the RHÔNE. Too cold in one zone, too rich in the other.

When the legislation was put in place in 1996, all seemed acceptable. As PRESIDENT of the GROWERS’ UNION, JOËL DURAND, describes it, “there was the risk of industrialised ST JO alongside the true hillside wine, easy to produce and therefore cheap wine that would undercut the image of the genuine granite slope wines. At height, the windy plateau was the problem, while down below, the soils were too fertile to produce elegant wine.”

Wine dismissed from the very low or very high vineyards will be reduced to VIN DE PAYS. M.DURAND is aware that there will be difficulties for some, so the annual planting allowance in 2018 and 2019 for the whole appellation was increased from 20 hectares to 40 hectares – around 3% of the total. This is intended to allow growers to re-site excluded vineyards elsewhere within the main frame of the SAINT-JOSEPH appellation.

Of course, they have to own land or have access to land to allow this. In some cases, there has to be clearing of scrubland – starting from scratch, effectively, with all the costs implied. One of the most unfortunate domaines involved is DOMAINE MICHELAS-SAINT JEMMS based outside TAIN L’HERMITAGE. The MICHELAS family have been renting a vineyard on the first-class hillside of SAINTE-ÉPINE for years now. Its SYRAH is nicely mature, planted in 1985-86, while a little MARSANNE is equally old.

There are two problems. The first is that the vineyard stands at 390 metres, and the second is that the owner possesses no other land, so there is no trade-off taking that vineyard area and slotting it elsewhere into the post-2021 appellation zone. A perfectly good, even very good, wine from an acclaimed granite slope site, will disappear.

When assessing the 2017 vintage at GIGONDAS, it was clear that the vineyards at height – from 300 metres up to 500 metres – had dealt much better with the hot, drought conditions of the 2017 summer than those lower down on the garrigue plain around the village. Their later flowering date had meant larger crop [the reverse was the case in 2016], but the all-important GIGONDAS thread of freshness was present in the leading wines from estates such as DOMAINE DE LONGUE TOQUE, CHÂTEAU REDORTIER and PIERRE AMADIEU.

Today, if you were to ask a grower – would you like some high altitude hillside vines? - the answer would be a quickfire YES. It wouldn’t have been the reflex back in 1996.

So as the well-meaning legislation trundles on through its irreversible 25 years span, perhaps it’s time for legislators to reduce the duration of such projects, or, better still, allow re-appraisal during their tenure.

TEN YEARS ON: 2009, STILL VINTAGE OVER TERROIR

APRIL 2019

I recently conducted a tasting for the Solicitors’ Wine Club in London, where NORTHERN RHÔNE 2009 was in the spotlight. There were four wines from the micro-négociant TARDIEU-LAURENT, and four from the mix of own vineyards and négociant activities of PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ.

2009 was a vintage that presaged a decade of increasing temperatures, and dry, very hot summers in some instances. I link it to 2003, the year of what the French term la canicule – the sweltering heat – when hundreds of people, many of them elderly, died in PARIS, and the RHÔNE encountered ripeness and conditions that had all the old timers scratching their heads.

2003 was regarded at the time as being completely out of the loop. The jammy density of the wines masked terroir influences, and the early problems stemmed from tannins that were inclined to be dry, sometimes parched. However, the wines have held together better than expected, and are still pretty vibrant, even if their still thick texture stands outside the usual norms of wines at 15+ years’ old.

Looking back, 2009 now bears a relationship with 2015, 2017 and 2018. All these summers were very hot, and dry, bar the odd storm here and there, random acts from the heavens. Of these vintages, I expect 2015 to be the most capable of showing terroir as it evolves, with the others stuck for some time in the vintage-influence channel. A comparison can be made with 1999 at CÔTE-RÔTIE, for instance. Until around 2015, most of those wines were still showing solar density and padding rather than the gunflint and spark of their rocky origins.

MICHEL TARDIEU remembers 2009 with mixed emotions: “it’s a medium level vintage for me, one on excess and heat,” he relates. "I made five casks of CORNAS VIEILLES VIGNES, and it was my favourite of the vintage: it was made in the ancient style of the old families, with a more modern oak raising attached by me – a lot of concentration, colour, wild black berry fruit above all, blackberries with graphite, the best of the NORTHERN RHÔNE. HERMITAGE was a bit austere, didn’t have the degree, wasn’t in the style of the CORNAS, was more calm than the CORNAS, too.”

Across the 2009 CROZES-HERMITAGE, SAINT-JOSEPH, CORNAS and HERMITAGE REDS shown, the winner on the night was the 2009 CORNAS TARDIEU-LAURENT VIEILLES VIGNES – no surprise to me. This was 67% PATOU, the sunny southern lieu-dit of DUMIEN-SERRETTE, the SYRAH dating from the 1920s, 33% LES EYGATS, the cooler, higher lieu-dit where STÉPHAN CHABOUD, based in SAINT-PÉRAY, works his 1950-1960s SYRAH.

Alongside it, the profile of the JABOULET DOMAINE DE SAINT-PIERRE was markedly different. For a start, the vines are much younger, dating from 1985-86, when the JABOULET family decided they were missing out, and that there existed potential at CORNAS. They therefore initiated a planting programme on the cheaper land high up at 300-320 metres near the little chapel of SAINT-PIERRE, which stands away from the main hillsides visible from the N86 road linking CORNAS and SAINT-PÉRAY.

The raising for the TARDIEU-LAURENT was 15 months new oak, then 9 months in 1-2 year casks, total 24 months. For the JABOULET, it was 12 months in 20% new, 80% 1-2-3 year casks. The 1,520 bottles of TARDIEU-L stood alongside the 13,000 bottles of the JABOULET.

Unfortunately, there were below par bottles of the JABOULET ST PIERRE – some cooked, and lacking freshness. The best delivered a sturdy attack, thick juice – very 2009 - with punchy tannins, but the finish started to dry as it aired, and I had the feeling of a slightly fragile spine running through it.

The TARDIEU-LAURENT CORNAS was rich on both bouquet and palate, came with good ground force, real persistence. It gathered a good accumulation of juice on the close, was a sumptuous, sunny and full wine, real PATOU in style – so here vintage and terroir combined well. At the time, I wrote of 2009 at CORNAS: “2009 represents modern CORNAS above all, wines that are frequently fleshy, shapely and full of juice. In this respect, they resemble 1999, but winemaking has moved on since 1999, with the result that 2009 tannins are relatively riper than those of the previous decade.” The T-L CORNAS delivered that message very truly 10 years on, and will run for at least another 20 years.

The other wines of the evening were still generally on vintage over terroir. They were

CROZES-HERMITAGE PJA DOMAINE DE THALABERT [a good ensemble, thick fruit, quiet complexity], a wine ahead of the CROZES-HERMITAGE T-L VIEILLES VIGNES [oak-caramel, polished, souped up, terroir under siege from oak]. Both were 14° on the label – up to 14.5° in reality – indicative of the heat of the year, and an unaccustomed level ten years ago.

SAINT-JOSEPH PJA LE GRAND POMPÉE [some fine grain, granite influence, but dull, advancing early, behind the SAINT-JOSEPH T-L VIEILLES VIGNES [refined, floral, elegant, oak better integrated than on their 2009 CROZES, a good example of 2009]      

HERMITAGE PJA LA PETITE CHAPELLE [chunky wine, thick constituents, not much terroir, SYRAH from BORDEAUX, a bit common next to the HERMITAGE T-L [the elegant ease of the central zone, more personality, more detail and more genuine HERMITAGE than the PJA].

THE CONCLUSIONS

TARDIEU-LAURENT 3 PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ 1

VINTAGE 2009 still in the driving seat, but local influence starting to emerge in well made wines. Any reader seeking a counterpoint year – when there is little to no weather masking – should head for 2012, 2014 or 2016, and, in older vintages, 2006.

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF CLAIRETTE BLANCHE ON GRANITE IN THE NORTHERN RHÔNE

MARCH 2019

COLLINES RHODANIENNES VIN DE PAYS are the secret weapons of the NORTHERN RHÔNE, especially as prices for the main names continue to rise at pace. I receive numerous emails these days from readers wanting tips on travel and visits in the NORTHERN RHÔNE: for 40 years, there was complete radio silence!

The VIN NATURE movement has eschewed categories such as VIN DE PAYS – COTEAUX DE L’ARDÈCHE or COLLINES RHODANIENNES – in favour of VIN DE FRANCE, which allows greater liberty of grape variety use and mix. Their wines, and those of so-called conventional growers, ones who work organically and/or biodynamically, are closer together than once they might have been. Judging by domaines whose wines I have tasted recently – most based in the SOUTHERN ARDÈCHE - fruit quality is good, and it’s an old canard to say that these wines may come at you all faults blazing. More on them will follow.

For now, I want to focus on an unusual wine that stirred my interest due to its composition. It is an IGP COLLINES RHODANIENNES from the DOMAINE DES AMPHORES, called DÉTOUR. This is a domaine that I visited a few times between 2000 and 2007 – fair quality, perhaps wines a bit pushed along - then it rather fell off my radar.

I bumped into the patron, PHILIPPE GRENIER, when out on my wanderings in 2018, and managed to see him late last year. The domaine and its wines have mightily grown up, the whites presenting a rocking good range, from VIN DE PAYS via SAINT-JOSEPH on to CONDRIEU. Son RÉMI is the winemaker at CHÂTEAU-GRILLET, while the GRENIERs’ other son, SYLVAIN, works at DOMAINE MICHEL LAFARGE in VOLNAY. These are good portents.

Until 1994 it was a mixed farm, notably fruit with the raising of chickens and goats, before the switch to a vine and wine enterprise. The vineyards have been organic since 2002, and officially biodynamic since 2016 (although biodynamie has been practiced years before that). The prime soil type is granite, muscovite [mica] and biotite [white quartz, feldspar], hard, rocky granite above CHAVANAY.

The main AMPHORES vineyard is on RICHAGNIEUX, which is home to none other than the SOUTHERN RHÔNE’s very own CLAIRETTE BLANCHE, vines dating from 1970 to 1972 that PHILIPPE took over in 2006. “My grandfather worked with CLAIRETTE in the day, as did many of his neighbours” says PHILIPPE.

Indeed, there used to be a tradition around CHAVANAY of growing CLAIRETTE. JEAN CHOL, the father of DIDIER CHOL, who sold his vineyard to OLIVIER DÉCELLE and his winemaker buddy PIERRE-JEAN VILLA in late 2017, used to produce two different CLAIRETTE wines, a semi-sweet and a méthode champenoise. JEAN had learnt how to make the latter in CHAMPAGNE, and started it in 1947, the domaine continuing it into recent times, satisfying a local market, particularly around Christmas time.

The DOMAINE DES AMPHORES COLLINES RHODANIENNES DÉTOUR BLANC is composed of 60% CLAIRETTE BLANCHE, topped up with 30% MARSANNE (2010) and 10% ROUSSANNE (1997). It is vat fermented at up to 20°C, vat raised, and bottled in May after the harvest, the malo completed. There are around 4,000 bottles.

“The CLAIRETTE from the granite leans towards the MARSANNE and ROUSSANNE’s aromas, typically giving a floral, white flowers such as acacia, and white peach presence to the wine,” comments PHILIPPE.

“The CLAIRETTE is harvested 15 to 20 days after the other two, often around mid-October. Its ripening comes along very quietly, so it brings freshness, while CLAIRETTE at 11° reins back the ROUSSANNE at 14°.”

For it is true – the ROUSSANNE may in theory contribute elegance to local whites, but as summer sunshine intensity grows, so it lurches into high degree zones, jeopardising balance. It’s a heaven-sent gift, therefore, to be able to temper it with nearly 50 year-old vine fruit from such an interesting, valid source that normally struts its stuff at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE.

The 2017 DÉTOUR expressed white flowers on the bouquet, and a touch of aniseed which I often associate with CLAIRETTE. It was well founded on the palate, held stylish, joli gras, with verve on the inside. There was then the bonus of the CLAIRETTE taking care of any typically bitter notes from the MARSANNE on the finish. “Rocking good VIN DE PAYS”, I wrote. This can be yours for a meagre €8. Go long!

ENCORE UN VIGNERON QUI A COMPTÉ POUR CORNAS QUI NOUS QUITTE : RENÉ BALTHAZAR

FEBRUARY 2019

“One more vigneron who has counted for CORNAS leaves us” were the words of OLIVIER CLAPE to me in early February, 2019. He was referring to RENÉ BALTHAZAR, the father of FRANCK, 93 years’ old, a man of the generation of AUGUSTE CLAPE and MARCEL JUGE, a decade behind the VERSET brothers NOËL and LOUIS.

In that handful of names resides much of the patrimony of CORNAS, men who stuck at it in the difficult decades, men who got up and went back for more toil each year on the steep, slippery hillsides, men who mostly worked away without being sure a child or family successor would take over the reins from them. Imagine all that effort, with no guarantee that one’s work would lead somewhere.

When I first researched my book THE WINES OF THE RHÔNE in 1973 and 1974, I didn’t meet RENÉ: his wine was sold to merchants, notably DELAS. I knew he cultivated 1910s SYRAH – SÉRINE – on the CHAILLOT vineyard, which his father had bought in 1930 after coming down off the plateau at ST ROMAIN-DE-LERPS to the more worldly delights of CORNAS.

The family had existed on a combination of cereal and vine. “My father was a corn thresher, and made his wine, too, with half the three hectares rented, the other half owned,” RENÉ told me. “My father would sell the wine in the spring after the harvest to cafés, especially a big one at ANNONAY [home of the hot air balloon, which lies north-west further into the MASSIF CENTRAL]. I started a little bottling in the mid-1970s.”

I placed RENÉ in the band of traditionalists, since he never destemmed [unlike colleagues such as GUY DE BARJAC, JEAN LIONNET, ALAIN VOGE], while raising was in demi-muids – 600-litres, all old – rather than the 12 hl foudres of CLAPE, or the 225-litre or 228-litre casks [pièces] of the VERSETs and MARCEL JUGE. Raising would run for around 18 months. He favoured the 600-litre casks since “they keep the wine’s perfume better than the pièces.” He would ultimately make about 3,000 bottles a year.

Over one hectare was on CHAILLOT, with 0.36 hectare near the village on MAZARDS, which held 1959 and 1961 SYRAH. This was indeed old vines’ wine. In my book of 1991, I wrote: “a stiffer style of CORNAS than M. DE BARJAC’s, very much the dark impulse wine of yore, is made by NOËL VERSET and RENÉ BALTHAZAR.” This would always be presented to me in the stone-clad, tiny cellar near the Church, RENÉ one of the old generation of growers who let you taste in silence, proffering only an occasional observation.

By the 1990s, I knew of his fretting about whether son FRANCK would leave his engineering post in nearby VALENCE. FRANCK's arrival on the domaine in 2002 was therefore a cause of deep-seated pleasure for Dad - nothing spoken, just a glow of satisfaction would emanate from him.

The fact that FRANCK has made very good wine from an enlarged vineyard will have furnished him with much contentment, as well as the fact that FRANCK’s CHAILLOT cuvée bears the classic floral airs of the CHAILLOT vineyard - a successful transfer of the baton from Père to Fils.

Quiet and retiring as he was, RENÉ made wines that I considered to hold a solid structure, with the development of an interesting complexity as they aged. He was a pillar of CORNAS through the dark days, and I salute both him and his family for their tenacity and achievement, allied to his enduring sense of modesty. ADIEU, RENÉ.

HANDLING THE HEAT

JANUARY 2019

The vineyard challenges faced by growers have multiplied during the second decade of this millennium. Back in the good old twentieth century, a grower could rely on a rule of thumb that 100 days after flowering, harvesting would take place. The crop would average around 13° if it were SYRAH in the NORTHERN RHÔNE, and around 14° if it were GRENACHE in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE.

If 2018 is a precursor of a more regular pattern of events, that rule book can be scrapped immediately. The boundaries have enlarged enormously. Now SYRAH at over 15° is occurring at HERMITAGE and CROZES-HERMITAGE, while at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE growers are looking for options such as COUNOISE, reverting to CINSAULT that was encouraged in the 1960s, or banking on MOURVÈDRE to tone down GRENACHE NOIR crop coming in at 16°.

However, the accepted norms in the vineyards are having to change – and fast. It is no longer an easy option to avoid soil working. PHILIPPE GRENIER has worked biodynamically at the DOMAINE DES AMPHORES for his SAINT-JOSEPH and CONDRIEU since 2002. Referring to the extraordinary “game of two halves” of 2018 - a lot of rain, then a lot of heat - he recounted: “there was rot pressure in 2018 in June because of all the rain, but we were on top of the mildew. Then, our working of the soils avoided evaporation later in the summer when the heat really rose.”

Far away from the RHÔNE in distance, but not in spirit, CHRISTOPHE BARON of CAYUSE vineyards [and HORSEPOWER, BIONIC FROG and others] spotted basalt lands on the OREGON-WASHINGTON STATE border in 1996, and planted SYRAH and GRENACHE on what had been hillside orchards before. He, too, has adapted his working methods in the intervening time.

“You have to work the soils. We have no rain during the summer. It’s so hot that things can’t grow, but if you don’t work the soils, you have a crust that leads to more evaporation. With 10-15 cm of loose soil, you create an insulating pad. I use a pulley system to work the soils that I bought in AMPUIS at CÔTE-RÔTIE. What I have changed from around 2005-06 is to keep the leaf canopy, since the bunches must be in the shade, and I also harvest a bit earlier.”

Even grass between the rows can be problematic, XAVIER GÉRARD at CONDRIEU pointing out that “in 2017 we had so much rain in the form of storms that it became very tricky for growers in late summer, those with grass growing rampantly between the rows.”

GAYLORD MACHON, a young and promising grower on the flat land vineyards of BEAUMONT-MONTEUX at CROZES-HERMITAGE, is questing for the right path, and gave me his take on vineyard practices: “I grow grasses one row in two. I had tried organic for half the vineyard in 2017, and wanted to be fully organic in 2018, but found that I was treating the vineyards every two to three days in the wet spring-early summer, which left a poor carbon footprint.

As a result, I am now going to be HVE – HAUTE VALEUR ENVIRONNEMENTALE, which calculates the big picture of treating the vines, along with the impact for flora and the fauna. That means that I hope to be able to use just one synthetic treatment a year, and go through the vineyards with a treatment every two to three weeks, not every two to three days.”

Working organically since 2009 and biodynamically since 2015, SÉBASTIEN GIRARD of DOMAINE DE LA VILLE ROUGE at CROZES-HERMITAGE has also changed his approach to growing grass between the rows on his LES CHASSIS vineyards. “Before 2008, I grew grasses along every row, but since then I have cut back to one row in three – it was too wet to get into the vines after any significant rain, and I was finding you no longer had a smooth lawn of grass effect.

That’s why I now sow different clovers that serve to nourish the plants with nitrogen through the year, while barley helps to dry the soils. As for the harvest dates, 100 days doesn’t really apply now – flowering in the first week of June and harvest starting early September in 2017 and 2018 comes out at around 90 days, and nearer 115 days for 2016 when the harvest was in late September.”

Other respected growers are changing their approach to harvesting dates. JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE from HERMITAGE tells me that “the best decision I took in 2018 was to harvest early on my whites. People looked at me with amazement, as I was harvesting before the CAVE DE TAIN! I had a pH of 3.6 and a degree of 13.5°; that would have changed to 3.8 pH and 15.5° in a few days. We even harvested on a Sunday, the DAY of the SEIGNEUR. We’d only done that once before, in 1994, which was in effect a reaction to the 1993 experience [torrential rains].”

THIÉRRY ALLEMAND has for long been one of the first to harvest at CORNAS [along with the CLAPE family]. He tells me: “I want to revert to wines at 13.5°, instead of 14° to 14.5° which is so usual these days – so I am harvesting earlier.” THIÉRRY started his 2018 harvest on 3 September.

An observation from MAXIME GRAILLOT on the plain of LES CHASSIS at CROZES-HERMITAGE was also revealing in the longer context. “Since my Dad arrived in 1985, we had never harvested in August [the white crop] until 2009; since then we have harvested in August as well in 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018.”

The old rule book of wines averaging around 12.5° to 13.5°, with pH levels at 3.5, has been thrown out of the window recently, and the race will be won by those who are flexible in spirit, mind and practice. The juggernauts of the wine industry will be the losers, except that they will add water, adjust acidities and mess around with the “product” in the cellar, much to the detriment of drinkers who do not stick to trusted family domaines.

On which note, A HAPPY 2019 TO ALL READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS!

TRUE ASCENSION TAKES DECADES

DECEMBER 2018

It may not be the month of MAY, but the 80th anniversary of the appellation CORNAS that is being celebrated in late NOVEMBER/early DECEMBER 2018, prompts thoughts about just how long it takes for a wine village to ascend to the heights of having its own CRU, and to be recognised for its true worth, a pairing whose parts do not naturally run along the same timelines.

In the RHÔNE, the Daddy appellation is CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. It was there in 1923 that the first French regulating laws were devised for table wines led by the BARON LE ROY of CHÂTEAU FORTIA – laws aimed at safeguarding CHÂTEAUNEUF from trafficking and general abuse, the first item of which stated: “only land capable of bearing lavender and thyme was to be cultivated, these two plants preferring an equally poor soil to the vine.” This charter led into the national laws of appellation, which were formally instituted across FRANCE in 1935, CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE joining in on that in 1936.

Politics and influence played a prominent role in the development and recognition of wine villages in the first half of the twentieth century, with BARON LE ROY the hero or villain according to your standpoint. He gave the green light to TAVEL, right across the RIVER RHÔNE from CHÂTEAUNEUF, to become its own appellation in 1935 – after all, it was ROSÉ, so presented no threat to CHÂTEAUNEUF! His hero status was confirmed with the TAVEL vignerons voting him PRESIDENT of their Union.

Meanwhile, at GIGONDAS, things were different.  Growers would go cap in hand to the INSTITUT NATIONAL of APPELLATIONS d’ORIGINE – co-founder one BARON LE ROY – and ask for the right to ascend to their own appellation cru, away from the bottom of the pyramid, catch-all CÔTES DU RHÔNE designation. The answer, as CHARLES DE GAULLE said more than once in his life, was a resounding “NON”.

Unlike TAVEL, GIGONDAS and its red wines presented a threat to CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. PRESIDENT of the INAO from 1947 until his death in 1967, LE ROY held the whip hand, prompting the then MAYOR of GIGONDAS, ROGER CHAPALAIN [DOMAINE DE LONGUE TOQUE] to record, with irony: “if we could prove that some POPE drank GIGONDAS, we would have our AOC appellation, and we would no longer be a CÔTES DU RHÔNE”.

LE ROY’s eventual passing was actually hailed by one of the GIGONDAS Committee when he wrote: “June 22, 1967, M FRANÇOIS AY announces to the Council that since the death of BARON LE ROY (this person having done a most beautiful thing for GIGONDAS, that is to kick the bucket, without any regret for us - on the contrary), the moment seems favourable for application of the noble appellation GIGONDAS.” GIGONDAS duly ascended in 1971, after 35 years of obstruction and delay, decades that were injurious to investment in the vineyard and cellars, injurious to the livelihoods of the growers, and damaging in placing GIGONDAS in the category of just another country wine.

In my lifetime, I have known CORNAS as a lowly drink at the bar country wine, while the merchants of HERMITAGE hoovered up hectolitres from domaines Cornasiens to place in their blended marvels such as the HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE, or merchants from SAINT-PÉRAY such as EUGÈNE VÉRILHAC cherry picked excellent young wine for what was always a prized CORNAS under his colours. The presence of two barrelmakers at CORNAS attested to the shipping out of the wine in anything but bottle: such economics dictated a subsistence existence for most vignerons and vigneronnes of CORNAS, despite its status as an appellation since 1938.

I would say that it is only since 2010-12 that things have really taken off economically for CORNAS, although much of the heat around the price of its wines has centred on old ELVIS THE LEGEND bottles from deceased growers such as NOËL VERSET, or bottles from the 1980s and 1990s, whose current price is of no economic use to the growers today.

When considering the purchase of some vines at CORNAS in 2006, I researched the price vis-à-vis its most aligned appellation, namely HERMITAGE, since I felt CORNAS to be much underestimated. The price per hectare on LA GENALE, right in the best pound seats of the appellation, with a south facing granite slope planted in 1920s SÉRINE, a stream at the bottom, more rugged soils at the top, was the equivalent of a climat such as TORRAS ET LES GARENNES [alluvial, glacier soils] below the village of LARNAGE in the far east end of HERMITAGE, a spot closer in quality to CROZES-HERMITAGE than HERMITAGE in my view.

The decision to purchase at CORNAS, even setting aside the emotional ties I hold to the village and its growers, was straightforward. My children would have vines, rather than just books to remember me by, and that, surely, is the best of legacies – something running over a matter of decades – in fact just as long as it takes a wine village to achieve recognition and its true worth.

WHAT WOULD YOU PLANT?

NOVEMBER, 2018

No sooner are vinifications finished, than off growers head once more into the vineyard to extract vines earmarked for the chop – they can be too old, or suffering from ESCA [a fungus that eats away at the wood of vines] or be SYRAH that is in bad shape from what is known as dépérissement [wasting away]. In the latter case, bright red leaves in autumn are a signal, as are crevasses or indentions in the vine wood leading them to gradually die. It is thought that vine grafting in part creates this problem, which is linked to clones, with some clones more susceptible than others, and to rootstock grafting, with the RIPARIA 110 & 99 graft the most vulnerable.

Heavy rain – several inches in a few days - in the last week of OCTOBER, 2018 did at least facilitate the digging out of the dead or very old vines. The replacements will be planted in the early spring, 2019. However, the extremity of the past two vintages has served to intensify the debate over what should be planted.

“Things are hurtling along now,” comments LOUIS BARRUOL of CHÂTEAU SAINT COSME at GIGONDAS. “Every year now, the approach of the grower is having to be more and more fine tuned, because of the extreme weather - drought, very high heat, seasons out of sync and so on. You can think it’s best to go up the hillside for fresher conditions, but you may be on a south-facing slope, which takes away some of that advantage. The micro-climate in each vineyard will be important.”

JEAN-PIERRE MEFFRE of DOMAINE SAINT GAYAN, also at GIGONDAS, has always been a keen weather watcher. He told me: “The Mediterranean at SAINTE-MAXIME, where my sister lives, is 21°C, instead of 14°-15°C – it was 28°C at the end of the summer, unheard of. With no MISTRAL wind this summer to turn the waters over, and bring the cooler water up from the depths, we are subject to these ÉPISODES CÉVENOLS – flooding in the AUDE, GARD and VAR départements, all along the Mediterranean, in fact – between the end of AUGUST and DECEMBER.”

“MAY 2018 was abominable with the onslaught of mildew after the wet spring. In a normal year, there are four to five days of mildew contamination; in 2018, there were 21 days of contamination. I know of one big estate at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE which treated the vines 22 times – in CHAMPAGNE, 15 times is already a lot!”

Certainly, the mildew in 2018 savaged the GRENACHE NOIR. After the coulure [flowers failing to convert into fruit] in 2017, it was the second consecutive year of near disaster for the region’s staple variety. By contrast, the MOURVÈDRE stood up better to the mildew in 2018, which was a saving grace for high quality organic properties such as CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL and CLOS DES PAPES. CÉSAR PERRIN of BEAUCASTEL remarked: “we had the luck of the MOURVÈDRE to bring complexity in 2017, while we now only prune the GRENACHE on biodynamic calendar fruit days, which has helped to restrict the incidence of coulure. The MOURVÈDRE has played a starring role the past two years.”

“I am more and more worried by the GRENACHE,” admits VINCENT AVRIL of CLOS DES PAPES. “Our spring cleaner was the MISTRAL wind, but that has been absent in the rainy springs recently. The MOURVÈDRE is now approaching 40% of our blend; I am glad we have had 20% of it since 1979, and that I increased it to 30% in 2001-2003, not just the other day.”

Hence MOURVÈDRE is more likely to be the vine of choice for replanting, but it must have its roots in humid soils, and stand in a sunny position. It does not do well in sandy soils – as opposed to the GRENACHE – nor does it do well fringed by trees and woods, which is why there is no MOURVÈDRE at CHÂTEAU RAYAS.

As for JEAN-PIERRE MEFFRE, he is taking a novel slant on his replanting of the 0.75 hectare he owns on JANASSE at COURTHÉZON in CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. “I am going to be the only domaine making noting but white wine at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE! I replanted this year, with 50% CLAIRETTE ROSE and BLANCHE, 20% PICPOUL [not prone to mildew], 15% GRENACHE BLANC and 15% BOURBOULENC. It’s too hot for ROUSSANNE, which gets too ripe, and the CLAIRETTE is an ideal base for the wine, well adapted to the region.”

ORCHESTRATING THE WONDER OF WINE

OCTOBER 2018

When my daughter MARINA proposed the visit of some of her young friends for the weekend recently, expressing their wish “to taste and learn about some nice wine”, my thoughts turned to what could be served. There were to be three meals, a Friday night dinner [salmon en papillote with shredded leaks, cheese such as Comté, Jarlsberg, Camembert], a Saturday night session [home logs barbecued chicken cuts and sausages] and a Sunday lunch [roast beef with Yorkshire pudding].

The opener was themed on WHITE RHÔNE, young and mature, from the SOUTH. This was a chance to serve wines that they would not normally encounter on wine lists in LONDON, and to show the wines’ suitability for being drunk with food, à table, rather than solo in a wine bar. To illustrate the evolution of these multi-varietal wines, there were two 2017 LIRAC BLANCs, followed by two 2009 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE BLANCs from across the RIVER RHÔNE, a path of no more than about five or six miles if your average crow flew in a straight line, with similar galet stone soils involved in both instances, and pockets of sand, as well.

There was a vintage association as well: 2017 – dry and hot, 2009 – baked sunshine, drought also. The one shift between the two vintages was greater sophistication in the farming of the vineyard [canopy management to preserve leaf cover rather than slavish dropping of leaves to achieve ripeness, before realising that ripening was in excess], the timing of the harvest, its execution [night-time versus the day] and in the cellar with more exact temperature control, more attention to minutiae, including inert conditions for bottling. In broad terms, growers these days work for greater and more obvious freshness than they did in the 2000s.

The LIRACs were set up to show two different styles, based on the varieties involved. Hence the 2017 CHÂTEAU BOUCARUT, 75% ROUSSANNE, 25% VIOGNIER, was supple, rounded, fat, low in acidity, a joli do, while the 2017 CHÂTEAU MONT-REDON, 45% GRENACHE BLANC, 25% CLAIRETTE BLANCHE, 20% ROUSSANNE, 10% VIOGNIER, was more solid thanks to the GRENACHE and the CLAIRETTE, carrying well along the palate, capable of living longer than the BOUCARUT. Steamed fish for the former, the latter capable of going well with pork, white meats, for example.

Next came the 2009 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE DOMAINE SAINT-PRÉFERT, 85% CLAIRETTE ROSE & BLANCHE, 15% ROUSSANNE: bearing in mind the high heat of the summer, this was remarkably fine, held excellent length, was stylish, even resembling a mature white Burgundy, its freshness delivered with a pitter patter of detail. Grand Vin, a notch ahead of the 2009 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE DOMAINE DE LA RONCIÈRE, 60% GRENACHE BLANC, 25% CLAIRETTE BLANCHE, 15% ROUSSANNE.

The latter, the RONCIÈRE, was another testament to the wholesome nature of the two varieties that best sum up SOUTHERN RHÔNE whites down the years, the GRENACHE BLANC and CLAIRETTE BLANCHE. Rich, oily, more reserved on the palate than the slightly advanced bouquet, the vintage in a nutshell thanks to its close-packing, solid foundation. Touches of sherry, Amontillado were accompanied by good spine, shape. This was not a straightforward wine for the young team, but once it was alongside the cheese, the lights came on.

The Saturday evening was NORTHERN RHÔNE night. Pointing out that all these wines were made from a single variety, the SYRAH, it was time to present a glimpse of the hierarchy of soils, and evolution of wines across a span of 20 years, the chosen vintages all very high quality. First off was the 2015 VIN DE PAYS DES COLLINES RHODANIENNES of ANDRÉ PERRET, derived from 1980s SYRAH grown on sandy soil on the plain close to the SAINT-JOSEPH hillside appellation. We then ascended the hills to granite soils via two vintages of VIN DE PAYS DES COLLINES RHODANIENNES with more age, these from STÉPHANE PICHAT, the 2010 and the 2009, so a foray into 2004 SYRAH on the CHAMPON site at CÔTE-RÔTIE a little way north. Next, a step up to the 2010 SAINT-JOSEPH DOMAINE FAURY LA GLORIETTE to indicate more noble terroir and older vines [1949, with 1981], ending with the majesty of terroir and origin, the 1995 HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE, observing that this was an extremely vintage-faithful wine, and one blended from different plots around the mighty hillside.

A little step up at a time in terms of complexity and profundity was taken, the coursing black fruit of the 2015 PERRET giving way to the more mature, cool, mineral tones of the 2010 VIN DE PAYS PICHAT, and the savoury, slightly meaty sun-filled notes of his 2009. All three were excellent examples of their genre, allowing the observation that buying the “small” wines from a good domaine affords value and rewarding drinking, as do the BOURGOGNE Village-level wines from top growers such as GHISLAINE BARTHOD or SYLVAIN CATHIARD.

The 2010 SAINT-JOSEPH was broad, long, fulfilling, with the wonderful 2010 balance and freshness streaming through it like little sparks of a shooting star, a young wine, full of running. The 1995 LA CHAPELLE is a wine I adore and respect, way better than most of the 1990s in LA CHAPELLE, outside the 1990, of course. It still carries its dry vintage imprint, with lithe content and fine fibre tannins along its sides. While the bouquet offered a free run of changing prompts, including meat stock, cinnamon, raspberry coulis, the palate carried some vintage reserve to this day, derived from the dry conditions of the year, a vintage when, if the rain had fallen three weeks before the start of September, when it finally came, “could have been exceptional” according to GÉRARD CHAVE: this was a CHAPELLE still more strict than generous, but intricate and provocative.

Sunday lunch was the chance to go straight into exceptional bottles in their category, starting with the 2010 CÔTES DU RHÔNE LIEU-DIT CLAVIN of DOMAINE DE LA VIEILLE JULIENNE, where the vineyards lie across a track from CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE – the same principle as the selected VIN DE PAYS wines. A great vintage at a very competitive price here, a wine that is young and vibrant, with the cool, sustained tenor of organically worked vineyards.

Then the contrast and compare moment, served blind, the 1999 MARGAUX CHÂTEAU RAUZAN-SÉGLA, followed by the 1998 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE PIERRE USSEGLIO & FILS. The silken pathway and nobility of the BORDEAUX, so different, so svelte, so polished beside the more rugged, spice-laden box of tricks of the robust, mature CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: the Atlantic alongside the Mediterranean.

Droplets of enthusiasm, streams of reflection, and caches of understanding were my hopes for the young generation by the time the weekend concluded. BONNE DÉGUSTATION!

COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE HARVEST

SEPTEMBER 2018

NEWS FROM THE VINEYARDS

NORTHERN RHÔNE

The drought has hit areas such as CÔTE-RÔTIE and CONDRIEU, the vineyard taking a hit two years running. Hence there is an unbalanced ripening for the VIOGNIER at CONDRIEU, while the SYRAH is presenting different levels of ripening even within a single plot. However, the mildew attacks have been less deplorable than those of the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, since domaines have the equipment to spray while walking through the vines with a backpack. At CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, as NORTHERN growers have pointed out, they couldn’t get their tractors into the soggy vineyards to treat the vines, and had no second option.

CONDRIEU, CÔTE-RÔTIE

YVES GANGLOFF: “it’s been so hot here, and rain that we needed hasn’t come. The last rain of consequence was 15 mm [0.6 in] in the first week of August. Only five miles down the road at CHAVANAY, for their CONDRIEU and SAINT-JOSEPH, they had the right cloud over them that day, and received 50 mm [2 in]. So that was frustrating. Degree is high on the VIOGNIER, 14° to 14.5°, but you have the case where the vine next door, a bit less in the sun, for instance, has VIOGNIER at only 10° to 11°.

The concentration in the grapes this year is through the drought rather than the ripening process, so there are dehydrated grapes in play – they may have 14°, but aren’t ripe. We’ve had to contend with this sort of challenge off and on over the last 10 years, but 2018 follows 2017, making two very hot and dry years in succession. 2017 was helped by having the more temperate and rainy 2016 preceding it. At CÔTE-RÔTIE, the southern areas of TUPIN with shallow soil terraces and granite have resisted the drought less well than the schist vines of the northern sector. I will start the harvest gently next week, from 10 September.”

CORNAS

GUILLAUME GILLES: “I start my harvest tomorrow, 4 September. The CLAPES and THIÉRRY ALLEMAND were harvesting today. I am stunned, really, since the juice in the grapes is very coloured and very aromatic. The SYRAH degree was 13° last week, with acidities not very high. The grapes aren’t very big, their size irregular. There has been some drought on CHAILLOT. Mildew may have meant a loss of 5%, but the real crop loser this year was the combination of a lack of juice from the drought, the high heat, and a budding that wasn’t very abundant. Over at SAINT-PÉRAY, quality and quantity both seem good for their whites.”

CÔTE-RÔTIE, CONDRIEU

JEAN-MICHEL GÉRIN: “2018 continues the run of years since 2009 where we have harvested a precocious crop, around the first week of September, with few exceptions, just 2016, really. We are starting our CÔTE-RÔTIE on 6 September, with the SYRAH on LES GRANDES PLACES at 13.9°, and on VIALLIÈRE at 13.6°. The pips are very, very ripe, and the analysis shows the polyphenols - tannins – have extremely high potential. There are well developed aromatics given the ripeness of the crop. We aren’t yet at the stage where the grapes lose weight, so things are stable for now. The CÔTE-RÔTIE SYNDICAT has asked for a yield of 44 hl/ha this year. At CONDRIEU, we are further behind, with VIOGNIER on LA MALADIÈRE at 12.5°, so we will be harvesting that on 10 September. The SYNDICAT at CONDRIEU has requested a yield of 46 hl/ha. If I achieve 40 hl/ha, I will be happy.”

CROZES-HERMITAGE, CORNAS, SAINT-JOSEPH

MAXIME GRAILLOT: “I harvested my white CROZES crop last week, 47 hl/ha, and very happy with that because some freshness was retained. The fermentations are going along nicely now. Our SYRAH today is at 13° to 14.2°. and we are starting to harvest that on 5 September. Colour in the juice of the grapes is good, the weather is fine, and the yield is around 40 hl/ha, so it’s time to go.

2018 has a similar profile to 2017 – the temperature and weather of the summer and the harvest dates – the whites 28 August in 2017 and 29 August in 2018, the reds on 6-7 September in both years. The main difference is the slightly higher rainfall of 2018, with a very helpful 23 mm [0.96 in] in July. 2018 will join 2017 as a hyper charming vintage.

Over at CORNAS, the SYRAH [1960s] on LA CÔTE for the CORNAS equis is 13° to 13.2°, and the yield a maximum of 35 hl/ha; there’s been no stress there, while the SYRAH for the SAINT-JOSEPH equis from SAINT JEAN-DE-MUZOLS has suffered from drought on the slopes there, so the crop isn’t very big.”

SAINT-JOSEPH

JEAN GONON, DOMAINE GONON: “well, it’s been hot, very hot! Mildew surged forward in the second half of June, having lain low in incubation, even with fine and dry weather. The rain on 5 August or so was super after extreme heat up to 36°C in the shade of our courtyard in the preceding days, which meant we could only work in the mornings, so hot was it. There was a little August rain after that, so we were saved in effect, since there had been the start of blockage on the ripening. As it is, acidities are low. The SYRAH is a bit more balanced than the whites, where the ROUSSANNE is at 13° to 14°, the pH already at 3.6 – so we’re harvesting that soon. The SYRAH is around 13° and consistent across the vineyard, the fruit tasty, but the stems still green. We’ll harvest that towards 13-14 September. The 2018 yield is higher than 2017.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE

The white grape harvest is under way across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, with growers pointing to low acidity in their crop. The picture generally is overhung with the bleak reality of mildew having decimated certain domaines for the 2018 harvest. It’s been a case of missing out on one treatment, and suddenly the mildew was galloping away into the sunset. The result for some is virtually no crop.

Otherwise, the harvest quality is good across the red grapes, as growers wait for ripening to come together. From various appellations, here is the latest news.

BEAUMES-DE-VENISE

ISABELLE DE MENTHON, CHÂTEAU REDORTIER: “well, the summer saw extremely high and uncomfortable heat, so the good rainfall of 80 mm [3.2 in] in August encouraged vegetation; the vines had been holding up well, anyway. Here up high at SUZETTE [350 metres] we don’t have large bunches, and they are well aired, so we have avoided the rot that appeared low down on the plain vineyards. Mildew has been severe across the region, with some domaines producing zero GRENACHE, and magnificent SYRAH, which will change the blends. It’s been a tough year for organic domaines with all the mildew. We are 10 days behind 2017, and will probably start the white harvest towards 25 September.”

CAIRANNE

DENIS ALARY, DOMAINE ALARY: “we were one of the few harvesting ROUSSANNE last week, also GRENACHE BLANC. Acidity isn’t very high, and their degree was 13.5° to 14°. We will be cutting the SYRAH from 10 September, the GRENACHE the week after. Mildew has reduced the harvest level; I would estimate a loss of 20% across the appellation. The 120 mm [4.8 in] of rain on 9 August came as the vineyards were starting to stress from the dry conditions; it was followed by days of MISTRAL wind, then good heat. That served to put back the harvest by a week, which was very beneficial. Even my VIN DE TABLE harvest is in good shape, with no rot. There’s rain coming in a few days, so we have to be vigilant.”

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, RASTEAU, LIRAC

PATRICK BRUNEL, CHÂTEAU DE LA GARDINE: “we have survived the onslaught of the mildew, unlike some domaines in the COURTHÉZON [North-East] and also SORGUES [South-East] sectors. I have spoken to growers here and at RASTEAU who have virtually no crop, which is appallingly sad. If you missed out on just one treatment, you were stuffed. We had the luck to take the right decision on treating the vines. There was rain all through the month of May, with wind or MISTRAL NOIR following the rain, which impeded spraying, and was also rain bearing. The dramatic attack came at the end of May, early June, and life was very tricky for organic producers.

Our rain on 9 August was 100 mm [4 in]. The white harvest started to rot, and we had to work on the leaves. We have picked ROUSSANNE at 14°, and left rotted crop in the vineyards. The harvest is handsome, but I feel we have to act fast now. Our SYRAH is at 13°, the GRENACHE at 13° to 13.5°. Quality in our vineyard at RASTEAU is pretty good, though there are some domaines very badly hit by mildew there as well. The lest affected by mildew this year is our vineyard at LIRAC, across the river from here. We now have 10 hectares set up for irrigation there, and that was used especially in July, when the vines were really suffering. There has been some millerandage [shot berries] on the whites, but the SYRAH is good, and colours are dark on the reds.”

GIGONDAS

DÉLPHINE FARAUD, DOMAINE DU CAYRON: “the harvest is small, what with the rain all through May – falls of 60 mm (2.2 in] and 40 mm [1.6 in], and not much Mistral wind, leading to mildew. There had been coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) before that, the rain hitting the flowers. At present, our laboratory analysis states that there is a marked imbalance between the acidity, tannin and degree, and the grapes need to concentrate. The vintage profile is similar to 2017, though we are one week later this year. We look like starting the harvest on 20 September.”

VACQUEYRAS

GUY RICARD, DOMAINE LE COUROULU: “I harvested my VACQUEYRAS white last week; we were only two or three harvesting, SANG DES CAILLOUX one of them. Now I am on my VIN DE PAYS red grapes including MERLOT. I will start the VACQUEYRAS GRENACHE on 10 September. I have no complaints with my yield at 35 hl/ha, having avoided the worst damage from mildew. I did a lot of treatments against it, including two on Sundays, which I think tipped things in my favour. The GRENACHE is 13.5° to 13.8° now, and the vines look magnificent. The 100 mm of rain [4 in] on 9 August was crucial. Of course, it’s no surprise that acidities are catastrophic, the ROUSSANNE and GRENACHE BLANC on 2.95 Total Acidity, although their pH is OK. I expect next week to see most domaines harvesting.”

A TRUE HERO, 13 JULY 1925 TO 13 JULY 2018

AUGUST 2018

AUGUSTE CLAPE

The news I had been dreading for some time came in mid-July. “AUGUSTE nous a quitté”, wrote his grandson OLIVIER CLAPE. AUGUSTE had had an operation earlier this year, and had been living in the retirement home of LES BAINS in SAINT-PÉRAY, whose cedar tree’s roots used to disrupt play on the tennis court when TIM JOHNSTON [JUVENILES, PARIS] and I did battle in the early 1970s, when it was the local hotel, the HOTEL DES BAINS.

AUGUSTE had remained alert throughout his final months. Even in his nineties, he would come out to greet me and ask me my opinion of the current vintage; he lived above the timeless cellars, where he had spent so much of his rewarding and fulfilled life. Until about a year ago, he would go down in the lift and taste the wines plot by plot, his antennae always on the prowl, his mind working on what would constitute an artful blend.

My memories cluster around his wisdom, and his precious ability to see the long view, the context, be it in the handling of the vineyard, or in the vinification of the wine given the year’s specific circumstances. He used to emphasize that his most important decision in any vintage was to decide upon the harvest date. “The chef can go back into the kitchen and re-do the sauce when it hasn’t worked out, but I don’t have the same luxury,” he would tell me.

There were two other attributes that are worth commenting upon; tenacity and temperament. The tenacity was never more apparent than in the early 1970s, when the fortunes of CORNAS were as low as they could be. That was a time when ROGER CATALON spoke to me of his vineyard being abandoned after being made a Prisoner of War near TRIER. “I managed to escape, and came straight back to my boulot [my work].”

ROGER had made his first wine at 13, and spoke of the 1940s as being lost years for CORNAS – “the cafetiers of VALENCE and VIENNE would take our wine as VIN de CORNAS, but they really only wanted wine of no more than 11° to get their customers to drink more – we were selling wine passed up and down the zinc counters in those days.” I first met ROGER in 1973, a man in his early 60s then, when he told me “I’m all by myself; I’d like to bottle, but cannot. What else can I do but sell my wine to merchants?” Imagine an appellation that had stayed still, or even declined, for four decades – that was CORNAS.

AUGUSTE took on the hegemony of the local Merchant Houses, believing that home bottling was the way to go. He did sell a little to the Merchants, notably some hectolitres of his 1961 to LOUIS JABOULET, “wine that went into LA CHAPELLE 1961,” as he recounted with a typically wry smile. His 1971 was the first vintage that I got to know at first hand, and it was a marvellous, full-bodied creation, with what today would be praised as a commendable freshness running through it. Whole bunch fermentation was the norm then as now, the vinification taking around two weeks.

At the time AUGUSTE still grew some barley; growers needed whatever source of income they could find. In his early years of marriage, post 1949, he had been involved with the polyculture of his wife HENRIETTE ROUSSET. Beyond her five hectares of vineyards, 3.5 of them within CORNAS, there were apricot trees, cherries, cereal, cows: much to do, and a full year of toil from 1 January onwards.

The belief in CORNAS never wavered, with battles fought against land developers, allied to rustling up the morale of his fellow vignerons, the young ones in the 1970s numbering precisely two – ALAIN VOGE and ROBERT MICHEL. Running the FOIRE of the SYRAH and the ROUSSETTE – today’s MARCHÉ DE CORNAS – was another community task keenly undertaken. The 1973 version ended, as I recall, at around 02.00 hours in his cellar, stretchers on hand to carry out the survivors!

As for temperament, AUGUSTE was unflappable, rock steady. A good listener, and not a man to overtalk any situation or observation. In The WINES of the NORTHERN RHÔNE, I wrote: “AUGUSTE CLAPE is the arch example of a man whose wines are always faithful to their vintage, their style in tune with what the weather and growing conditions have delivered. A refusal to intervene too much brings the benefit of letting the vine sort out its cycles over time: years of drought, of abundant vegetation, of copious flowering, and so on are guided by observation, thought, and then deft touches.”

Son PIERRE-MARIE joined AUGUSTE on 1 May, 1988 [when AUGUSTE was 62]. PIERRE’s first work was mainly in the vineyard, while AUGUSTE’s last vinification was the 1989. The transfer of the baton was seamless, including that from PIERRE to his son OLIVIER, who recalls learning from his grandfather “as we went along, during the vinification, for example, tasting as it happened, capturing the idea of the vintage. I also tied the vines and pruned them with him at first, along with my grandmother, who used to prune the very old vines on LES MAZARDS near the village.”

Among the many vintages I have experienced, I would highlight a group that defined AUGUSTE’s skills, whatever the conditions. In the annals these are often regarded as Small Years, when the growing season was testing, tricky. Among these hidden gems feature 1977 [discreet depth, pleasing], 1980 [developed complexity, depth], and 1984 [sheer delight]. Grandiose vintages were 1971, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1995, even if his rôle in the last three was reduced.

Recognition of AUGUSTE and his work has been widespread across the world, the domaine receiving numerous communications from all sorts of people, many of whom, I suspect, will not have been aware of just how tough and bleak was the back story of CORNAS. The wines are now hot property, prices are high, even sky high, and there are elements of this merry go round that would make AUGUSTE utter one of his softly voiced, pinpoint accurate asides, his eyes speaking with their habitual softness.

Yes, a stone rather than a statue for AUGUSTE CLAPE. The inscription: WISDOM, INTEGRITY, and HUMANITY. Je t’embrasse, my very dear friend.

DIAL M FOR MILDEW

JULY 2018

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’s 1954 classic DIAL M FOR MURDER was based on a play where the sleazy ex-tennis pro [RAY MILLAND] wants to rid himself of his coolly beautiful and very rich wife [GRACE KELLY] so he can live it up on her fortune, and mete out punishment for her affair with a writer. In 2018, it’s the RHÔNE growers who would like to rid themselves of “the worst mildew in 50 years”.

The last two years have thus swung between extremes – 2017 with its constant drought and high heat, leading into 2018 with rainfalls already over 80% of an annual total in places such as LIRAC. Any vigneron who was dozy, or perhaps otherwise engaged on the promotional trail abroad will have suffered, since the mildew came galloping along at a great rate, with very few opportunities to get into the vineyard under dry, stable conditions in order to treat the vines.

Hot weather from mid-June onwards has re-established some equilibrium, however. Growers I have spoken to – all run well managed domaines – were generally optimistic about the state of the vineyards, although pointing out that there is quite a lot of variation from plot to plot this year.

NORTHERN RHÔNE

From his tractor between his SAINT-JOSEPH vineyards at CHAVANAY and his CÔTE-RÔTIE base at AMPUIS, JULIEN BARGE gave this account: “it’s been an All Sorts year, with a lot of bad weather, rain during flowering, people worried. However, the weather changed around 11-12 June, and we have had 18 days with sun and a North wind. We had mildew, but we have come out with around 90% of the crop intact, including vines looking in great shape. I would be heading for a 30-35 hl/ha yield. There was a storm of 25 mm (1 in) early this morning (3 July) at CÔTE-RÔTIE, but only 5 mm (0.2 in) at CHAVANAY. The SYRAH didn’t suffer from coulure [flowers not converting into fruit] this year, and the crop for SAINT-JOSEPH, including the whites, is excellent. The VIOGNIER for our CONDRIEU is abundant, high quality, and suffered no mildew. Since the end of June, we have been at temperatures of 30°-35°C.”

Further South at CORNAS, PIERRE CLAPE spoke about his family vineyard. “the year started late, then quickly moved into being in advance due to heat in early May,” he told me. “We had a lot of rain then, with mildew hitting the bunches of the MARSANNE at SAINT-PÉRAY [bunches are obviously the worst scenario], and the leaves of the SYRAH at CORNAS. It stemmed from a constant set of rainfalls of 10-15-20 mm (0.4-0.8 in) every two days with hot weather – 26°-27°C - at the same time in May: absolutely perfect for mildew.

Total rainfall for the month of May was around 100 mm (4 in). Fresh nights and a North wind helped to stop the mildew, and now the vines have energy, punch, and are flourishing. I have seen some oïdium on a neighbour’s vineyard. Yields are correct as I speak, 35-40 hl/ha. The South wind of the past days and high 34°-35°C levels is not ideal – a risk of storms - but you can’t have everything. A neat rainfall of 15 mm (0.6 in) towards the end of July would be good.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE

JULIEN BARROT of DOMAINE LA BARROCHE at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE was ebullient as usual when I spoke to him: “well, it was tropical with the rain at times, and it’s been a difficult year. There has been some coulure [flowers not converting into fruit] on the GRENACHE. I’m at a healthy yield of 35 hl/ha now, many of my plots are in good shape, and I am happy with things. I have seen some domaines losing 50% to 70% due to the mildew that struck from May onwards, and came along very early. If you missed one treatment at the very start, you were in trouble this year – you had to protect yourself. I feel that some people were lulled by the recent run of very good vintages, and so were slow to react.

It’s been dry for three weeks now, which is ideal, while reserves of water are good thanks to the roughly 270 mm (10.8 in) of rain across April, May and June. The worst hit areas of the appellation are the South – I have seen vines stripped right back of vegetation in the extreme South – and the East, the best being the West and the Centre. We need a dry July.”

At later ripening GIGONDAS away to the East, MATHIEU BOUTIÈRE of DOMAINE DU PESQUIER reported his situation: “the 250 mm (10 in) of rain in three to four weeks of May and early June brought the mildew, and the problem was that there were only very brief openings when you could get into the vineyard to treat the vines. The first treatment was super important this year – it had to be prompt and efficient. Budding and vegetation were both handsome, though flowering took place rather under rainy conditions, not disastrous, though.

GIGONDAS has been more spared from mildew than neighbouring appellations – I know of a CÔTES DU RHÔNE domaine at VIOLÈS on the plain that lost 80% - and we are aided by being on slightly higher terraces and heights up to the DENTELLES behind the village. The mildew here is also very much on the leaves rather than the bunches. VACQUEYRAS has suffered more mildew, for example – their marl and lime soils have played a role, also their lower landscape.

After two weeks of very fine weather, there is no drought stress, and the bunches are clear and belles. We cannot stop treating the vines for mildew until the veraison [grapes change colour], which should be around 20-25 July. 2018 has a resemblance with 2008 and its rainy spring and mildew incidence, but I am told by the old timers that they have never seen such mildew in 50 years. What would be great now would be a small storm without hail before the end of July.”

Across the RHÔNE in the GARD département, RODOLPHE DE PINS of CHÂTEAU DE MONTFAUCON, with its striking position overlooking the River, summarized matters for him at LIRAC: “well, after the enormous drought of 2017 and a dry winter 2017-18, we were happy with the rain at first, then it turned to rain nearly every day, so that feeling quickly turned to worry. The accumulated rainfall now from 1 January to 1 July 2018 has been 600 mm (24 in) against an annual average of 700 mm (28 in), which shows the extent of it, especially during May and early June.

Both the GRENACHE and the MARSANNE suffer from mildew, more so than the SYRAH and the CLAIRETTE BLANCHE. I have been using copper solution to combat the mildew, which I can only describe as very virulent – I’ve never seen anything like it, obviously on the leaves but also on some bunches. Those who were on top of the mildew right at the start were OK – there was no catching up possible this year, especially if you work organically. Budding was very joli and prolific, while the mildew has served to perform a form of natural green harvesting for us. Since the rain stopped, we’ve had lots of Mistral wind, and the vegetation isn’t lacking water – neither vines nor trees.

Harvest date at present is looking like early September for the reds, late August for the whites. It’s 34° -35°C now, the evenings are fresh, and a spell of continued dry weather will serve us well.”

IN PRAISE OF . . . THE ARDÈCHE

JUNE 2018

It’s a well known fact that CORNAS is the capital of the NORTHERN RHÔNE, but it’s also the capital of the ARDÈCHE winemaking region. The département number 07 runs along the right bank of the RHÔNE, with hilly outcrops creating a series of valleys and gulches that feed the mighty river with much of its supply south of LYON, with the notable exception of the RIVER ISÈRE at CROZES-HERMITAGE; then it is the west bank that prevails once more until the reaches of the VAUCLUSE [département number 84] flow into it via the likes of the RIVER OUVÈZE.

The northern area of the ARDÈCHE is marked by influences of MASSIF CENTRAL granite, the local culmination being MONT PILAT, in view from CÔTE-RÔTIE and CONDRIEU; as that seam recedes, it is taken over by more southerly influences, a greater limestone and clay presence, with multiple jagged gorges and rivulets whose twisty turns are prized by canoeists when the RIVER ARDÈCHE is high.

There’s an interesting criss-cross near MONTÉLIMAR, by the way, since the LOIRE rises West of the nougat capital of France, while the ARDÈCHE river runs into the RHÔNE at PONT ST ESPRIT, some way South of MONTÉLIMAR. Mighty rivers, opposite flows, vastly differing destinations and riverside dwellings ranging from the functional along the RHÔNE to the splendiferous along the LOIRE.

With true legends such as the CHAVE family resident in the ARDÈCHE since 1481, and newcomers such as CHAPOUTIER also ARDECHOIS, the region is populated by high profile winemaking dynasties. AUGUSTE CLAPE came up from the AUDE département (number 11, capital CARCASSONNE) in his youth, but his heirs PIERRE and his son OLIVIER [and his son RUBEN] all qualify for true ARDECHOIS status, as do the GRIPA and GONON families who live at MAUVES. I can also lob in ALLEMAND and BALTHAZAR as other pedigree Ardechois. All are hard working, practical people whose outlook tallies with the surroundings of their upbringing.

Two leaders of the organic movement in the NORTHERN RHÔNE also come from the ARDÈCHE – JEAN DELOBRE [LA FERME DES SEPT LUNES] and JEAN-PIERRE MONIER [DOMAINE MONIER-PERRÉOL], who both quit the factory-like conditions of the CAVE DE SAINT-DÉSIRAT to go their own way; JEAN started organically in 1997, and went solo in 2001. JEAN-PIERRE’s great grandfather raised goats, sheep and cows and fed them homegrown beetroots and hay, his vineyards laid out in alternate rows of vines and peaches. JEAN-PIERRE dropped their last fruit trees and became a vineyard-only grower by the 1990s, and also left the CAVE in 2001, with biodynamic practices in place by then.

There’s a pause in the vineyards of the right bank after the limestone cliff of CRUSSOL, opposite VALENCE, before one enters the SOUTHERN ARDÈCHE, the region that for years has been the destination of the Beau Monde of the Paris Left Bank [more than the bourgeois-centric areas of the 8^th and 16^th arrondissements - more likely to have villas on the CÔTE D’AZUR].

The dried stone houses are rugged to the eye, and often rugged to inhabit, but people become extremely closely attached to their dwellings in this land of savage, wild beauty. There is quite a movement in organic, biodynamic and Nature wines in the lower ARDÈCHE, too. Free spirits that range from the sensibly fundamental to the outrageous, cork poppingly off the wall. ALICE FEIRING [author, NAKED WINE and LOVE, or HOW I SAVED THE WORLD FROM PARKERIZATION] is spotted in these climes from time to time, and the discourse is a lively one.

SAINT MARCEL D’ARDÈCHE is an established epicentre for the SOUTHERN ARDÈCHE and its organic wines, via LE MAS DE LIBIAN [biodynamic also] and the DOMAINE SALADIN, both run by strong-willed, enterprising women. A neighbour – on the next hillside to the north of the galet stone soils of MAS DE LIBIAN – is a relative newcomer, the biodynamic and organic DOMAINE DES ACCOLES, whose story brings together several threads of the narrative so far.  

FLORENCE and OLIVIER LERICHE worked at the NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES DOMAINE DE L’ARLOT in BURGUNDY from 1998 to 2011, en route converting it to biodynamic practices, but would retreat to the ARDÈCHE for relaxation, having bought a tumbledown cottage near PRIVAS there in 2005. Their roots are RHÔNE-ish, and when an 18.5 hectare vineyard came up for sale in 2010 at SAINT MARCEL, a vineyard where the old owner, a Co-operateur, had stopped using weedkillers, they jumped at the chance to launch their organic and biodynamic project under their own flag.

The DOMAINE DES ACCOLES range has been IGP ARDÈCHE, but is almost wholly VIN DE FRANCE now. I was very impressed with their work on the mature CARIGNAN – 1950s and 1960s – since with a wine such as the GRYPHE they have succeeded in coaxing out a perfumed elegance from it, far removed from the old South-West France acerbic, sometimes harsh wines of yore.

“We adore the CARIGNAN,” states OLIVIER. “it’s so often seen by many RHÔNE producers as too susceptible to oïdium, as producing too heavily, giving dilute wines. The combination of our clay-limestone soils, with early harvesting, gives low degree and very fresh wines, so there’s a balance of power and lightness of touch, often with a very delicate tannic grain and aromatic notes that are quite wild. As opposed to the PINOT NOIR, it likes oxygen, all the more so when it is harvested early.” The ACCOLES set of wines is uniformly elegant, with a bonny surprise in the form of the white CARIGNAN GRIS called L’INATTENDU.

Another organic ARDECHOIS domaine to have impressed me is the 25 hectare MAS D’INTRAS at VALVIGNÈRES, North-West of SAINT MARCEL. Their range is wholly IGP COTEAUX DE L’ARDÈCHE, run by cousins DENIS ROBERT [commerce] and SEBASTIEN PRADAL [vinifcation]. DENIS explains: “I had a grave allergic reaction to a chemical product in 1998, which prompted my progressive move towards a natural and organic approach over the past twenty years.”

Compost with the marc of grapes, plant-based products instead of copper, some of the wines with no added SO2, solar panels on the cellar, the use of 400g bottles, lighter than the standard 550-600g – “that alone saves more than 20 tons of glass in one year!”, and, until recently, dispatch of wine for PARIS or BRUSSELS via the river system from MONTÉLIMAR on a small river boat [40 times less environmental impact than road transport, especially due to the absence of acceleration and braking] that sadly stopped working in the spring of 2018 due to lack of demand: there’s a long and interesting variety of approaches in a coherent pro-environment policy here.

Vines at 250 metres on clay-limestone soils and careful vineyard and cellar handling by the vignerons result in clear and pure wines. I favour the oak-free cuvées, for example the natural, authentic CUVÉE DES HELVIENS [70% GRENACHE, 30% SYRAH], while there’s another very good CARIGNAN here, one with typical CARIGNAN fibre, but also finesse.

The growers of the SOUTHERN ARDÈCHE are more demonstrative than their NORTHERN neighbours, reflecting their warmer context, but the ability to think along individual, determined lines remains a communal trait for the residents of these hilly lands all across the ARDÈCHE.

Last of all, the grub: if touring in the region, a restaurant to note in the SOUTHERN ARDÈCHE is LA BÒRIA, 3 COURS DU PALAIS, 07000 PRIVAS, +33475 64 48 48, http://www.la-boria.com. In the NORTHERN ARDÈCHE, try [booking essential] DU JARDIN À L’ASSIETTE in MAUVES, an intimate venue with good, fresh produce. It’s just down from the CHAVES, on the way to the GONONS. 12 avenue Saint Joseph 07300 MAUVES, +33475 07 25 56, http://wwwdujardinalassiette.fr Bon Voyage, bon appétit, bonne degustation, donc.

THE PIMPERNEL OF THE ROASTED SLOPE

MAY 2018

PIERRE BENETIÈRE is a man who is happy with quietude. Over the thirty years I have known him, there have been moments when he has, quite literally, disappeared off the face of, if not quite the world, then the face of CONDRIEU, where he lives.

When we first met, he lived in a most unusual setting in a nondescript corridor of a place on the left bank ISÈRE département [38], ROUSSILLON by name. It’s just about opposite MALLEVAL on the other side of the RHÔNE. PIERRE resided amidst a jumble of casks, wooden stakes and cellar tools, house and garage in the mix of producing CONDRIEU and CÔTE-RÔTIE.

His devilish wit meant that he took great delight in stymying his suburban neighbours – a car would pass once every three hours until the moment during harvest when the hired truck and the crop were halted outside his [also] suburban dwelling, when “lo and behold, a car would come along inside a minute!” The kerfuffle and faffing about that “local outrage” can be easily imagined.

ROUSSILLON, it turned out from PIERRE, had a noble back story in that it was where CHARLES IX, CATHERINE DE MEDICI’s son, proclaimed the start of the JULIAN calendar in 1564, moving us to a 1 January New Year, rather than Eastertime, so write it off at your peril.

With his parents wine merchants in CONDRIEU, PIERRE moved back to those premises in 2003. But his route to making wine had started a lot earlier, in 1986, to be precise. He had studied oenology in LYON, PARIS, DIJON and MÂCON, but had no land. “My friends all said it was an impossible task, to get land cleared and planted for vines, then to make the wine,” he recalls; “well, that got me going, for a start.”

His first vineyard was on LE TINAL above CHÂTEAU-GRILLET – stone wall terraces and VIOGNIER. This was his main wine presented to the world in those days, but he also planted SYRAH in 1990-91 on CORPS DE LOUP on the sanded granite, locally termed ARZELLE soils of the southern sector of CÔTE-RÔTIE.

Gradually he became rather fed up with CONDRIEU – “they didn’t all please me, and I sold some as wine, some in bulk to merchants” - and preferred to concentrate on CÔTE-RÔTIE, which also had better commercial prospects. In these days, the late 2000s and early 2010s, he was a like a mole – invisible for most of the time. The landline telephone was cut off – “it was a nuisance” – and not readily replaced by a mobile contact. Shouting in his small courtyard also proved fruitless at budging him from his lair.

His renown was growing, though, perhaps aided by this cloak of mystery. The US hipster market had latched on to his use of whole bunches in his fermentation, and the quest for anything NORTHERN RHÔNE that was poorly known created another spur to people seeking him, contacting me to find out news, and wondering where he was, when he was, and almost, why he was.

As a lover of rugby, and a person who can trip off the names of the legendary Welsh players such as GARETH EDWARDS and JPR WILLIAMS, he is also broad in his interests, and his humour remains quirky. QUESTION: “what do you get when you drop a grand piano down a mine shaft? ANSWER: “A flat miner.”

He has now reduced his CONDRIEU vineyard to 0.2 hectare, while the CÔTE-RÔTIE has grown towards 2 hectares, of which a precious 0.08 hectare, a smudge really, is on the mighty CÔTE BRUNE, and provides his LE DOLIUM cuvée of 300 to 400 bottles. The 2017 has the iron and nerve of its place, being a ****(*) STGT wine. “It is extremely rustic, what I used to taste chez PÈRE JASMIN and GENTAZ-DERVIEUX when I was young,” he says.

PIERRE avers that the inclusion of the stems allows the wines to live well, and that the use of 350-litre or 400-litre casks permits a gentle exchange between the oak and the wine, not too heavy on the oaking. SO2 use is limited – a couple of 10 mg/litre applications when racking, and 20 mg/litre at bottling. When discussing the ***** 2015 CÔTE-RÔTIE CORDELOUX, he states “it made itself on its own. It was good immediately; I have no merit on this wine.”

PIERRE is troubled with back issues now he is in his fifties, but will be a touring success when he hits the USA later this year, invited by one of his importers. It’s a journey that has him buzzing with anticipation. His English and his wry sense of humour, with a gravelly-voiced delivery, will appeal.

As I leave, the first sighting of him for a few years, he says: “wait, I have a present for you.” I wonder what on earth will appear – dead or alive. He emerges from his house with a fridge magnet of a tiny bottle – his LE DOLIUM – with the addition of a corkscrew attached, the vintage 2007 also written as MMVII: quite correct, MAÎTRE BENETIÈRE. I disappear into the cold spring night after an embrace.

SAD NEWS FROM CANADA

My dear and much respected friend JOHN SWITZER lost his fight against brain cancer recently. He had been a regular on the RHÔNE tasting panel at the DECANTER WORLD WINE AWARDS, a wine educator and man of great culture who contributed greatly to that ever more corporate event. His interests and education were broad, up to speed on matters of education and teaching, finance, art and literature. His felt hat, a Sombrero du Nord, was also a sunny feature of his presence.

His regular newsletter was called WINESIGHTS VINTAGES NEWSLETTER, and covered wines that were good buys from the State monopoly, with thoroughly researched back stories on the wines. He also had some agency wines for ONTARIO, favouring the small, authentic domaines such as BURLE at VACQUEYRAS.

To receive a flavour of JOHN’s style I reproduce some lines from his newsletter of 31 March 2007, shortly after we had got to know each other better via the medium of the DÉCOUVERTES EN VALLÉE DU RHÔNE bi-annual event.

QUOTE

3. WINE IS IMPORTANT BUT THE PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT

I have always liked meeting people who spent all their waking hours working to make the best wines their land will let them make.  These people work very hard and take enormous risks when they invest their capital in a vineyard and winemaking operation.

This trip we spent time with several of our producers, eating at their homes, meeting their families and learning more about them as people.  Despite the great wines we tasted this was the most memorable aspect of our trip.

The real message for you, dear reader, is no matter how much you might enjoy the wine in your glass, it won’t really speak to you until you know the story of the wine:  where was it made, who made it, what was the producer trying to accomplish when the wine was made, how has the wine evolved since it was made and since prior vintages.  The only way to get the inside scoop on these questions, is to travel and get first-hand insight on these and countless other questions, directly from the producer.

END OF QUOTE

I send my most heartfelt condolences to his bright, vivacious and tenacious widow BARBARA, who accompanied JOHN on many of his vinous expeditions. They were having a long-term project of a new house built when the dread disease struck, and the past months will have been beyond belief tricky. I miss him greatly, BARBARA.

APRIL IS A REVEALING MONTH

APRIL 2018

If you choose to explore the vineyards as I do, being one of a dying breed of journalists who regularly visits them rather than rushing straight to a tasting room, April is a revealing month to observe what is really going on.

It’s before the leaf canopy has developed, and the vines stand naked and brown, their curious shapes in direct proportion to their age. The quality and health of the wood, the sheen or lack of it, can be seen. So can the ground on which they grow, and that can be one of the most dispiriting aspects of any viticultural inspection.

Lunar landscapes are frequent – not a trace of grass or flower or weed, just a pale brown, deathly setting. The use of Roundup is most depressing. Not only is its key ingredient, glyphosate, a potential menace to human life, it also clears out all life in its path. Gone are the insects, the labyrinth of diversity.

CÔTE BLONDE VINEYARD AT CÔTE-RÔTIE, PHOTO TAKEN THE SAME APRIL DAY AS LES GRANDES PLACES OF CLUSEL-ROCH

Many growers on hillsides claim this is the only way they can work. The slopes and terraces cannot be worked mechanically  - or easily – they say, so this is the only method of keeping things under control. The counterpoint to the weedkillers is the application of compost. So you kill the living daylights out of a place, then “compensate” with rotted matter.

Agitation has been rife about the use of Roundup, with a petition in late 2017 signed by 1.3 million people to urge its banning. In the event, the EU voted to extend its use for five years, until 2022. Since then, there has been a vote in the Netherlands to ban glyphosate use, while PRESIDENT MACRON wants its banning to be brought forward in France to nearer 2020-21. Glyphosate is a core ingredient of Round up. At present, it is hard, if not impossible, to buy Roundup as a private individual in FRANCE.

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE, with its hillside vineyards, we can take the example of CÔTE-RÔTIE and CONDRIEU. Out of over 100 domaines, there are very few officially certified organic. M CHAPOUTIER work their vineyards with a pickaxe, manually, while PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ have also converted to organic, and spend a lot of time and money on their vineyards.

Another which is organic is DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY. Then there’s CLUSEL-ROCH, who along with JEAN-MICHEL STÉPHAN, have been two of the pillars of the organic community and philosophy for decades now at CÔTE-RÔTIE. At CONDRIEU, a recent organic domaine is the DOMAINE CLOS DE LA BONNETTE, whose ISABELLE GUILLER has been organic for many years – on five hectares of fruits and vegetables - before turning to wine in 2009. However, absent are names that appear to have an environment-friendly image, but whose vineyards are spartan to the eye.

With pressure mounting against the use of toxic herbicides and weedkillers, growers are in a bit of a tizzy. There is a less aggressive product called Beloukha, manufactured by a Belgian company, Belchim Crop Protection. This is made up of 70% pelargonic acid, and destroys weeds except for the roots. It is said to absorb into the soil easily, but has not yet been accepted by official bodies inside France. By contrast, Italy has been more active in going down this trail. Roundup contains only a tiny percentage of Pelargonic acid.

Obviously, organic costs money. It implies increased labour, perhaps the requirement of local people on part time contracts, rather than just occasional labour which can be used for simple but time consuming tasks such as tying the vines as their shoots grow.

Organic complicates life. Indeed, the 1970s marked the call by the chemical companies in their literature that growers could put their feet up, take holidays, switch off thanks to the wonder properties of Agent XYZ. “You don’t have to be chained to your vines” was the message of those days, supported by endorsements from the Ministry of Agriculture.

I know from my humble abode in Sussex that organic multiplies life in the soils and in the air. That has been my method in the twenty years I have lived here. The soil life is tremendous – I couldn’t begin to name the names of all the insects, beetles and worms I find. I hand weed the gravel on the drive, much to the amazement of neighbours.

In those twenty years we have witnessed the arrival of thrushes and mistle thrushes, previously endangered, of two varieties of woodpecker [green and greater spotted], of songbirds such as nuthatches, returning blackcaps and firecrests. To say nothing of the butterflies. Their presence is a reward in itself.

One could argue that, given the lazy use of Roundup on hillside vineyards, the price of the wine is high. If you’re not in the vineyards very often, perhaps the wine should cost less. OK, additional costs of damage to walls has to be taken into account, and the nay sayers will always argue that if you work the soil, erosion will follow after any heavy rain: another extra cost from that.

However, the Day of Reckoning is drawing near. MACRON has offered an out in saying that perhaps 10% of cultivators will be exempt from the glyphosate ban, especially those on hillsides, but perception [and the dread hand of social media] will play its role in all of this. Worst hit will be domaines that have expanded to include vineyards across several appellations. Juggling commitments will be difficult. A two generation domaine working not more than eight hectares will be OK, as will “rich” estates or businesses.

The coming five years are going to see potentially far-reaching changes in the production of hillside wines. As consumers, greater awareness of what goes on behind the scenes will play a role in setting some basic ground rules.

FAREWELL TO THE WINES OF A REMARKABLE GENTLE MAN

MARCH 2018

The decision of JEAN MAROT to end his career as a vigneron at the age of 65 is understandable, but sad. Having lost 80% of his 2017 crop to frost, he sold the remaining 20% of the 2017 off as bulk wine, so that the last vintages of his VENTOUX VINDEMIO now on sale are the 2015 and 2016. I recommend readers to seek them out.

His route into wine, and then along its path has been one of small steps of discovery, prompted by the ebb and flow of life and its challenges. JEAN was brought up near PARIS, his father a doctor at MEUDON, a suburb south-west of the capital.

JEAN dutifully followed his father’s path into medicine, becoming a pharmacist at MEUDON, before moving to the TARN region in South-West France, then to NÎMES in the GARD département. In 1984 he moved across the RHÔNE to be the pharmacist at ROBION, near CAVAILLON [excellent melons] in the VENTOUX.

“It was during my eleven years at ROBION that I started to move to homeopathy,” he relates, his voice as deep and measured as his wines. “My daughter had a series of health problems, including bronchitis, and my wife FLORENCE and I had to look after her. What cured her was homeopathy. I had been brought up on the classic chemical route, which was how my father worked, so this was a big revelation.”

Meanwhile, JEAN had been slowly discovering wine. “I had a good friend near MONTPELLIER with a wonderful cellar, including ROMANÉE CONTI; it wasn’t until I was 25 that I started to drink wine with him, and that certainly showed me something! I had always liked to work the soils since I was a small boy, so things started to move in one direction,” he recalls.

In 1995 he set up LE MURMURIUM, working vineyards at MORMOIRON and VILLES SUR-AUZON, two neighbouring villages on the south side of MONT VENTOUX. The vineyards were worked conventionally with chemicals, however; “by 1997, I realised I had been struggling against chemical practices for so long that I had to convert it to organic,” JEAN says, even though the vineyards were rented.

The MUMURIUM arrangement lasted until 2006, when JEAN went on his own sole path, creating VINDEMIO. “It hadn’t been easy in the 1990s – I was self-taught in organic since there weren’t people around me in the VENTOUX to encourage that,” he says. Gradually he enlarged his circle of like-minded contacts, pointing to JEAN-LUC ISNARD, another biodynamic practitioner at DOMAINE TERRES DE SOLENCE at MAZAN, near CARPENTRAS. “He advised me, and helped me to take the next step forward, so I was biodynamic from 2008 onwards,” he says.

“Working biodynamically and looking back at my career in wine, I have learnt to have a lot of humility, from the effect of working with nature”, he reflects. “We are connected in the universe. Homeopathy is in tune with biodynamic working, and I have no regrets about the path I have taken. Both the vine and wine are living things, and all I have wanted to do in the later years is move more and more towards finesse.”

His trio of red wines starts with imagine – “it’s what happens when you taste wine, and also the song of John Lennon.” There’s regain – “the title of a Jean Giono novel [second harvest in English], a book about the renaissance of a village, and also referring to the lands after a summer rainfall.” And lastly, amadeus – “I like opera, Mozart, and wine is like music.” These all brim with character, as does the offbeat regain white.

For the future, “the next stage, my third career”, JEAN wants to give advice, to help young people to learn about biodynamie. “To help those who want to work simply, to give them practical, not complicated advice. There’s too much complication in what they are taught these days,” he states.

For VENTOUX, JEAN’s withdrawal is a loss, but there are domaines still working away well in the spirit of organic and biodynamic practices. These include CHÂTEAU PESQUIÉ, CHÂTEAU UNANG, CLOS DES PATRIS, LA FERME SAINT-PIERRE, DOMAINE DE FONDRÈCHE, DOMAINE DU GRAND JACQUET, MARTINELLE, OLIVIER B, SAINT JEAN DU BARROUX of PHILIPPE GIMEL, and the already mentioned TERRES DE SOLENCE.

So it’s not adiós, JUAN, it’s hasta luego, and bonne route in your advisory travels!

ORGANIC PIONEERS OF THE RHÔNE REMEMBERED

FEBRUARY 2018

Organic practices, as signalled by the little green flag on the back label, have been adopted by many domaines in the RHÔNE in the past 10 years. I think of ALSACE as perhaps being ahead, the LOIRE also prominent in this movement, but the RHÔNE can be thankful that there have been some genuine pioneers in this respect.

I would expect precisely zero of my readers to recall dear old ALBERT BÉGOT, who lived at SERVES-SUR-RHÔNE, the plain, bare village backed on to by its granite hill in the north of the appellation of CROZES-HERMITAGE. But ALBERT was THE MAN, working five hectares on the slopes around the village, a heck of a lot for what the French call a CAVALIER SEUL, a lone operator. Some of his wines were literally explosive, but there were moments when ALBERT hit the target, his wines offering beautiful, clear-cut SYRAH fruit. You had to walk through his house in a row in the village, into a lean-to out the back, where all sorts of mystery accompanied the raising of his wines.

ALBERT started in the early 1970s, and sadly, died in the late 1980s, his widow MARCELLE taking over for a while, before she passed the vineyards on to MAURICE and his son LAURENT COMBIER, a domaine that is now extremely well established as the source of well-fruited, stylish CROZES reds.

In addition to ALBERT, other early hard core organic practitioners were the ruggedly low-key duo of RENÉ-JEAN DARD and FRANÇOIS RIBO, also at CROZES-HERMITAGE, whose prize possession [to my eyes] was the INSPECTOR MAIGRET style black CITROËN 15 voiture, running boards and all, next to their garage cellar in TAIN. This site is now being renovated for flash new cellars, by the way, by one of the merchant houses, NICOLAS PERRIN. The two lads both remain as sceptical of the wine press as they did at the outset.

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, front runners were PHILIPPE LAURENT and MICHÈLE AUBÉRY, who bought 12 hectares in isolated land in the MONTBRISON, RIVER LEZ VALLEY in the lower DRÔME in December, 1978. They called their creation GRAMENON. These were wines full of interest and character, not always safely balanced, but made with a firm commitment to their surroundings, and the ecological balance around them.

PHILIPPE tragically perished in an accident while out walking in late 1999, but his widow MICHÈLE has shown tremendous resolve in battling to continue their dream, to bring up the three young children, and to make stylish wines under the GRAMENON name, which is rightly revered in organic circles. Her son, MAXIME-FRANÇOIS, has been present on the domaine since 2006, and makes wines under his own name.

Across the RHÔNE, these inspirations have encouraged others to follow in their footsteps, and many of these domaines are great friends together. I can think of HÉLÈNE THIBON at the MAS DE LIBIAN in the ARDÈCHE, DAVID REYNAUD of LES BRUYÈRES at CROZES-HERMITAGE, MATTHIEU BARRET at the DOMAINE DU COULET at CORNAS, the DOMAINE MONIER-PERRÉOL at SAINT-JOSEPH, HELEN DURAND of DOMAINE DU TRAPADIS at RASTEAU, my old chum JEAN DAVID at SÉGURET, my also old chum MARINE ROUSSEL of DOMAINE DU JONCIER at LIRAC, and the wonderfully low profile, much respected, true JACQUELINE ANDRÉ of DOMAINE PIERRE ANDRÉ at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE.

Next to each domaine’s entry on drinkrhone there is a large green O, by the way, indicating domaines that are either Organic and/or Biodynamic. These are all names that should be closely followed, keeping the spirit of ALBERT BÉGOT and PHLIPPE LAURENT flying.

THE BELL OF PURITY OR THE CLOAK OF DENSITY?

JANUARY 2018

Recent research on British wine drinkers shows a sharply increased awareness – and prejudice – about high degree wines, the small print % figure playing a prominent role in buying decisions. The fine wine market, however, is still heavily geared to big vintages. I wonder if this is because the wines are obvious and impressive, or obviously impressive, or also because they are expected to live a long time.

Looking at the NORTHERN RHÔNE, there has been a recent cycle of vintages that have alternated between what I term PURITY and DENSITY. 2012, 2014 and 2016 are PURITY vintages; 2013, 2015 and 2017 are DENSITY years.

PURITY vintages are those where some hiccough occurred during the ripening season, probably rain, with cool weather another prompt. The bunches are attractive, swollen, the skins not very thick. They are lower degree years than the DENSITY vintages, and afford the drinker access to terroir, an STGT [Soil To Glass Transfer] presence in the glass, from the early days. In their best examples, they are well-balanced and extremely charming.

DENSITY vintages come along with the imprint of climate on them. The summer will have been very hot, probably largely dry, or perhaps happily “irrigated” with timely rainfalls, often around mid-July and mid-August. The grape skins are thick at harvest time. From the start, these wines hold a brooding intensity, and stamp dark colours and dark tannins as assets. Their juice is thick. Weather trumps terroir until they are mature. At their best, they are monumental wines with a 3-D presence, wines that will live for many decades.

Casting my memory back a couple of decades or so to two such vintages, it strikes me that time has shown a narrower gap between the much acclaimed vintage of 1990 – a DENSITY year - and its neighbour 1991 – a PURTIY year - than appeared at the time. The CORNAS CLAPE 1991, a floral, mineral beauty, has recently sidled up to the imposing 1990, a wine that PIERRE CLAPE termed “more HERMITAGE than CORNAS when tasting it in 2016; both are now ***** wines, their quality marvellous, their deft nuances established from differing sources.

It’s all a question of taste, even if their prices are closer than once was the case – a quote of £499 ex taxes from FINE & RARE for the 1990, and £426 ex taxes, also from FINE & RARE, for the 1991. My tasting notes of May, 2016 showed a longevity towards 2034-37 for the 1990 and towards 2032-35 for the 1991: not a large gulf, and an illustration of the eternal importance of balance in any wine deemed to be “fine”.

In November 1991, AUGUSTE CLAPE told me that 1991 was “good, even if it was too much to say that it was very good; it’s not 1990, but better than 1989, which was very Cornas, rustic. There’s a good level of alcohol at 12.8° [high for the era],” he continued, "lots of colour, a slight lack of acidity, and good tannins.”

Another example of PURITY AND DENSITY in these two neighbouring vintages comes with the ERMITAGE LE PAVILLON RED from CHAPOUTIER. The 1990 I rated a ***** wine, the 1991 a ****** wine in their youth. I note a wide price differential here, however. The 1990 is on for £443 (ex tax) with FINE & RARE, the 1991 £292 (ex tax). Here is a glaring example of DENSITY trumping PURITY on the price scale.

At Hermitage, the 1991 harvest was later than 1990, the CHAVEs starting on 2 October after GÉRARD waited following late September rain. Importantly, the rain was followed by a cold North wind, so there was little or no rot.

In the early 1990s fine wine markets were still inefficient. The rainswept BORDEAUX 1991 vintage cast a shadow over prices and perception for the rest of FRANCE, which doesn’t apply to the same extent today. The RHÔNE has gained more credibility and authority on its own terms, I am glad to write.

2015 and 2016 relate to 1990 and 1991. 2016 at HERMITAGE was hit by hail, while there has been a leap forward in winemaking standards at CORNAS since 1991; hence the most fair, broad comparison falls on CÔTE-RÔTIE, whose 2016s are cool and beguiling. 1991 is now established as an extremely good vintage there, so let’s bear in mind the words of MARCEL GUIGAL when he discussed 1991 with me at the time: “our hopes were high on 15 September,” he stated, but then the rain arrived, so he started his harvest on 25 September as a result, bringing it forward. Tellingly he told me, “good colour, good balance, acidities – these are wines that can age.” Let’s hope 2016’s profile runs with similarly long-lived PURITY.

TWO ROUTES LEADING TO THE NORTHERN RHÔNE, NEITHER BEARING A SILVER SPOON

DECEMBER 2017

Starting up as a vigneron in the northern Rhône is extremely challenging these days. The surge in interest of the last five years has led to unparalleled prices for old wines; what I might term “the ELVIS SYNDROME” has led to bottles such as the 1991 NOËL VERSET CORNAS being offered for sale at £746 per bottle [reduced from £785 in the Christmas sale] at FINE + RARE.

Beyond the grave, the work of these past masters is being more than fully recognised in the second to fifth hand market. However, land prices for vineyards are rising all the time, the barriers to entry of anyone lacking a family connection, nor holding large sums of capital, or access to large sums of capital, are vertiginous.

With planting rights much loosened from 2018, there has already been something of a stampede to plant in an appellation such as SAINT-PÉRAY. There, around five to eight hectares of new plantation rights have been permitted over the past three or four years. The people pouncing on these rights tend not to be young debutants, which one would like to see, but the already major players such as CHAPOUTIER, where ready access to funds or lines of credit is immediate and comprehensive. The same will happen to the plain areas to the east of the CROZES-HERMITAGE appellation in the coming years: it’s worth paying a top dollar price for modest fruit lands now, in the knowledge that vineyards will soon be allowed.

I recently visited two recent newcomers, neither of them a fresh faced twenty year old, who have approached their challenge in slightly different ways. JEAN-BAPTISTE SOUILLARD’s parents were agriculteurs at ANDANCE, a pretty village on the RHÔNE possessing a famous MARC SEGUIN suspension bridge built in 1827, the same year that JEAN-BAPTISTE’s great-grandfather PAUL built his cellar and stables.

From 2014 he has purchased harvest, using contacts established while he worked for several years with JEAN-LUC COLOMBO’s oenologue service. Having made wine in AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, BURGUNDY and BORDEAUX before a Masters at DIJON, he is clear on what will work for him – and that does not include investing large amounts in land. He vinifies and bottles a range of 16 different wines from VIN DE FRANCE on to CORNAS and CÔTE-RÔTIE via SAINT-JOSEPH, the sums per wine usually between 500 and 1,000 bottles, and the wines mostly plot-specific.

Aged 35 and formally trained, JEAN-BAPTISTE vinifies in the rugged 1827 cellar and has novel storage facilities there, including using old mangers for horses and cattle for some of his bottle stock. He has swiftly established exports as a prime part of his model, with the USA, SCANDINAVIA and HONG KONG already on board.

SÉBASTIEN BLACHON’s father-in-law was a CO-OPERATEUR at TAIN. Starting in 2009, when he made one cask of wine, SÉBASTIEN set out to buy, rent and plant land, all at the high quality SAINT-JOSEPH village of ST JEAN-DE-MUZOLS just north of TOURNON, like ANDANCE in the ARDÈCHE. In 2016 he took over a 0.7 hectare SYRAH plot part 1930, part 2004, from his father-in-law, while another prized vineyard is his 0.22 hectare on SAINT-ÉPINE, next to the old RAYMOND TROLLAT vineyard.

The theme here is one of tiny dimensions for each little step forwards, with the occasional step backwards, as in one of his landlords selling his old SYRAH VIN DE PAYS vineyard for housing development; now SÉBASTIEN has assembled 3.4 hectares of SAINT-JOSEPH [three hectares currently planted] by one method or another. That is a journey lasting from 2009 to 2018, a long way from the instant hits of the Big Operations.

This is true grass roots work; aged 40, and entirely self-taught, SÉBASTIEN acknowledges that he extracted too much on his 2015, but will be more hands-off with his promising 2017s. He reminds me of JEAN-CLAUDE MARSANNE at MAUVES in his natural, unforced approach. “I like elegance,” he states, and no doubt he will sell much of his wine locally to people reared on the delights of the red-fruited, cosy appeal of old ST JEAN warriors such as ELIZABETH FOGIER or still thriving GUY FARGE, along with PHILIPPE DESBOS and PHILIPPE MICHELAS.

THE SOUTHERN RHÔNE VINEYARDS: HANDFULS OF DUST

NOVEMBER 2017

2017’s harvest has been duly vinified across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, although CHÂTEAU RAYAS at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE have been by some distance the last to pick. As EMMANUEL REYNAUD told me: “the big challenge is to find the balance of the fruit: you have to wait for that, the length of the fruit; you shouldn’t be swayed by the sugars.”

2017 yields are down often by 50%. With the crop so small, and the weather so dry, it has been no surprise that the grapes have had very thick skins, with only a little, concentrated juice inside them. At this juncture, I have a flashback to 1983, when just such a situation arose, and within living memory, 1957 as well.

Those were vintages with pushy tannins, and I spent years into the 1990s wondering if wines such as the 1983 HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE would ever climb down off their tannic perch, and become presentable in polite company. The answer, for the most part, was NO.

However, I have been pleased by the style and flair of the 2017 fruit, but most happy of all to find tannins that are well embedded. As ROBERT CHARAVIN of the very good, biodynamic DOMAINE DES COTEAUX DES TRAVERS at RASTEAU remarked: “when you ate the grapes this year, you feared the worst with the tannins, because the taste was unbalanced, but after vinification, the tannins seem to fit in well.”

However, outside, in the vineyards, the situation is grave across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE. At CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, there has been just 40 mm of rain (1.6 ins) since May, including a hailstorm of 28 mm (1 in) on 28-29 June, 2017, and annual rainfall of 236 mm (10.5 ins) between January and the end of October. Average annual rainfall there is 650 mm. Just a trickle of rain in JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER, thus. MISTRAL wind, as is blowing in early NOVEMBER, adds to the drought, and intensifies the absence of water reserves.

JEAN-PIERRE BERTRAND of the excellent, full-blooded DOMAINE GRAND NICOLET at RASTEAU, voiced this concern to me: “I consider the vineyard to be very tired, and I trace that back to 2003 [the year of extreme heat, hundreds dying in PARIS].”

JÉRÔME MATHIEU of SAJE, his own CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE domaine created in 2015, talked about the new challenges in the vineyards this year: “it’s now that we drill the holes to plant the new vines. It’s extremely hard to make those holes now, and our work would then be destroyed if we then experienced three months of rain. There is only 5-10% humidity in the dry zones – there’s dust everywhere. Each time you pass through the vineyard, you dry it by around 10 cm, so growers who have done 10 to 15 vineyard passages are in trouble. I have adapted already, and am going through the vineyard less as a result of the drought.”

Vineyards whose soils weren’t worked during the growing season had lost their leaves by the first half of October, 2017. Oak truffle trees and plane trees are also showing signs of stress. There is no local trade in CÈPES, which are being shipped south from the ARDENNES for the stylish L’OUSTALET Restaurant at GIGONDAS. The outlook for the TRUFFLE season is dodgy, as well.

Lastly, a poignant note about the predicament for nature. I was returning to my bed and breakfast one night after dinner, and heard a rustling in the dark. Normally one would think of a rat, but no, there was a toad, a crapeau. He or she was moving in a pile of leaves behind a small terracotta flower bowl. The leaves are now so dry that any movement in them gives away your existence to a potential predator. I returned to my car to retrieve some water to pour on the leaves around the toad, but the plight of the birds and more aquatic species must be immense at present.

A PERFECT STORM FOR PRICES?

OCTOBER 2017

With news of half a harvest brought in across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE for 2017, and a deficit also in the NORTHERN RHÔNE due to coulure [flowers failing to convert into fruit] on the SYRAH, we could be looking at an unwelcome spike in RHÔNE prices. There will be pressure on RHÔNE growers due to the levels of interest in the 2016 vintage, hard on the heels of the much acclaimed 2015.

En primeur sales for the RHÔNE are growing year by year, and the date for this creeps ever forward. I maintain my position that en primeur is a fandango operation designed less for the consumer and more for the intermediary – the wine merchant – than even the domaine. The BORDEAUX system of offering the wines as early as April following the harvest has been creaking at the seams for some years now, and the RHÔNE is starting to be ramped up to follow that.

And yet, here we are with – in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE – multi variety wines, whose final blending has not been performed under a year after the harvest. Nor are they all raised in just a 225-litre BORDELAIS cask. The wines can be raised in large 40 hl barrels, the ever more popular demi-muids of 600-litres, the 228-litre of BURGUNDY, 400-litres also, steel vat, concrete vat, tronconic oak vats and so on. What is offered for the en primeur tastings is an approximation, a car with three wheels and no spare tyre.

The get out of jail card in 2016 is that the reds are stacked with pure and often ebullient fruit which is easy to appreciate and enjoy. Balance is good, tannins are ripe, and the wines are showing well young. I would expect there to be strong sales for the likes of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE and GIGONDAS, although the relative drop in popularity of the former over recent years due to the perception of high degree wines, marked up to very high prices in restaurants, may offset that to some extent. GIGONDAS prices have also been rising recently, by the way.

It’s a delicate situation, therefore. I have seen RHÔNE stampedes before. Take the early 1970s, when speculation in wine futures was pretty rampant. On that occasion, BORDEAUX and BURGUNDY were bid up, with the RHÔNE following. Then the train hit the buffers. On 31 August, 1972, stocks of wine held at the properties of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE amounted to 58,910 hl. On 31 August, 1974, stocks were 112,505 hl. For GIGONDAS, stocks of 17,440 hl on 31 August 1972 became stocks of 33,903 hl on 31 August, 1974. Prices subsequently plummeted due to the supply and demand inequality.

Today there is such a wider choice for consumers than 45 years ago. The wine world is several times larger, literally. If perception, which more and more rules over reality, rules that a wine isn’t worth it, or is uncool, that wine can fall away from favour in the blinking of an eye.

Hence there is pressure on growers to conduct their businesses with a calm, measured hand. Consumers take a hard line on someone pleading loss of crop = higher prices. They can just shift to the next door shelf in the shop.

A RARE VINTAGE THAT WILL TIRE THE VINES FOR 2018

SEPTEMBER 2017

With the RHÔNE the subject of very little rain once more during August, the last three months have seen vineyards obliged to seek deep into their root systems for nourishment. The fact that growers are surprised that the foliage is not yellow by and large tells me that 2017 is going to be a high wear and tear year for the vines, especially plants under 20 years’ old.

Any grower lacking in commitment of time and effort in the vineyard will be punished this year – and next. Working the soils has been essential. I find it hard to recollect a vintage in the past 45 years that has been so consistently dry, although 2003 gave higher, more intense heat. 2003 was also helped by some rain in early July, with the top spike in temperature late – the week of 10-17 August 42°C at HERMITAGE, for instance. I expect 2017 to hold better balance than 2003, even if it is a rare year.

2017 SOUTHERN RHÔNE

The central story in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE remains the lack of GRENACHE NOIR, and GRENACHE BLANC for the whites, savagely hit by the coulure at flowering. At TAVEL, RICHARD MABY, whose vineyards cover TAVEL, LIRAC and CÔTES DU RHÔNE, spoke of the economic effect of such a small crop: “it’s worse than in 2013, and is 30% down on 2016 – some bunches have just one grape on them on LES VESTIDES. People are worried by the impact for their income.”

VINCENT DE BEZ of the celebrated CHÂTEAU D’AQUÉRIA [TAVEL, LIRAC, CÔTES DU RHÔNE] agreed, telling me: “it’s not very funny this year. There are very, very few grapes, right across the region, while the drought has meant that there is very little juice in the grapes. The result is -50%, which I have never seen in my career. The CAVE D’ESTÉZARGUES finished their harvest on 31 August – they had nothing more to pick. For small domaines that don’t have a good foothold in the French or overseas markets, it’s a worrying time.”

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE has not been spared, with some estimates of crop around 20-25 hl/ha. The last week of August saw harvesting on whites, but in the first full week in September growers have stepped back, waiting for their GRENACHE NOIR to ripen properly. “I harvested my SYRAH on 30 August, and my whites on 1-2 September, but am now waiting until 11 September for my GRENACHE,” related LUC CHARVIN of the top grade DOMAINE CHARVIN from the northern sector towards ORANGE. “Quality is very, very joli, and it’s healthy, but it’s only half a crop. We haven’t been hit by the drought, unlike parts of the southern sector.”

From the southern sector towards SORGUES, FRÉDÉRIC NICOLET of the very good, traditional styled DOMAINE CHANTE PERDRIX confirmed this: “the northern area has had a bit more rain than us, it’s true,” he stated. On 31 August we had just 4 mm and that was followed by a strong MISTRAL wind. I have harvested my whites – the GRENACHE BLANC, a low crop and 14°, the CLAIRETTE, very joli and 13.8°. The SYRAH is strong on colour and looks magnificent, but the GRENACHE NOIR loss is 30% to 40%. Its skins are very thick, as you would expect, and that is why I am waiting to harvest it. There’s not much harvest activity this week after the early push last week.”

Further north at VISAN, one of the leading CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES, owner of the excellent biodynamic DOMAINE ROCHE-AUDRAN, VINCENT ROCHETTE, gave this report: “I started at the end of August, and 2017 is a high quality vintage. We are down 50% on our usual crop – the spring frost, hail, coulure and drought forming four reasons for that.”

2017 NORTHERN RHÔNE

Meanwhile in the NORTHERN RHÔNE, activity is starting here and there. OLIVIER CLAPE at CORNAS told me: “the 11 mm (0.5 in) of rain on 31 August wasn’t enough to supply a little more juice in the grapes. We harvested our whites on 29 August, and with cooler temperatures we are on our CORNAS harvest from 4 September on.”

CORNAS is usually some time ahead of CÔTE-RÔTIE, a fact confirmed by PATRICK JASMIN from the latter at his home in AMPUIS: “the vineyard looks in good shape, and we have a good week’s weather to come. We received 10 mm of rain on 31 August. The degrees are coming along, and the acidity is correct. M.ROSTAING is harvesting on FONGEANT, but there is not much other activity, with, for me, a lack of ripeness still in the pips and stems. My SYRAH is now 13° to 13.5°, but the phenolic ripening hasn’t happened yet. I expect to get going on 11 September.”

Working well across vineyards at CÔTE-RÔTIE, CONDRIEU and SAINT-JOSEPH from his base above CHAVANAY, LIONEL FAURY reported that he was due to start his CONDRIEU VIOGNIER on 7 September. “Ripeness levels are quite high, we are at 14° to 14.5°, but the grapes have lacked flavour, and I can’t harvest them until they have flavour. The vineyard isn’t yellow, so isn’t visibly suffering. I have colleagues bringing in only around 20 hl/ha. Normally I would expect to use 135 kg of grapes to make 100 litres [1 hl], but this year it’s 160-170 kg.

For my SYRAH, the year is in advance; I will harvest the first plots on 11 September. Ripening has been gradual, and quality is quite normal, fine and beau. As usual, there has been more rain at CÔTE-RÔTIE than SAINT-JOSEPH, and I had some hail on 20 June on LE PLOMB in the northern part of CÔTE-RÔTIE.”

VERY HOT, VERY DRY, REDUCED CROP

AUGUST 2017

As the RHÔNE swelters under temperatures touching 40°C, the vineyards are heading for a blockage in their ripening season. Crop has already been reduced by coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) in both the NORTHERN and SOUTHERN RHÔNE. At CORNAS, OLIVIER CLAPE estimates a loss of around 30%, for example. “Flowering coincided with an enormous burst of vegetation growth, prompted at source by the heat in April, and the vines couldn’t place their energy everywhere at once,” he says. "We look like harvesting our SAINT-PÉRAY around the end of August, the SYRAH for CORNAS a week or so later.

"The second week of August may have some rain, and fresher conditions," he concluded, perhaps somewhat hopefully.

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, high speed Mistral winds in the third week of July also concentrated what are small grapes already. There are growing signs of drought, as reported by DOMINIQUE AY of the excellent DOMAINE RASPAIL-AY at GIGONDAS: “it was 28° to 35°C during July, and is near 38°C now. Depending on the soils, there is drought – though the signs of yellowing leaves haven’t come through. Old vines with their deep roots are OK, but vines under 10 years’ old are more drought affected. Some plots have zero crop, others are better.”

The main impact of this news of shortfall will be pressure on prices, with the much acclaimed 2015 and 2016 vintages carrying a strong following among drinkers and investors alike. At least the crop is healthy for now, but the prospect of a drought-style vintage situated somewhere between 1983, 1989 and 2003 lies ahead.

2017 SUMMER REPORT, THE RHÔNE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE

JULY 2017

2017 has started well for the NORTHERN RHÔNE, and better than those regions devastated by April frosts. “There was frost on the heights of the plateau, and on the plain by the Rhône on 22 April,” reports ANDRÉ PERRET from CHAVANAY, which is part of CONDRIEU and also SAINT-JOSEPH. “Our MARSANNE and VIOGNIER for the VIN DE PAYS DES COLLINES RHODANIENNES were hit, the SYRAH a bit also, the MERLOT not as it happens.” Since then, there was some hail on 23 June on the high vineyards above AMPUIS – very specific, not general, damage there.

These episodes apart, the vineyards have come through the high heat from the 10 June to the end of the month, when temperatures went into the 36°C-38°C range. 100 mm of good rain (4 inches, no storms) during May had fuelled water reserves, and was followed by one or two storms in June – one such storm in the second week produced 20 mm (0.8 inch) in just 15 minutes. Another 20 mm (0.8 inch) on 29 June also helped, with temperatures in early July dropping sharply down to the low 20°Cs. At the present rhythm, harvesting may be on 15 September, or a little earlier, with yields looking good. ANDRÉ added that his 1930s VIOGNIER “is in great form” this year.

Flowering across the NORTHERN RHÔNE has gone well, with only a little coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) here and there. However, GRENACHE in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE has been much harder hit by the coulure, with DANIEL BRUNIER of DOMAINE DU VIEUX TÉLÉGRAPHE at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE lamenting the fact that the 2017 crop is now certain to be small. There, temperatures were above 30°C from 9 June until 27 June, at times a full 10°C higher than the seasonal average, with some mornings showing 24°C at 06.00 – not much rest for the vines.

Only 14 mm (0.58 in) of rain fell on 28 June, so dry conditions prompted DANIEL to state that “we really need good rain before the 14 July – that would be cool for us.” The two classic ripening season rainfall dates wished for by the growers are 14 July [on France’s national holiday, no matter] and 15 August, before a dry run-in to the harvest.

Nearby at CAIRANNE, DENIS ALARY also lamented the coulure on his vineyards. “The year has been one of fast happenings so far,” he told me. “The vineyards set off at speed in March, but then three weeks of very cold weather, including days of 2°C-3°C, slowed them down and sent them to sleep. As it warmed up again, the vegetation had a growth spurt at the same time as the flowering, which is one of the no-nos for a good flowering, since the vine’s energy goes into the vegetation and not the flower.

We’ve lost 30% of our 2017 GRENACHE, meaning around 15% of our whole harvest, but that’s not as bad as 2013, when we lost 100% in some plots from coulure. Rain in the last week of June [30 mm, 1.2 in] was very helpful, but we are looking at an extremely early harvest as it stands, the whites maybe heading for 20 August. The speed in the vineyard has been phenomenal this year.”

TWO OF THE PILLARS OF CAIRANNE: LAURE COUTURIER OF DOMAINE RABASSE CHARAVIN & DENIS ALARY

We also talked about the news that the appellation of CAIRANNE has been obliged by the highest jurisdiction in France, the CONSEIL D’ÉTAT in PARIS, to justify two paragraphs in its constitution, which was recently applied for the promotion from VILLAGES to CAIRANNE CRU. This follows a dossier submitted by the L’AMEILLAUD business and some CO-OPERATEURS seeking to recuperate the status of vineyards downgraded from VILLAGES to CÔTES DU RHÔNE when CAIRANNE rose to CRU – vineyards that were not considered of sufficient worth to be included in the promotion.

“Unfortunately, this matter has escalated, and is now in the hands of jurists and lawyers, and not within our control any more,” stated DENIS ALARY. “We are being asked to re-write two paragraphs, one on the “aire géographique”, the geographic lands of CAIRANNE, and one on what is obscurely termed the “facteur humain” – the human factor.” Definitions are sought on these, which leads us into existential territory more usually occupied by the likes of JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, namely “why is the CAIRANNE wine made on the commune of CAIRANNE?”, and being able to answer historical questions such as “why are 4,000 vines per hectare decreed?”

The lawyers will chew over the answers given by the growers of CAIRANNE, who plainly have better uses for both their time and their money. I get the impression that this will be ultimately regarded as a legal template for the whole of the French appellation system, especially when a region wants to be promoted, or vineyard zones are re-defined. Perhaps all growers could send 10 centimes to CAIRANNE for this service!

“The standing of the 2015, 2016 and 2017 vintages of CAIRANNE as a CRU wine are fine,” says DENIS. “Our answers have to have been accepted, and the Ministerial decree published by 1 July, 2018, for the 2018 vintage to be in the clear.”

FAREWELL TO MY FRIEND AND TUTOR, LE GRAND PATRON

JUNE 2017

GEORGES VERNAY

There have been three men who shaped my understanding of viticulture, wine and the broader scape of life and its challenges, all resident in the northern Rhône. One of them, GEORGES VERNAY, has recently died aged 92. The other two are AUGUSTE CLAPE at CORNAS and GÉRARD CHAVE at HERMITAGE.

When starting my book researches in the summer of 1973, the only name mentioned to me to go and see at CONDRIEU was GEORGES VERNAY, who was then 48 years’ old, and the single person keeping the depressed appellation on its feet. At the time I wrote: “above the river the scene is more melancholy. The gently inclined slopes are now largely uncultivated, and their abandonment has left them in a pitifully disordered state. 20 acres (8 hectares) – that is all there is of Condrieu, and the contrast with the neatly delineated and well-covered hillsides of Côte-Rôtie is immediately striking.”

In those days, the average yield was also pitiful – between 1962 and 1971 it was 16 hectolitres a hectare, with the whole 1969 vintage reduced to a derisory 19 hectolitres after a disastrous July hailstorm. The wine was therefore just part of a polyculture existence, which meant that it paid growers to sell it as quickly as possible, with FERNAND POINT of the fabled three Michelin star Restaurant LA PYRAMIDE in VIENNE one of the regular takers, wine whose fermentation was stopped by all sorts of means in time for the Christmas trade, the result a demi-sec.

GEORGES entered his father’s domaine in 1944, having started to work the family vineyards when he was 16 years’ old. By the time I first met him, his role went far beyond just making the best wine in the appellation; he was the Papa of the appellation, the President of the SYNDICAT DU VIN, the man charged with defending the land against housing development, but also the man who lent equipment, such as the use of his new Vaslin press, and gave advice to his neighbours, who vinified the wine for the CHÂTEAU DU ROZAY, the man who ran the whole show almost single handedly.

As he told me at the time, “it’s impossible to use machinery in the vineyards, which really makes it a young man’s profession. What I would like to see created is something like a Protected Wine Zone, given over to viticulture and nothing else. In this way, the Wine Syndicate would rent vineyards from older growers, and pay them extra according to the size of the crop, the state of the market, and so on. I honestly think that if nothing is done France will gradually lose some of her best white wine slopes.”

While fully aware of the need to respect the past, notably in the vineyard, GEORGES was also ready to embrace the future, as was shown in his winemaking, with investment in the latest vats, presses or casks, and an awareness that CONDRIEU needed to be a fresh rather than a heavy style of white wine. This baton was truly picked up by his daughter CHRISTINE.

Thus the VERNAY story goes far beyond praising a man for the work that he conducted for his own estate and family, and for the pleasure his wines gave to so many enthusiasts around the world, as well as for the inspiration he provided for winemakers outside France. To some extent, I feel that he never actually received the full recognition he deserved, in part because his legacy in bottles was more ephemeral than those of a maker of long-lived red wine, but also because he was so self-effacing about his own role.

Big hands, with an even bigger heart, GEORGES would always patiently answer all my questions, with a sprinkling of superb, pinpoint detail anecdotes such as that of HENRI LE FUNAMBULE – HENRI THE HIGH WIRE CYCLIST, based in SAINT-ETIENNE and known across France, who came to CONDRIEU one day in 1934 to cross and re-cross the 600 metre gulch between the two slopes of the celebrated COTEAU DE VERNON. His description included naming the oak tree [LA GABERTE] to which the wire was attached on the south side of VERNON, where YVES GANGLOFF now works some of his vines.

The mainstay of the family vineyard was always the 2.5 hectares of VERNON, with its topsoil of arzelle – decomposed, fine granite with mica and occasional schist. Its production of 5,000 bottles was always eagerly snapped up. I am lucky enough to still have old bottles in my cellar, and the day before GEORGES died, I drank a still flourishing 1983 COTEAU DE VERNON, a wine that WILLI’S WINE BAR in PARIS held as its wine of the year – for two years.

For some time in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was uncertainty over the domaine. Son LUC attended the BEAUNE WINE SCHOOL, but his heart was not really in it, and he subsequently left to set up his own flying school, while his brother DANIEL was a horseman who went to live in the United States, raising and breaking in horses in Colorado.

It was in 1996 that daughter CHRISTINE returned south from a full and artistic life in PARIS with her bubbly husband PAUL AMSELLEM, her first vintage being the 1997. When I see CHRISTINE at work in the cellars on the slope of SAINTE AGATHE high above the Rhône, I see GEORGES smiling with contentment at his daughter’s assured, accomplished presence, her keen eye for detail, and her commitment to any task in hand, with no distractions. She has also fought off ill health, and when her father died, the domaine’s standing had never been higher.

I therefore salute the man I called LE GRAND PATRON, whose vision and labour enlightened the RHÔNE and well beyond, and send my deepest condolences to his loving family.

JOËL CHAMPET

The first vigneron that ROBIN YAPP encountered in the RHÔNE was the late ÉMILE CHAMPET. ROBIN had tasted the CHAMPET wine at the Paris Wine Fair in the late 1960s, and, fired by enthusiasm, he drove south to CÔTE-RÔTIE to essay (a very Yappian word) a purchase of his wine for the British market. There were gestures of drinking elbows and thumbs up to illustrate the fact that ROBIN had much enjoyed ÉMILE’s wine, and the deal was done.

YAPP still import the CHAMPET CÔTE-RÔTIE, and it was sad to hear that ÉMILE’s son JOËL had died in May 2017, after a protracted fight against cancer that he valiantly fought off for many years longer than was expected.

The style has remained consistent throughout, with what I would call a good countryman’s take on CÔTE-RÔTIE, a wine with a brambly fruit content and noticeable, sometimes puckish tannins in attendance. But always the classic violets and floral tones of a true RÔTIE, delivered at very reasonable prices.

JOËL was what the French call a Bricoleur – a handy DIY man – who liked to repair machines and do much of his own house building. He lived beyond the confines of life as a vigneron, so it is good news that his son ROMAIN has been active for some years now, with the wine in good form. JOËL’s legacy is therefore secure.

My condolences go to the CHAMPET family, who can be proud of what JOËL achieved under the greatest of duress.

HIGH HO SILVER BRINGS 2016 NORTHERN RHÔNES TO LONDON

MAY 2017

In the panoramic lee of SAINT PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, MICHEL CHAPOUTIER made his annual pilgrimage on the iron horse known as Eurostar to display his 2016s in the last week of April 2017. The event was held at the TATE MODERN. As ever with MICHEL, he sailed in, spoke largely on message, had some lunch, then whizzed back to Gallic shores. He is much in demand these days for all sorts of committees and bodies that oversee the world of wine in France.

He is happy with the vintage, although his company was badly hit by the April 2016 hail on the hill of HERMITAGE, which reduced yields on the prized L’HERMITE and LES BESSARDS to a miniscule 10 hl/ha. The effect has been to concentrate those wines beyond the more cool features naturally found in this vintage, which stands in contrast to the copious, rich depth and size of the 2015s.

Prices have risen substantially between 2015 and 2016; 14%, even with the lowering in the GB£-€ rate, is going it somewhat, and it remains to be seen whether the recent momentum in popularity of the NORTHERN RHÔNE will be left behind, as buyers re-discover the classical joys of BORDEAUX in a good vintage there.

Full tasting notes on the upper end of MICHEL’s range have been entered under M CHAPOUTIER; please log in to see those, including his two very good 2016 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE reds, CROIX DE BOIS and BARBE RAC.

THE RHÔNE MOVEMENT IN THE USA

APRIL 2017

As opposed to the plastic surgeon, muy rico plunge of investment in the NAPA in the 1970s that heralded a slavish planting of the varieties that the surgeons and the ricos knew best – CABERNET [BORDEAUX] and CHARDONNAY [BURGUNDY], the development of RHÔNE influences in the USA was much more of a counter culture event.

Fuelling it often was the element of surprise. Given that RHÔNE wines were poorly known across Europe in the 1970s, in America, they were beyond sub fusc. But wait – who is this I see galloping towards me with a guitar on his back and home grown cigarette in his mouth – why, it’s my very old friend KERMIT LYNCH.

KERMIT, a hippy musician at the time, travelled to Europe in 1971 and opened his store in BERKELEY the following year. RUTH REICHL wrote in her memoir “Tender at the Bone: “in the back of the store a slight man with curly brown hair and a scruffy beard stood by a make-shift desk, watching me. I could feel his eyes on my back as I went up and down the aisles looking at the wine in the cartons and repeating the names to myself. The words were beautiful. I reached for a bottle, picked it up, and stroked the label. “It’s not fruit,” said the man. “You can’t tell anything by squeezing it.”

And away he went, with his good chum ALICE WATERS just down the road framing the new American cuisine at CHEZ PANISSE, around a commitment to cooking with local produce in season, and honouring all contracts to buy fruit or vegetables even when crops were poor or damaged. For ALICE, like KERMIT, the reference point, the start point, was FRANCE.

Importing the likes of CHAVE HERMITAGE, TROLLAT SAINT-JOSEPH, CLAPE CORNAS and SAINT-JOSEPH JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT, KERMIT spread the word about the RHÔNE through these magic, unknown bottles and through a fervent advocacy of their virtues. Always an accomplished story teller and a shrewd marketeer, he lit many a fuse for future American experimenters and individualists.

I can recall JOSH JENSEN [of CALERA] talking about his discovery of VIOGNIER when drinking a bottle at the HOTEL BEAU RIVAGE in CONDRIEU in 1969, which led him to return the next year to harvest the grapes at CHÂTEAU-GRILLET, his payment for which was three bottles of that noble wine [with the 1969, he was in very good shape indeed]. From there he went on to be one of the first to plant VIOGNIER. I took a bottle of early 1970s VERNAY CONDRIEU to drink with him in SAN FRANCISCO in the early 1990s – the oldest bottle he had ever tasted, since the custom was to drink it up pretty rapidly.

It is said that my publisher, the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, BERKELEY, is quitting publishing wine books, which isn’t a great surprise given how poor the state’s finances are. If that is indeed the case, they have signed out with a real winner in the form of AMERICAN RHÔNE by PATRICK J COMISKEY. PATRICK has done a superb job at capturing the straggling RHÔNE movement with a picture of vibrant anecdotes, humour and detail across nearly 50 years of development, setbacks, dawns and false dawns.

The subtitle is “How Maverick Winemakers changed the way Americans drink”, and I can thoroughly recommend the book with its cast of characters, several of whom I know well. RANDALL GRAHM still owes me a royalty for CIGARE VOLANT, and I still haven’t made my road trip with STEVE EDMUNDS, but I suggest you get to know these racy pioneers via the pages of this delightful, well researched and well written book. Its ISBN [for the book] is 978-0-520-25666-8, and for the e-book it is 978-0-520-96514-0.

FAREWELL TO TWO CORNERSTONES WHO HELPED TO BUILD THE RHÔNE FROM THE ROOTS UP

MARCH 2017

This year we have said goodbye to two people whom I have known since the early 1970s, both of whom in their separate ways helped to lay the foundations for the flourishing, successful region that exists today. I feel it is important to recognise these often unsung heroes in a world hellbent on knowing the NEXT GREATEST THING, rather than taking time to pause, look back, ponder, and appreciate.

In the northern Rhône, HENRIETTE CLAPE, wife of AUGUSTE, died recently. Born in CORNAS in September 1924, she was nine months older than AUGUSTE. Her nom de jeune fille was ROUSSET, a family with extended local roots in those days, but, after losses in the Second World War, there are no close relations left there today.

HENRIETTE’s family owned four and a bit hectares of land, which included about three hectares of vineyards. The plots were those that are the spine of the DOMAINE CLAPE, notably LA CÔTE and PETITE CÔTE, but also PIED LA VIGNE, where there are 1890s SYRAH, and LES MAZARDS. Their vineyard on COMBE gave a CÔTES DU RHÔNE red.

Land near the N86 road to SAINT-PÉRAY was used for growing cereals and apricot trees, while HENRIETTE was dedicated to her cows, milking them morning and evening, and making fresh cheese for her young family of one boy, PIERRE-MARIE, and two girls, MARIE-LAURE and BERNADETTE, into the mid-1970s.

“I especially remember her work with the cows – you had to be assiduous, twice a day, every day,” relates PIERRE-MARIE. “We would eat fresh cheese nearly every day, while the milk she would deliver every day to the Épicerie in SAINT-PÉRAY. The hay was stored in the attic next to the house, along with the horse who was used to work the vineyards.”

After her marriage to AUGUSTE in December 1949, HENRIETTE set about raising her three children, but she also continued to do what she knew -  work the vines. “LES MAZARDS was virtually her own little vineyard,” recalls PIERRE. “She pruned it all, she took out excess buds, she tied the young vines, she harvested it,” he says. “As well as preparing all the sales paperwork and the accounts.” [And receiving visitors such as me].

That is a full life lived fully, and, while HENRIETTE wasn’t known to many of those who clambered through the small grey metal door on the N86, before going downstairs to taste, she was the veritable engine room behind AUGUSTE, and her contribution, never showy, was immense. I recall her as a true Ardechoise, capable of gruff humour, and not given to talking out of turn. Her friendships were firm and true, and I salute her and send my condolences to the family, content to know that she had met her great-grandson RUBEN before her passing.

In the southern Rhône, HENRI BARRUOL, as true a child of Provençal lands as you could find, also died recently. In my first book on the Rhône, researched in 1973-74, I wrote “one of the most interesting of the small and old domaines is DOMAINE SAINT COSME. Its present owner, M.HENRI BARRUOL, is a small, energetic and entertaining character who stumbled into being a vigneron through marriage – and has no regrets at all in either department: “I used to be a full-time wood carver,” he explained, “and after marrying and moving to Gigondas, I learnt a lot about wine from an old school friend who is a local oenologist. That was ten years ago, and now with the benefit of hindsight I’m really glad I kept up wine-making at Saint Cosme.”

The reality was that HENRI had already lived a full life for such a young man when he arrived at Gigondas. Born in APT, his schooling at the Catholic College of AIX-EN-PROVENCE had stopped at 15 years due to the Second World War, and by August 1944 he was living on his own, away from his parents, in AVIGNON, learning his trade as a cabinet maker, with bombs falling as the liberation of France took place.

HENRI set himself up as a cabinet maker and restorer in MAZAN, a VENTOUX village, in 1950, with the help of his best friend’s family - the oenologist JEAN-PAUL LAVAL, whose cousin CLAUDE ROLLAND had previously caught HENRI’s eye. CLAUDE's family owned seven hectares at GIGONDAS, and the couple were married in 1957. Thereafter HENRI threw himself into planting vines wherever he could, also putting in a garden at SAINT COSME, taking out cherry trees, investing his project to revitalise a tired vineyard with his customary whirlwind zeal. Having worked on the land on a family property in the TARN as a young man, HENRI held some preparation for these tasks.

Not so the winemaking. By the early 1960s, his great friend JEAN-PAUL LAVAL was a complete rarity - a man who took a scientific approach to winemaking. He had a cabinet of oenology - a word little employed in those days - at CARPENTRAS, and “that’s where my Papa learnt about all the mistakes and howlers that people were making when vinifying their crop,” recalls LOUIS BARRUOL. “But Papa also emphasized to me that wine starts with discipline and hard work, but that one should never lose sight of the aesthetic side that the maker should want to present. As a man intensely interested in music, opera, archaeology, history, sculpture, cinema – all those influences helped to make and craft his wine,” says LOUIS.

Henri continued with projects of restoration on the Chapel of SAINT COSME, including sculpting its altar, while restoring the estate cellars and guiding the vineyard from seven hectares up to 15 hectares in 1992, when son LOUIS started full-time. From the mid-1960s, he spent twenty years involved with the Syndicat of Growers, their Union, bearing a strong sense of collective responsibility. Throughout, HENRI encouraged those around him to appreciate the beauties of life, which could range from a piece of choral music to a rare bird. His mind would whizz along, right up to his end. “He didn’t see himself as an owner, but as a guardian whose mission was to embellish and pass on what he received,” concludes LOUIS. My thoughts and condolences go to all the extended members of the BARRUOL family.

FORTY YEARS BETWEEN DRINKS

FEBRUARY 2017

MAS SAINT-LOUIS: 30 HECTARES OF A SINGLE VINEYARD AT CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE

I first met LOUIS GENIEST (1909-1990) in the mid-1970s. I recall a visit, perhaps with STEVEN SPURRIER, to this domaine with high iron gates down at the bottom of the road running from the fountain, on the way to the route de BÉDARRIDES.

Then the domaine disappeared off my radar, with much of the wine sold in bulk. I must have walked past it hundreds of times, but signs of life were rare. LOUIS’ son JEAN was a lawyer until his death in December 2008, and the domaine is now run with increased passion and commitment by his widow MONIQUE, a lady in her eighties, with a cellar chief called MATTHIEU FAURIE-GRÉPAN present since 2011.

The remarkable thing about this estate is that their 30 hectares, average age 40 years, are all in one extended plot in the south-east of the appellation, on the adjacent sites called CROUSROUTE and LA LIONNE, the latter close to an offshoot branch of the main RHÔNE RIVER. That is a very large single vineyard, more usually found with the big Château properties. There are three red wines, and, since 2013, one white. About 30% is sold in bulk, down from 50% in 2011.

The style from these sandy, galet stone covered soils is for perfumed wines, with a gentle take that is found in the southern sector. They unfurl gradually, and, after eight years or more, the bouquets become varied and interesting. There are still old vintages available, going back to the **** 2004 MAS SAINT-LOUIS. There are two smaller production wines, both very sound ***(*) to **** wines in 2013 and 2014. The ARPENTS DE CONTREBANDIERS RED was a most harmonious **** wine, like a feather in the wind, in 2014. This is a style that will slowly regain favour as the promoters of BIG wines at Châteauneuf lose influence. Raise your glass to that, dear reader.

UNPRECEDENTED INTEREST IN THE NORTHERN RHÔNE, PAST AND PRESENT

JANUARY 2017

I have been fielding questions and enquiries about the history of the northern Rhône recently, and it appears that there is a welling up of interest in the region, with the USA and Britain two of the driving forces behind this. People what to know if there was a 1961 CHAVE HERMITAGE ROUGE bottled – answer very little – or what my impressions were of retired or deceased growers such as – in probable order of interest – NOËL VERSET at CORNAS, MARIUS GENTAZ-DERVIEUX at CÔTE-RÔTIE, RAYMOND TROLLAT at SAINT-JOSEPH and JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT at SAINT-JOSEPH and HERMITAGE.

Prices of wines from these producers have taken off - £300 is certainly involved in a VERSET wine, for example. Meanwhile, there is price pressure on the current wines due to the much heralded 2015 vintage. Such a thrust forward for the northern Rhône reminds me of the impact of the mighty 1978 vintage, which was the first one in modern times that allowed discovery of the true worth of these noble SYRAH wines. The export figures for Rhône wines make interesting reading if one compares 1976 to 1981.

By far the leading market in those days was SWITZERLAND, with some of the wines shipped there in cask or bulk for bottling on the spot. The vineyards of the Rhône were downstream from Lake Geneva, and there was a connection that crossed both cuisine – sauced dishes, robust flavours – and wine. In 1976 Switzerland imported 137,974 hectolitres of Rhône wines; in 1981 177,303 hl, a rise of 28%.

Runners-up were BELGIUM and LUXEMBOURG – 1976 49,685 hl v 104,351 hl in 1981 (+110%), then BRITAIN (24,213 v 55,043 hl, +127%, the NETHERLANDS (26,409 v 61,327 hl, +132%), and WEST GERMANY (31,365 v 68,235 hl, +118%). A curiosity, if one takes its current high profile, is that the USA imports actually fell – 24,049 v 24,005 hl. Those were the days before the imposing influences of wine journalists with 100 point scoring indices. Nowadays the USA accounts for the highest value per bottle of Rhône imports, by the way.

Another spur to export sales I should mention was actually the publication of my first book The Wines of the Rhône (Faber & Faber). I delivered the manuscript to Fabers in March 1975, but the oil shortage crisis and a three day working week meant that it didn’t appear until early 1978. As the only work on the region, it was taken to the Rhône by wine importers looking for names and domaines.

One of the first cases was The Wine Society in Britain, who visited DOMAINE JAUME at VINSOBRES on the basis of my writing “One of the best private domaines belongs to M.Claude Jaume. M.Jaume’s wine is rich and strongly coloured, and compares very favourably with the Vinsobres of either Co-operative [there were two Co-ops and only four or five domaines bottling their wine in those days]. A wine of good balance and long finish, it can live for up to eight years, but should be carefully drunk: its alcohol degree can rise as high as 14°, this resulting largely from the abnormally temperate climate of the whole Eygues Valley, which for wine purposes extends from Saint-Maurice as far as Nyons.”

A very happy footnote to this is that The Wine Society still works with DOMAINE JAUME today, something that we toast when I visit the Jaumes.

The biggest volume of Rhone wines these days go to GB (21% of bottled wines), followed by BELGIUM and LUXEMBOURG (16%), USA (15%), CANADA (10%), GERMANY (8%), SCANDINAVIA (8%) and SWITZERLAND (6%). I expect export figures over the next two years to be robust and on the rise given the very high quality of 2015, and the at least good to very good 2016 vintage.

A FEW SOUTHERN RHÔNE THOUGHTS

While the NORTHERN RHÔNE is a hot spot for wine enthusiasts, I detect a certain drift in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE. Talking to importers in BRITAIN, it I clear that appetite for CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE is weak compared to what it used to be. The wines are considered expensive, never more so than if featuring on a wine list in LONDON, and there are image problems, as well: high degree, overblown wines, with the special Prestige cuvées targeted at an American clientele more than suiting the evolving tastes of a European set of drinkers.

When tasting the 2015s in September 2016, there was an immediate step change in degree when I moved from the TRADITION wines to the PRESTIGE wines – 13° to 14.5° became 14° to 15.5°, or higher here and there. I continue to bang my tinny drum in insisting that the unique CHÂTEAUNEUF terroir and climate are made for wines of finesse, and not power. As a good deal, therefore, the grossly overlooked 2014 vintage lines up some real good buys, one of the favourites being the totally pleasurable 2014 CLOS DES PAPES, a wine of ace finesse, described by VINCENT AVRIL as “very Burgundian.” Or take the 2014 TARDIEU-LAURENT CUVÉE SPÉCIALE, a wine of harmony, class and grand elegance.

Elsewhere in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, GIGONDAS continues to give good wines, although prices are edging upwards. The longevity of GIGONDAS is frequently underestimated, by the way, including in lesser vintages which would include 2008 or 2014. Then there is CAIRANNE, home to 25 domaines full of confidence and generally accomplished winemaking, that will soon slot in as the third most important appellation of the SOUTHERN RHÔNE.

For sparks of interest, much of the rest of the SOUTHERN RHÔNE comes down to following domaines rather than appellations. However, there is a well-entrenched commitment to organic practices in VILLAGES such as VISAN and VALRÉAS; the vintages of 2015 and 2016, with high quality crop, have aided those working organically after 2014 pushed the limits due to attacks of acid rot.

As a final New Year observation, WHITE RHÔNE continues to gain in popularity, even if there is also a tendency towards lighter wines, which I term New Wave, and also an annoying over-use of carbonic gas, which I regard as a big distraction when tasting and drinking the wines. However, there are plenty that are rightly well suited to la table, and you can do no worse than buy some SOUTHERN RHÔNE white 2014s and 2015s and tuck them away until they are five years’ old, when they will be complex and stimulating.

THIS OTIS ELEVATOR ONLY GOES UP, MESDAMES ET MESSIEURS

DECEMBER 2016

THREE NEW CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES

To the strains of “everyone’s a winner, baby, that’s all right…” I write about the CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES. At the moment, there is one way traffic, or an unseemly stampede, towards the lift panel marked UP. CÔTES DU RHÔNE COMMUNES want to become VILLAGES, while VILLAGES want to become full CRU wines.

And yet, the hierarchy is shaky across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE. I exclude the NORTHERN RHÔNE thanks to its compact and long-established structure of appellations, although there are two causes for concern there. The first is the out-of-hand expansion of my beloved CORNAS [where I own some vines] up to the grazing pastures on CHABAN, well beyond the main granite locations opposite the village. There is about a three week delay in ripening in these fields, where I have known horses, goats and cattle graze in my years out on patrol.

The second is the headlong rush to buy land around the plain of LES CHASSIS and nearby at CROZES-HERMITAGE, with a view to planting these fruit tree and ordinary lands with vines in 2018, when the rights of planting have been opened up. A certain very big local name is in the front rank on this, which drives up land prices of current vineyard zones for any young starter growers, quite apart from calling into question the quality of the resultant wine from these areas previously deemed unworthy.

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, the quality of the VILLAGES category is pretty shaky. There are lots of Villages no-one has ever heard of: ROUSSET-LES-VIGNES, SAINT PANTALÉON, PUYMÉRAS, GADAGNE, SIGNARGUES, even SAINT-GERVAIS and perhaps SAINT-MAURICE. The problem with all these is that they lack critical mass - the area under vines is small, the number of standard bearer domaines is tiny, and the quality, reputation or survival of the local CAVE CO-OPERATIVE is wobbly.

CAIRANNE’s ascent to CRU leaves a hole in the edifice, with now the front runners being PLAN DE DIEU, SÉGURET, VISAN and VALRÉAS. Meanwhile, it is incredible to think that LAUDUN in the west bank GARD département has filed a request for promotion to CRU, on its own standing. The CO-OPERATIVE President is a bigwig in the INAO (National Institute of Appellations of Origin), so go do the maths. Meanwhile, apart from the estimable LUC PELAQUIÉ, there are virtually no well-known domaine names there.

There will be three new VILLAGES starting with the bountiful and high quality southern Rhône vintage of 2016, so at least that is a good platform. They are SUZE-LA-ROUSSE in the southern DRÔME (26), SAINTE-CÉCILE-LES-VIGNES and VAISON-LA-ROMAINE in the VAUCLUSE (84). The starting point for all three is their CAVES CO-OPERATIVES. LA SUZIENNE: decent CÔTES DU RHÔNE reds, rosés and whites, ditto GRIGNAN-LES-ADHÉMAR red and white, good ROCHEGUDE (yes, it's a VILLAGE) red. There are two CO-OPs at SAINTE-CÉCILE: LES VIGNERONS CHANTECÔTES: indifferent. CAVEAU CÉCILE-LES-VIGNES: OK CÔTES DU RHÔNE reds. Lastly, CAVE LA ROMAINE: decent CÔTES DU RHÔNE reds, wonky ROAIX, PUYMÉRAS, SÉGURET reds.

On the domaine front, all three Villages have names that are good, some of them organic, with switched-on winemakers who seek crisp fruit and vibrant drinkability, while there are also domaines that breathe the inner strength of their warm lands, issuing proper middle-term wines for la table.

Hence all these three Villages can make some sort of impact in the next three years, which is the time I give a new VILLAGE or new CRU before the mists of indifference descend around its portals. You have all been warned.

THE 2016 HARVEST IS IN, NOW STRAIGHT BACK TO THE VINEYARDS

NOVEMBER 2016

After the rigours of bringing in a crop that will be among the best in France in 2016, both from a quality and a quantity perspective, Rhône growers return immediately to the vineyard tasks that need attention as the vines themselves take a pause.

In the northern Rhône, the time to attend to walls is now – either their upkeep, repair or construction. ANDRÉ PERRET (pictured) recently told me that he received a quote from a company said to specialise in wall construction for building a 35-metre retaining wall on his prime CONDRIEU site of CHANSON at CHAVANAY: “it was €25,000, so I did it myself.”

The wall has to be built before the vines can be planted on their ledges, and is fundamental to the garden aspect of hillside vines, which are likely to be pick-axed or worked by pulley when it comes to looking after the soils later on.

ANDRÉ is gradually increasing his vineyard on CHANSON from 1.9 hectares to 2.5 hectares. The effort involved for this 0.6 hectare is immense. A neighbouring mature vineyard is for sale, with the owner hoping to get €2 million per hectare, but more likely to receive half of that. It’s highly likely to be sold to a prominent regional merchant or an investor from outside the Rhône. At these levels, young local people simply cannot get a look-in.

Inside his cellar, ANDRÉ is very happy with his 2016 CONDRIEU, which he terms “better balanced than 2015.”

A FANTASTIC SEPTEMBER SETS THE SEAL ON A VERY GOOD 2016 VINTAGE

OCTOBER 2016

With mixed reports on the quality of the Bordeaux vintage in 2016, and distress in many parts of France from frost, then hail, 2016 is going to receive a subdued welcome from many critics. PIC SAINT LOUP in the LANGUEDOC saw about one-third of its 2016 crop taken out in a most savage storm that has qualified the region for State aid, while the early year woes of BURGUNDY and the LOIRE are by now pretty well known.

All the time, pressure on 2015 prices is tightening. As I predicted earlier in the year, 2014 will be very quickly forgotten about, although wise purchasers will have bought and tucked away cases of highly drinkable, spherical and en finesse 2014 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE RED, which will dance with pleasure in the glass around 2021-2022.

SOUTHERN RHÔNE 2016

The focus for the very immediate moment is on the vintage being brought in now. I have returned from Châteauneuf-du-Pape where tractor drivers rev their engines like Formula 1 car drivers when spotting me walking along by the road (c’est toi, JULIEN BARROT) and where large smiles are the order of the day, so utterly happy are they with 2016.

I walked around the vineyards, tasting TERRET NOIR, VACCARÈSE, CLAIRETTE ROSE, and all the usual regulars such as GRENACHE and MOURVÈDRE before they were harvested. The juice is rich, the tannins supple enough to ensure balance in the wines. If the humans play their role without getting carried away into mass extraction, then 2016 will be very good indeed. The weather that was 25°C-30°C in the last week of September was glorious and settled. Most domaines had brought in all their crop before the rain on Saturday 1 October: this varied between 33 mm (1.3 in) at BÉDARRIDES in the East of the appellation to 25 mm (1 in) in SORGUES in the South-East of the appellation, on the way to AVIGNON.

The Southern Rhône reports pretty much the same story across the board – the warm to hot, stable weather of middle August to the end of September has invited ideal harvesting conditions, and crop without any semblance of blight. Sorting tables have been got out, set up, and then quietly folded away.

Most estates in GIGONDAS will be harvesting this week, with a stable, Mistral wind set-up for now, and more than a week of fine weather in prospect; there has been a loss of crop there of 10-20% due to coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit), and the high zones around the DENTELLES have felt the drought.

NORTHERN RHÔNE 2016

The harvest is a little behind the South, naturally enough, but growers are also pleased with events. From CROZES-HERMITAGE, MAXIME GRAILLOT of DOMAINE DES LISES told me: “I’m very happy – it’s been an unexpected year. Yields are around 39-40 hl/ha, against 45-47 hl/ha in 2015, but the analysis of 2016 lines up as the same as 2015 for degree, total acidity, pH, with perhaps thicker skins this year. The crop is very healthy indeed, and the first vats came in at 12° to 12.3°, the last at 13°.”

Covering CORNAS and SAINT-JOSEPH, JOËL DURAND of DOMAINE DURAND was similarly content: “It’s very beau and healthy,” he reported. “It’s a late vintage, but a good one. The degree varies according to zones, affected by the dry weather. But we had 50 mm (2 in) of rain south of TOURNON in early August via two storms, and 15 mm (0.6 in) on 20 August, which set the vines up for the very hot weather in late August and early September. Acidity levels are good on the one hand, and on the other there are some jam and very ripe aspects to some of the wines – the solar influence of the late high heat."

CORNAS has completed the harvest by and large around the village, with the high, near the plateau  outlying and less convincing zones bringing in the crop over the next ten days. Degrees can be irregular, with some spots at 12.8°, others at 13.5° to 14°.

CÔTE-RÔTIE is also reported to be in good shape via levels of ripeness and degree that are on the button.

THE HOME STRAIGHT BECKONS: THE GOING DRY, THE GRAPES DENSE

SEPTEMBER 2016

The 2016 picture across the Rhône is indeed satisfactory, with the weather since early July playing an important role in lifting quality, both north and south.

From the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, reports congregate around the high quality of the crop after a hot and dry high summer. At CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, LAURENT CHARVIN of DOMAINE CHARVIN, in the north of the appellation, used the very same word as LAETITIA BARROT of DOMAINE LA BARROCHE. “MAG-NI-FIQUE . .  you know this word?”, he asked me. “It’s the best crop since I started in 1990. There is great potential, unbelievable health in the vineyards. Working organically has posed no problems this year, neither from mildew nor oïdium, for example. My vines aren’t suffering from drought. The grapes are concentrated.

Working the soils paid off in acting against the stress that some areas have known. We had only 2-3 mm of rain during August, and the forecast is for weather that is warm, around 28°C, and dry until the second weekend in September. I will start on my white grapes on 7 September, the SYRAH at the end of the week, and the GRENACHE the week commencing 12 September.”

Away to the east at GIGONDAS, MATTHIEU BOUTIÈRE of DOMAINE DU PESQUIER on the lower levels, the more garrigue zones, gave me this report: “ the spring was very cold and also very dry. The weather wasn’t great at first, and there was some mildew. Then the summer was very hot and dry, and things improved then. We have drought pressure, with only small pockets of rain, around 5 mm only during August. The rain that we like in mid-August every year never came.

As a result, the grapes are very small. There is some drought stress here and there, especially after the high heat of last week – 30°C to 35°C. The grapes are concentrated, very healthy, with very dense juice: that will mean gentle extractions when vinifying. Judging by the weight of the bunches, we are 25% to 30% down in yield compared to 2015. There’s been no blockage in the ripening – so far. I will harvest my first SYRAH on 15-16 September. I know there has been coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) in the high areas of the DENTELLES DE MONTMIRAIL, with the drought stress less pronounced there as a result.”

Across the RHÔNE on the west bank of the GARD département, RICHARD MABY of DOMAINE MABY at TAVEL gave me this take on events: “things are OK,” he told me; “it’s been an unusual year, since it’s been very dry. The positive is that there have been no blights. The negative is the suffering of the young vines; almost all our vines have kept their leaf cover, but SYRAH planted in 2008, for instance, may not ripen this year.

The grapes are concentrating now, and losing part of their juice, while the degree is rising. We were seven days behind, but with such heat as we have had in the last two to three weeks, we have caught up most of that time. Some growers say they want to wait to harvest until the weekend of 10-11 September, when there may be rain, so the grapes can expand. But I feel that if you take that route, you have to wait a further week for the full effect to take place. So I will start my TAVEL harvest on 7 September – I slightly feel I could have started on the 5 September, but there you go. The SYRAH at LIRAC won’t be ready until the week of 19 September. In a year such as this, the GRENACHE is favoured over the SYRAH, as is the MOURVÈDRE. There are comparisons with 2005 – tannin, colour, structure, and not a lot of volume,” he concluded.

From the NORTHERN RHÔNE, RENÉ ROSTAING at CÔTE-RÔTIE considered that matters were going well: “things are fine, “ he reported; “June has been pretty catastrophic with rain and cold, and the sap being held back. But July and August have been formidable, and that has continued into September. We have had no rain for 30 days, and temperatures of 30°C to 35°C. Having been two weeks behind at the end of June, we have caught up, and are only a week behind now. The coming week is set to give good, hot weather. The SYRAH is 10.5° to 11°, and I would hope we can gain 1° per week now. Yield is good. We may start on 17-19 September. My VIOGNIER at CONDRIEU is also in good shape, and there is no rot on it, which had been a concern early in the ripening season.”

Further south, covering SAINT-JOSEPH from ARRAS, PASCAL JAMET gave this appraisal: “things have been tricky from hail this year. Our vin de pays near PORTES LÈS VALENCE was hit in June, and our SAINT-JOSEPH around 10 August, which blocked the veraison (grapes changing colour), and set ripening back. At least there was a decent amount of rain at the same time, so there hasn’t been drought on the hillside vines.

Because we have very few clone vines, our yield is down – even without the hail, with coulure another factor hitting the crop this year. We are now looking like harvesting around 20-25 September, with an average of 11.5° as we speak. There has been no real rain for four to six weeks, so there is some drought stress. The whites look good, including my young ROUSSANNE at SAINT-PÉRAY, with no drought influence there. This year is going to be around two weeks behind recent vintages such as 2015.”

EARLY GLIMPSES OF SOUTHERN RHÔNE 2015 FROM VENTOUX

AUGUST 2016

2016: THE STORY SO FAR

Many regions in France have suffered badly from frost and hail this year. However, apart from some very bad frost high on the hill of HERMITAGE in April, the RHÔNE has largely been spared. From both the NORTH and the SOUTH, growers give encouraging reports, with the main difference one of levels of rainfall – regular, but not really heavy bouts in the NORTH, and conditions approaching drought in the SOUTH.

From CÔTE-RÔTIE in the NORTHERN RHÔNE, BENJAMIN DUCLAUX of DOMAINE BENJAMIN & DAVID DUCLAUX, one of the two talented brothers, told me: “things are going very well. It’s been a year of a lot of vegetation, so there has been more work than in a classic year. There have been regular rainfalls – but luckily no storms - so no drought stress. Normally we clip the excess shoots twice a year, but this year will require three gos on that. There has been mildew pressure, requiring treatments.

Right now a lot of growers are out in the vineyards with their traille (pulley system to work hillside soils) to cut back on the weeds and grasses. We have taken on more seasonal workers than usual as well, because of all that growth. The veraison is just starting now, with a few grapes turning colour.

If you take the 100 day rule from flowering, we are on course for harvesting 20-25 September.”

From CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, the young, motivated JULIEN BARROT, who is very content with his enlarged cellar in the village, talked to me about his DOMAINE LA BARROCHE vineyards: “things are impeccable, and the potential is good,” he related. “There is a slight fear about drought, we need rain, and without rain there may be a blockage in ripening. There’s been no mildew, oïdium nor black rot. The veraison is happening now – the grapes changing colour – and we may start the harvest around 15 September. The yield is good so far, similar to 2015.”

At the celebrated CLOS DES PAPES, owner VINCENT AVRIL gave his report: “the grape harvest looks very joli, with no blights at all because it’s been very dry; the vines are resisting well. There aren’t many weeds because of the dry conditions. Overall, we have had just 260 mm (10.2 in) of rain since early January. The bunches aren’t too tightly knit and look fine. The grapes are small, and there isn’t a lot of juice in each grape – but that’s good for quality. We do need rain, though.

The veraison started around 18 July, and is going quite quickly, 70% completed in some places. Harvest could be around 12-14 September, not before. It all depends on August. It’s a normal year vis-à-vis ripening, and we are running at 22-25 hl/ha, before discarding, which beats our recent averages.”

BUILDING BRIDGES IN THE VINEYARDS

JULY 2016

The task of doing the bridge between vines is not universal, but the gains are clear to DAMIEN VACHE: “if I cut the apex of the vine, the vine will become stressed, and in turn will encourage the growth of entrecoeurs – inner shoots – down below, which will only serve to take energy away from the main areas of growth.

If you make the bridge, you avoid the development of the vine being blocked. It also allows the tractor to pass through when working the soils. I started this in 2014. It takes around 10 to 15 hours per hectare, and I do it in the first half of July, before the veraison – when the grapes change colour.” I bet DAMIEN  wraps his Christmas presents well. Here is the result:

2016 is proceeding well in the southern Rhône vineyards, although the subsoils are in places dry. Visually, the vines do not look stressed, but a good 40 mm (1.8 in) or so of rain will be very useful in the next ten days for the more porous soils. However, the forecast is for a fine two weeks towards the third week of July. There is only a tiny bit of oïdium, likewise a only few mildew stains here and there.

The usual prayer of the growers is for a rainfall around the national holiday of 14 July, and a similar rainfall in mid-August. Then, hopefully, it’s the home straight into the harvest. Yes: in theory, it is!

However, in the case of DOMAINE LA MONARDIÈRE at VACQUEYRAS, father CHRISTIAN VACHE had this to say:” the bunches are already very fat, so rain will not suit us now: in fact, it would be catastrophic. If it doesn’t rain, it will be a late harvest, and could be a grand year, in the style of 1995 or 1998.”

AFTER AN EXCELLENT 2015 VINTAGE, PREPARATION FOR 2016 AT TAVEL

JUNE 2016

The near tidal wave of light pink rosés from PROVENCE has left traditional rosés such as TAVEL, and also LIRAC, very much in the shade in recent years. With their red-tinted robes, they seem to “scare the horses”, and people prefer often more bland drinks, at ever higher, more marketing-spend heavy prices. The Provence rosé hall at a wine fair always reminds me of walking through the perfume counter area at Galeries Lafayette or Harvey Nicholls. Image is paramount, and the producers, clad in loafers, chinos and cool branded shirts, all look as if they have never been near a tractor.

So it is a pleasure to encounter the 2015 vintage at TAVEL. The wines are full-bodied but nicely fresh, they go long and set themselves up for la table; all dishes based around garlic or its cousin aïoli, a Marseille fish soup, soupe au pistou, grilled fish, aubergine dishes, extending to lamb cutlets in rosemary, white meats. The accompaniment with Asian, Japanese cuisine is also a neat fit this year.

It’s important that the growers hold their nerve, and continue to make properly traditional Tavels; I feel there are times when they despair of recapturing market popularity and share. One only has to look at the inroads made by BANDOL ROSÉ in Britain, to the detriment and decline of the classic BANDOL ROUGE, a stern and sturdy operator when young, and requiring cellaring before the MOURVÈDRE loosens its tight grip. A BANDOL ROSÉ is also some way more expensive than a TAVEL, please note. So I heartily recommend a little bit of a voyage back in time to the dining friendly virtues of TAVEL 2015.

OPERATION COOL HITS THE NORTHERN RHÔNE

MAY 2016

There is a confirmed trend these days towards lighter style wines, be they red or white (or rosé for that matter, if you consider how the pale pink Provence rosé style has upstaged at least half of all formerly red-blooded TAVEL). I have already written about New Wave Rhône whites from sources such as FRANÇOIS VILLARD and DELAS.

Now, in the shape of M.CHAPOUTIER, I find the MARSANNE whites of 2015 to have followed this path, even for noble giants such as ERMITAGE LE MÉAL, which should be a wine founded on glycerol and richness rather than giving some form of “tension” and stretched out feel, like a guitar string about to go “twang”.

I also found this recently when tasting a CHAUME from the LOIRE VALLEY, a pedigree wine whose pedigree had been clipped by this move towards a more decisive style, a wine presented as clear and clean and blah blah, lacking the true pomp it should have displayed. Will it age as well as the richer versions? I am not so sure, since I consider the lessened contact with the lees to imply a lower intake of richness from the start.

However, in the world of red wines, there is also a definite swing towards cooler and clearer. On that basis, I accompanied five estates from California around the NORTHERN RHÔNE in early April 2016. It was a voyage of study for them, all of whom were seeking to make precision wines via help from altitude or ocean breezes, coupled with lands that featured schist or some amount of granite by and large. This is a good idea, if it acts as a counterbalance to the big heavyweight, high degree wines of California’s recent past.

I named this project OPERATION COOL, and will be writing it up. The five estates involved were THE OJAI VINEYARD (ADAM TOLMACH), JAFFURS WINE CELLARS (MATT BRADY), BIG BASIN VINEYARDS (BRADLEY BROWN), HALCON VINEYARDS (PAUL & JACKIE GORDON) and DREW FAMILY CELLARS (JASON DREW).

It was striking that the Californian delegation felt inspired at the end of the trip, but all admitted that it was not straightforward to sell SYRAH back home – still. There is still obscurity surrounding some of them. So it is timely that the author PATRICK COMISKEY is set to publish a good book on the RHÔNE movement in the USA later this year – “AMERICAN RHÔNE WINES”, from my publisher the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, BERKELEY.

That traces the development of an inspiration and  credo that were much more free-spirited and unruly than the purring machine with armour-plated finances attached that was the early BORDEAUX-inspired movement. Definitely something to look forward to; I have read the manuscript for the University deans and dons.

Meanwhile, as the LOIRE - the CABERNET FRANC vineyards of CHINON and BOURGUEIL particularly savagely hit - and places such as VOLNAY and CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET (the worst frost damage since the 1980s) suffered from the hard bite of frost in late April, the Rhône’s season has got off to a sound start, except for some April hail on the hill of HERMITAGE that ran out of steam before reaching MERCUROL at CROZES-HERMITAGE to the east. It paid to be at, near or below the 45^th Parallel last month.

REFLECTIONS ON THE PASSING OF CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE’S LAST TRUE ORIGINAL

APRIL 2016

HENRI BONNEAU

The death of HENRI BONNEAU at 78 years recently brought to a close an era when growers could be subversive in the face of “the authorities”. Now, if you have 1% too much GRENACHE GRIS or TERRET NOIR in your vineyard, it is swiftly sniffed out by the forces of law and order – usually young men and women in their twenties, probably clad in white.

Central governments and bodies hate such outsiders, since the former thrive on homogeneity, what is written in the dossier. If the dossier says you cannot exceed 10% of alternative varieties, then those offending percentages in excess must be ripped out, or your wine is declassified.

Well now, this becomes quite funny, since many growers have started to show they can’t be bothered with some of these petty fogging rules, meaning a rapid increase away from VIN DE PAYS and its complicated names – COLLINES RHODANIENNES, PRINCIPAUTÉ D’ORANGE etc - and towards the broader, less restrictive category of VIN DE FRANCE.

My thoughts turn to JÉRÔME BRESSY of DOMAINE GOURT DE MAUTENS, who abandoned the RASTEAU appellation due to hassle from the authorities over his growing too many less recommended vines – PICPOUL BLANC, PICPOUL GRIS, CARIGNAN and others, which he considers form part of the local heritage, unlike the variety that the INAO (INSTITUT OF APPELLATIONS OF ORIGINE) constantly bangs the drum for – the SYRAH, a variety that should remain in cooler areas rather than being scatter bombed all across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE to the shores of the Mediterranean.

It is no surprise that VINSOBRES, with vineyards at 400 metres, is a source for JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE in his CÔTES DU RHÔNE MON COEUR, made up of 40% SYRAH. In recent vintages such as 2013 and 2014, the SYRAH has also performed well thanks to those two cool summers. But put SYRAH in the deep clay soils of RASTEAU, and it can risk giving wines that are jammy, and lacking all-important cut.

Refuseniks such as MONSIEUR BRESSY are hard to find these days. But when I started out in the 1970s, vinegrowing and winemaking were much more liberal, the actions of the growers often guided by intuition, available time and effort, even hearsay. In this Kingdom of The Individual, HENRI BONNEAU held a sometimes rather cultivated place, whereas the REYNAUD family of CHÂTEAU RAYAS, for example, were genuinely out on a limb, eschewing much contact with the outside world.

The fact that HENRI lived in the village made him immediately more visible, and yet the company he most wanted to keep as a natural starting point was that of his fellow vignerons and vigneronnes. For yes, he had a twinkle in his eye when meeting ISABEL FERRANDO of DOMAINE SAINT-PRÉFERT or the ARMENIER sisters, SOPHIE and CATHERINE, of DOMAINE DE MARCOUX.

As to his relations with the Fourth Estate, I can only say they were uneven. I first visited him in the 1980s; in my first book, written in the early 1970s, it was his father MARCEL who ran the estate, but I do not, alas, have any tasting notes from that period.

Well, HENRI received me courteously in his warren of grimy rooms that comprised his cellars. We tasted, discussed, I noted things down. As I was about to leave, he requested me not to write about him, a request to which I acceded. If he didn’t want people tramping along to see him, then so be it. I also discovered that the redoubtable PROFESSOR ROBERT MAYBERRY, who wrote a long and detailed book on the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, very much a work of loving, academic appreciation, had likewise maintained silence on MONSIEUR BONNEAU.

I continued to visit every now and then, and remained silent in print on him. However, when I read a report by ROBERT PARKER JR on HENRI some years later, I somewhat felt that what was good for the goose was good for the gander. Accordingly, I revisited him and wrote an essay of some pages in the 1992 edition of THE WINES OF THE RHÔNE.

That was the turning point! At one juncture, I wrote the following: “his family have worked in the same maze of interconnected cellars under Châteauneuf-du-Pape since the time of Napoleon III, and there are some wonderful winding nooks and crannies that M.Bonneau knows well as he moves around the rough earth-strewn surface, muttering obscenities about Napoleon Bonaparte. Any tasting in the company of a Briton is interrupted with a rapid, Provençal-infested verbal swipe about the wrong person being burned at the stake – Joan of Arc and not Bonaparte – before he wanders off to another dull, grimy cask, full of marvellous young red wine.”

After learning about this, for he was certainly not an English speaker or reader, Monsieur Bonneau barred me from tasting chez lui. I ran into him occasionally in the street, here and there. One exchange recalls the old PETER SELLERS joke from an INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU film “does your dog bite?”): I saw him in the street up the hill from the fountain, on the way to the church. I saluted him as he stood watching a mason on scaffolding that obscured the façades of the houses go about his work on some outside walls, a pretty good job, it seemed to me.

JL-L: “that mason is doing a good piece of work...”

HB: “he is.”

JL-L: “your house is going to look in good shape after this.”

HB: “it’s not my house.”

I tried to enter via the good offices of the ARMENIER sisters of DOMAINE DE MARCOUX, but once you cross a Provençal, that is that, as I know only too well after living in AIX-EN-PROVENCE from 1972 to 1975. HENRI was having none of me, at all, punto final.

I therefore tasted his wines every now and then, not in any formal sequence. In hot summer vintages, I found them heated, and potent to the point of headiness. In the cooler vintages, I preferred them – their balance was better, and they sang more. Of course, yields were desperately low; I once visited his vineyard during the Forbidden Years, and it was a shock to see how many gaps there were – dead plants hadn’t been replaced, and the impression given was one of doing just enough.

There were wines of greatness mixed in – his 2005 RÉSERVE DES CÉLESTINS was a six star wine – complete, interesting, with bursts of freshness and the gras texture of traditional Châteauneuf. His trio of CÉLESTINS 1988, 1989 and 1990 was splendid, a real gale force of intensity blowing through them -  “three glorious, exuberant vintages”, as I wrote at the time.

HENRI BONNEAU leaves an unrepeatable legacy; his bottles of course are there for the delectation of mainly rich collectors nowadays, but under all the Provençal bluster and canny actions lay a man with the welfare and renown of his village deeply rooted at the centre of his being. He enhanced the life and times of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and I salute him for that and for all his wondrous foibles.

HATS OFF FOR A MIGHTY EFFORT

MARCH 2016

CAIRANNE: THE FULL STORY

I wonder how many of you can vividly remember the financial crash of 2008. I was in a lift in New York when I heard about the imminent collapse of Lehman Brothers, a softly spoken, fearful comment from a friend of mine. That was September, 2008. It probably seems quite a long time ago now.

Well, imagine if you had started a project two months earlier, in July 2008, and that project only came to fruition just now, in February, 2016. That would represent what could be termed a lot of hard yards covered.

Such has been the epic struggle of DENIS ALARY, President of the Growers Union of CAIRANNE, who in July 2008 deposited a dossier at the Ministry of Agriculture requesting the promotion of CAIRANNE from CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES to senior status, stand alone CAIRANNE, appellation d’origine protégée (as it now is). It’s a path trodden by RASTEAU recently, and before that, by BEAUMES-DE-VENISE in 2005. It’s a natural progression if the quality runs deeply and widely in an appellation.

However, disputes arose, often because the proposed redrawing of the vineyard area excluded 262 hectares, cutting the Villages nominated vineyard from 1,350 to 1,088 hectares under Cairanne cru. The discarded zones were mainly in the southern part of the appellation, and their wine henceforth will either be CÔTES DU RHÔNE or CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES without the name of a commune attached. The last point has not yet been resolved, but currently RASTEAU and VINSOBRES have ex-Villages land allowed to produce CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES, so that may be an option for Cairanne as well.

The decree applies to the reds and whites of Cairanne; the rosé will be sold as CÔTES DU RHÔNE. In practical terms, the next decision for the growers is whether to sell their 2015 reds and whites as CAIRANNE or CAIRANNE VILLAGES. According to DENIS ALARY, about one-third of the domaines will opt for Cairanne Cru, and two-thirds for Cairanne Villages with the 2015 wines.

“There are two reasons for this,” he explains in his lucid fashion: “the first is that the Villages wine status allows a yield of 41 hectolitres a hectare for the red wine, against 38 hectolitres a hectare as Cru red. For the whites, it’s 44 hectolitres a hectare as Villages, and 40 hectolitres as Cru. So in what is a full yield vintage, people have more wine to sell if it’s Villages, albeit at a slightly lower price.

The second is that by selling the wine as Villages, it can go out on the market, in bulk or bottle, by 1 March 2016. Those wanting to sell as Cru will have to wait for the official stamp of approval from the French administration and Customs, which could take until May or June 2016. If they choose the latter path, some growers have told me of their worry of having 2015 wine taking space in their cellars at the time of the 2016 harvest.”

DENIS confirmed that both he and his ALARY cousins at ORATOIRE SAINT-MARTIN will be in the group waiting until they can sell their 2015s as CRU wines. Usually Cairanne produces 35,000 to 37,000 hectolitres (HL) per annum, and about 10,00-12,000 HL of the 2015 will be sold as CRU, it appears.

A welcome consequence of the promotion is also an immediate increase in interest in Cairanne from the Rhône Valley négociant or merchant trade. There have been just a handful of merchants involved with the appellation previously – the PERRIN family of CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL, JULIETTE AVRIL, also from CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, PIERRE AMADIEU from GIGONDAS and ARNOUX from VACQUEYRAS.

“At the VINISUD show (Feb 2016) in MONTPELLIER, I was approached by eight or nine Rhône merchants,” Denis Alary related; “they are interested in Cairanne, especially given the void left by the ailing CAVE DE CAIRANNE; the Cairanne red wine in bulk price runs somewhere between €250 and €270 the hectolitre, and is being favourably compared with RASTEAU, whose bulk price has gone up quite rapidly to €360 a hectolitre. That’s why the usual 4-6,000 hectolitres of Cairanne in bulk has risen to around 14,000 hectolitres of the 2014 vintage, sold during 2015.”

The CAVE CAMILLE CAYRAN, once a marvellous, forward-thinking paragon of Co-operative virtue in the 1970s when I first knew it, has suffered from mismanagement and excessive costs and has slipped dramatically in recent years. Indeed, the exodus of growers who simply hadn’t been fully paid for their crop has meant that it is now producing under one-third of its usual capacity across all appellations – a fall from 55,000 HL to just 13-14,000 HL. Dramatic signs of this collapse have also been visible in the vineyard, with prime site vineyards untended and neglected.

For around two years the Cave was officially in “Redressment Judiciaire”, which is a form of receivership, whereby the finances and cheque book are controlled by an outside appointee. In February 2016, it emerged from that position, with a deal that sees the Rhône négociant LES GRANDES SERRES extend their rented space to over one-third of the buildings. Les Grandes Serres own the bottling line at the Cave, and its service will be rented out to the Cave as and when it is needed. Other sources of cash flow for the Cave will come from Grandes Serres paying for stockage of their wines, and for the use of vinification facilities.

The Cave now has a rolling annual repayment schedule programme to repay their outstanding debts, be they to the banks or creditors. In 2015, they will be issuing as much wine as they can as CRU in order to sell it at a higher price than were it Villages. So a start has been made on the comeback trail.

I have the greatest confidence in Cairanne for the future: there are 45 domaines, over half of which make good wine. There are six Co-operatives that can sell the wine, and there is a widening négociant level of interest.

The promotion excites me, and I am sure that this village will continue to issue extremely good quality, garrigue-inspired wines in the decades to come. The building blocks for the next generation have been put in place. I say Bravo to the tenacious DENIS ALARY, and thank you, Sir.

THEY MAKE 'EM TOUGH AT CORNAS

FEBRUARY 2016

LOUIS SOZET, game as a pebble, is the oldest working vigneron at Cornas. He will be 80 on 22 April this year. He now has 0.85 hectare and sells part of his crop to CHAPOUTIER, vinifying enough to give 400 bottles, many of which he sells at the MARCHÉ DE CORNAS in December each year.

Louis was doing his military service in Algeria when news reached him of his father JEAN’s sudden death from a brain clot in 1958 – “he was misdiagnosed, and went in three days,” recalls Louis. I served my final month with the regiment, then started full time on the vineyards (3 hectares in those days). I had worked with him since I was a boy, so got straight on with it.”

Louis worked two hectares for most of his life, the wine his sole source of income; he now rents out vineyards to the talented STÉPHANE ROBERT of DOMAINE DU TUNNEL, based at SAINT-PÉRAY. His two sites are EYGAS and CHAMPELROSE, both well placed. He describes the average age of his vineyard now as 35 years.

He has three nephews, FLORENT, MARTIN and ROMAIN, and a niece, OLIVIA, who will start a CORNAS under the title LES ENFANTS DE BERNARD SOZET in 2016, so the name will carry on.

His vinification is based on the classic Cornasien habit of whole bunch crop; until two years ago the wine was raised in a mix of used 228-litre pieces and 550-litre demi-muids. Since 2013 he has raised it in stainless steel, cutting back from 18 months to 10-12 months.

Louis’ 2013 is *** wine, and I say “chapeau” to him, someone I have often seen when visiting Cornas. His tenacity fits the rugged countryside perfectly.

His last word comes on the sudden, rapid expansion of the Cornas vineyards, especially in the high zones way away from the village. “I see a lot of planting now, without reason, clearing scrubland. People have to be reasonable. Experiments have always been ill-fated (néfaste), and people should be prudent. There are too many merchants imposing whatever they want in the wrong places.”

The review of CORNAS 2014, with nearly 60 wines assessed, is now available under WINES AND TASTINGS, 2014 NORTHERN RHÔNE, THE LEADING WINES.

SEVEN VINTAGES OF THE GUIGAL SAINT-JOSEPH LIEU-DIT SAINT-JOSEPH

JANUARY 2016

TWO VISITS TO GUIGAL, SOME VERTICAL TASTINGS

Two visits to GUIGAL in late 2015 saw enjoyable and informative tastings; among the 66 wines tasted were a vertical of the SAINT-JOSEPH LIEU-DIT SAINT-JOSEPH red featuring the vintages 2007 to 2013 inclusive and the top-class SAINT-JOSEPH VIGNES DE L’HOSPICE red 2010 to 2012. Both vineyards were acquisitions by MARCEL GUIGAL in 2001 from JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT and from the MAISON LOUIS DE VALLOUIT. The quality of both wines indicates that mastery of the vineyards and coaxing out the best from them is starting to take place. In both cases, the mighty 2010s were outstanding, confirming the exceptional nature of that vintage.

Another vertical was that of the HERMITAGE RED 2006 to 2011 and the ERMITAGE EX-VOTO RED 2010 and 2012-2014 (there was no 2011). The years when there is no EX-VOTO – 2008 and 2011 the most recent – undoubtedly benefit the classic red wine. Quality is consistent with the HERMITAGE, and in very good years such as 1990 the wine lives for a good 30 years.

The most recent vintages of CÔTE-RÔTIE LA MOULINE, LA TURQUE and LA LANDONNE were also tasted – 2011 to 2014, the 2011s in bottle, the other vintages still in cask.

Standards in a large house such as this should always be judged by the quality of the largest production wines, and GUIGAL set a very high bar with their trio of CÔTES DU RHÔNEs – the RED, WHITE and ROSÉ. I am also impressed by the standard of the whites, be they the MARSANNE-based wines such as SAINT-JOSEPH (a **** 2014 white), the CROZES-HERMITAGE blanc – regular ***(*) quality – or the CONDRIEUs – LA DORIANE 2014 being a ***** wine.

For full details on these tastings, please log in.

A 2016 THOUGHT

MY MOST PRIZED WORD IN DESCRIBING WINE: BALANCE

MY MOST DESPISED WORD IN DESCRIBING WINE: SUCROSITY

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL READERS!

A PHOENIX ARISES AT BEAUMES-DE-VENISE

DECEMBER 2015

I have known the DOMAINE DE COYEUX since the 1970s. Its 130 hectares lie at height behind the villages of BEAUMES-DE-VENISE and SUZETTE, in the lee of the limestone landmark of the DENTELLES DE MONTMIRAIL.

A sleepy estate with some good old GRENACHE dating from the 1950s and 29 hectares of MUSCAT vines, it was bought in the late 1970s by YVES NATIVELLE, a self confessed technocrat who had worked at Rhône-Poulenc in marketing. His project was ambitious and scaled. He doubled the MUSCAT and started to produce his own wine instead of selling it off in bulk. The house was completely redone, the cellars were modern: this was a state of the art project.

Monsieur NATIVELLE’s style was more Parisian than Rhodanien; he knew the three star Michelin chefs, and sold much of his wine abroad, successfully going after a more fine style on the MUSCAT than had previously been the habitude at Beaumes. Low temperature fermentation and cooling systems played a large role in that.

And then one very unfine day, things started to unravel. There was an old decorative beam in the cellars, no more than a couple of metres long, and the decision was taken to paint it. Somebody went down to the local DIY suppliers, came back with a pot of xylophène (a woodworm and pesticide fluid) and painted the beam.

I was a pretty regular visitor, since I appreciated the wines, but they started to disappoint. In blind tastings there was almost always a taint in them, and one could guess the identity of the domaine. And the problem persisted and persisted. COYEUX dropped off my radar. The vineyards started to be neglected, the wine was sold in bulk, and things declined in alarming, sorrowful fashion.

Imagine my happy surprise, then, to discover a wine ranked in the top two after a blind tasting of 84 wines from GIGONDAS at DECANTER in October 2015, a wine that came from the DOMAINE DE COYEUX. I immediately went to see the new owners.

The brothers HUGUES and JEAN DE FERAUDY used to do la chasse up in these quiet areas, so knew the estate. They had a big business in nearby Aubignan in fruit and vegetables, and heard that the estate was on the market. They bought it in December 2013.

The vineyard is visibly ailing in many places, but the core remains a good one: the location is magical, there are old vines that will perform well with a little more love and care than they had been receiving, the wretched beam has been disinfected (it took three months), and the hopes of a new family are riding high once more.

There are two BEAUMES-DE-VENISE reds, two MUSCAT DE BEAUMES-DE-VENISE and a GIGONDAS. Please log in to read more about this revived estate and its wines.

GRACEFUL 2014s SHOULDN'T BE FORGOTTEN

NOVEMBER 2015

The vinification of the 2015s has been proceeding on roller skates, with growers keen to show me their wares. The SYRAH wines of the NORTHERN RHÔNE are remarkably darkly coloured, and at six weeks taste like wines at six months of age. They are profound and very sustained. The whites face a challenge of high degree, but are very well charged.

The GRENACHE took its time to ripen in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE in 2015, but there, too, the first red wines I have tried from places such as BEAUMES-DE-VENISE, CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES and CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE are all very encouraging – plenty of deep content with some freshness as well.

With such a media and notably social media storm around the 2015 vintage across Europe, 2014 will be swiftly overlooked and perhaps forgotten. However, these are wines of commendable purity and present really good drinking. The first report on the NORTHERN RHÔNE in 2014 is on CONDRIEU – go to the 2014 NORTHERN RHÔNE Tab and click on THE LEADING WINES.

EXCITEMENT FROM THE FUTURE, TRIBUTE FROM THE PAST

OCTOBER 2015

The 2015 harvest continues to excite growers, with CHRISTINE VERNAY and YVES GANGLOFF at CONDRIEU speaking of their pleasure at the quality of the crop, even if the grapes have been small and yields reduced. Down at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE the CHÂTEAUX of BEAUCASTEL and RAYAS and the eminent CLOS DES PAPES have all been harvesting in the first week of October, content as anything with the quality of their GRENACHE: “we receive grapes like these once every ten years,” EMMANUEL REYNAUD of RAYAS told me.

Amidst such excitements occurred a precious wine moment, when life was placed in perspective thanks to the extraordinary work of the late NOËL VERSET of CORNAS. A Tribute dinner was held in London for his life from 4 December 1919 to 11 September 2015, and this has been celebrated under the GOINGS ON tab. I hope all of you will raise a glass of Cornas to him in the coming weeks.

EXPECTATION IN THE AIR, ANOTHER GOOD 5 YEAR

SEPTEMBER 2015

There is something about a year that ends in 5. For now, 2015 is starting to resemble 1985, with a little of 2005 and 1995 in it as well. 1985 was a year of well balanced wines all across Europe, the fruit of a sunny summer. 1995 and 2005 were both very good, but more marked by strict tannins than was 1985.

Growers are happy, and a uniform theme is that of a homogenous ripening, across appellations and across grape varieties. Harvesting is under way, as befits a hot vintage with large tracts of dry weather. However, the saving grace this year has been well-timed summer falls of rain which helped the vineyards avoid stress during the periods of heat.

2015 NORTHERN RHÔNE

THIÉRRY ALLEMAND at CORNAS is well on the go, and ahead of the local pack. He told me: “I started my harvest on Saturday 29 August, and did another two days this week; I will finish on 8 September. The maturity is good – around 13° all over. I have done any cap punching yet, but the colour in the vats is black and joli. The yield matches 2011 more or less – a round 28-29 hl/Ha.

The last rain was  three weeks ago – we had 11 mm (0.4 in) and the grapes aren’t large due to the dry conditions. We have another two weeks with no rain forecast as well. The technicians such as the oenologues say this year will be like 1989 – hard and not balanced. I say it is a beau year, like 1999. One of the challenges is to extract only softly or to go slowly this year in the cellar. I am one of the few to have harvested here, and I know that if people go for a very, very ripe crop they risk overdoing the extraction and having wines that lack freshness and balance.”

Elsewhere at CORNAS, the CLAPE family have harvested their whites, and started on their SYRAH on 5 September, as did FRANCK BALTHAZAR. Many have not yet started.

2015 SOUTHERN RHÔNE

There is optimism in the air across the region. From CAIRANNE, which is on the threshold of ascending to its own cru status, above a VILLAGE, DENIS ALARY, President of the Syndicat des Vignerons and owner of the accomplished DOMAINE ALARY, reported: “a superb vintage is in sight. The 120 mm (4.8 in) of rain in June was vital to allow reserves of humidity in the soils during the hot summer weather. It wasn’t a real heat wave for us here – it was just hot for around 30 days, peaking at around 39°C, through most of July. August wasn’t as hot as July. So it is a hot vintage but not a strong heat wave one as was 2003.

The third week of August rain of 35 mm (1.4 in) has been crucial – it was the first rain since June, and has allowed the tannins to soften, and will also allow ripening to be properly achieved. Ripening has been very homogenous this year, with no pests nor water stress.

The white crop has been harvested, and we are starting the reds now, this weekend of 5-6 September.”

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE swung into action on the white harvest at the end of August, with estates such as PÈRE CABOCHE (makers of an aperitif, zesty style white), CHÂTEAU MONT REDON (aperitif, fresh and early drinking white), CHÂTEAU LA NERTHE (always one of the first to harvest) and PATRICE MAGNI fast to attack the white crop.

From there, JEAN-PAUL VERSINO of the excellent, traditionally styled DOMAINE BOIS DE BOURSAN gave this view: “it’s been a very interesting year. With rainfalls at good moments, we haven’t suffered from the hot weather. Here at CHÂTEAUNEUF the temperatures reached 35°C to 36°C, unlike the 40°C in AVIGNON.” [of course, this takes us back to the time of Pope JOHN XXII, who between 1318 and 1333 organised the building of the CHÂTEAU to escape the high summer heat of Avignon. Voilà – the weather repeats itself].

“Yes, 70 mm (2.8 in) of rain on 20 June allowed us to get through the whole summer without water stress, so the leaves are still green. At the start of August, another small fall of 5-6 mm (0.2 in) was followed by around 25 mm (1 in) on 24-25 August. The bunches are looking good. One small worry was fog for a couple of days in early September – that’s worse than rain. However, we have had Mistral wind after cool mornings, which are a very good help for the phenolic freshness.

All red varieties are moving forward well, with the MOURVÈDRE faster than usual thanks to the rain; the GRENACHE is 12.5° to 13.8° now, and the SYRAH 12.5° to 13°. If the neXt two weeks are fine, as forecasted, then I would harvest around 8-9 September for my SYRAH, and 14-15 September for the GRENACHE, and that would mean it will be a rich year, with dense wines, robust wines. There may be some low level of acidity, for example from the southern zone, whereas the acidity levels up in the north-west sites such as PIED DE BAUD and MONT REDON are good and fresh.

I expect yield to be 30 hl/ha without problem. So we are lined up for a classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape vintage, unlike the last vintages 2013 and 2014, which were either on low crop or lower ripeness than this year.

I harvested my white crop on 4 September – their balance is good, with the ROUSSANNE ranging from 12.8° to 14.5°. The white is very aromatic, very joli, with good matter and a nice richness.”

GIGONDAS is always weeks behind CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, so frequently benefits from an Indian summer – a fine and warm September. This could be the case in 2015, with LOUIS BARRUOL of the top notch CHÂTEAU DE SAINT COSME, the new President of the Syndicat des Vignerons after FRANCK ALEXANDRE of DOMAINE LES TEYSSONNIÈRES, informing me: “I have felt for several months that we have a potentially major vintage on our hands – une Grande Année. The bunches have good shape, and the phenolic ripening of skins and pips, tannins is very beau, as well. Cool nights have helped.

The winter rain was a great help this year, which means that the vineyards didn’t suffer in July, while another 60 mm (2.2 in) in August was also important, centred on around 50 mm (2 in) on 24 August. That’s about five weeks before our harvest here, so it was well timed. If we can have another three weeks of good weather, then we have won the race.

The ripening this year hasn’t been prey to what happened in 2003 and 2011, when the sugar ripening got ahead of the tannins – it has been a concerted process of ripening, which of course will help balance. The GRENACHE has done well this year, more than in the past two vintages.

As for yield – after the big crop in 2014, one would normally expect a reduced crop the next year. But luckily it’s been OK this year. Our only hindrance has been black rot in June and July – this is very rare here, and in fact I have never seen it before in my time here, so that will be something that will return in future, I fear. We lost 5% from that.

I have harvested my white crop – they are attractive, but perhaps lack freshness, with the malic acidity low due to the heat of July. But their pH levels are good; my CÔTES DU RHÔNE white is 13°.”

MOVING SMOOTHLY TOWARDS THE FINISHING LINE

AUGUST 2015

2015 NORTHERN RHÔNE

from HERMITAGE, MARC SORREL reports: “I was in the vineyard this morning, 3 August, and it looks magnificent. The last rain was two falls of 40 mm (1.6 in) on 10 and 16 June; since then, we had 8 mm on 31 July, and that’s it. The June rain got us through July, when we had a good two weeks of canicule (very high heat), up to around 35°C at the hottest.

My SYRAH on LES PLANTIERS [low down, beside the railway], MÉAL and GREFFIEUX is joli; there is some stress on the high zones, where the soil is shallow. The veraison (grapes changing colour) has been very precocious this year, starting 12 July, and nearly all done now – it started on 2-3 August in 2013, for instance.

It’s still hot, over 30°C, but I don’t associate this year with 2003, which ran with high heat all across June, July and August. Perhaps 2009 was similar. The bunches are attractive, with good clusters and well-sizes grapes. The crop size is good, perhaps better for the SYRAH than the white grapes. At this rate, I might be harvesting the whites around 8-10 September, and the SYRAH five to six days later.”

2015 SOUTHERN RHÔNE

from CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, LAURENT CHARVIN of DOMAINE CHARVIN reports: “the vineyard is very, very healthy. The only small thing was some black rot, which we haven’t seen recently, but that’s been sorted out. The veraison on the GRENACHE is 80% completed. There’s no rot, and the yield is average size plus a bit. We had 10 mm (0.4 in) of rain on 31 July, with the previous rain between 60 and 80 mm (2.4 in-3.2 in) in mid-June. Here and there are signs of stress on the vegetation, but things are running well.

You have to remember that this is a region accustomed to temperatures at 30°C or more, so the heat this year hasn’t been extraordinary. There is no comparison with 2003 – neither the same high heat nor the same drought. Nights have been warm, obviously, but are a bit fresher now. At this rate, I might be harvesting the GRENACHE around 8 September.”

CHRISTOPHE DELORME: AN APPRECIATION

JULY 2015

Christophe blended local roots – his maternal grandfather was a founder of the Tavel Co-operative and his mother a Lafond – with outside drive and ideas. In 1998, he told me that he enjoyed the Tavel he was making in 1987, his first full year at the Domaine de la Mordorée when aged 25, but “the nose lacked aroma and freshness - it was cooked.” With his degree in commerce, and having seen his father Francis successfully build and sell a business in nuclear industry clothing, he was not the sort of man to sit idly by and let that situation continue.

His solution was to extend the duration of the cool maceration of the crop, but also to install a destemmer, since a long maceration could bring vegetal and bitter elements to the wine. He also upgraded the press and the cooling system. There was no hanging about.

“It made our style of Tavel very different from the others,” he told me, adding that after ten years, the other domaines had moved closer in style to Mordorée. When I asked him about the wine’s longevity, or lack of it, he responded that one needed a lot of concentration behind the early aromas, and then the wine could live well; he pointed to a 1988 that had been fresh when drunk in 1996.

For me personally, Christophe’s work with his red and white Liracs was outstanding. His Lirac La Reine des Bois red 2010 was exceptional, balanced and very long, while his whites, which I would often buy, were true examples of the capability of white Rhônes to flourish, pause, then flourish again over a much longer spectrum than most people appreciated. His Reine des Bois white 2001, when drunk in December 2010, held the body of a southern wine, but age had brought finesse, clarity and style – an evolution that would certainly have thoroughly pleased Christophe.

Christophe was the great enthusiast, always buzzing like a bee. Action always prevailed over introspection. There was his Condrieu project, with 0.75 hectare originally planted at Malleval in 2004; also Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where four plots were marked by a collection of wonderfully old vines, dating from the 1920s to the 1960s. As the son of a committed chasseur, or game sportsman, the title of the first special Châteauneuf in 2005, a wine not made every year, was La Plume du Peintre, named after the mythical feather of the woodcock or bécasse. The project was a great success, with his Châteauneuf reds becoming much sought after in the international market.

Never one to sit still, Christophe was prone to fretting, however. I have the image of him in his cellars, clad in slim fit Bermuda shorts and white plimsolls, striding around while talking to me, the chat accompanied by surging energy and arm gesticulations. He worried about the state of his vineyards at the approach of storms – something he could not control; he worried about the level of copper in the soil – something he could control, by cutting the level of copper that he applied to his vines.

His commitment to detail in the vineyard has been commented on to me by fellow growers; his zeal in this all-important aspect of a vigneron’s life encouraged others to raise their standards. He was prepared to work with low yields in pursuit of increased quality; he ardently supported manual harvesting, regarding machine harvesting as a path that went one way – downwards.

He once lamented that “not enough growers around here really love their craft (métier)”, and with his English speaking, his open mindedness to ideas, his restless spirit that in some ways went against his being a simple countryman, I have no doubt that at times he felt like an outsider in his own land.

Now he is gone, a whirlwind blown out at the sadly young age of 52. The more he knew and the more he learned, the more Christophe set himself new challenges; detail mattered to him. His pursuits were many: explore what could be done with the lees, see how much he could get out of the Mourvèdre, his favourite grape – “I adore it because it is difficult” - leave the top of vats of red wine open for three days before bottling, work on the fermentation temperature, dabble with his Embers Wine that reflected both his daughter Ambre’s name (she had helped to harvest the grapes) and an experiment in noble rot, whereby 750 kg of grapes were required to make just 220 litres of wine, more than double the usual amount of crop.

Domaine de la Mordorée was also tireless in presenting itself and Tavel to a wide audience. Only in April 2015 did it show its wines – the only Gard domaine present – at the Marché des Vins de Cairanne. Christophe always made time to talk – at length if asked many questions – even when in the middle of events such as Vinisud or Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône. His enthusiasm and ability to summarise how things were going in the vineyards or in the marketplace never lost their upbeat, “anything is possible” tempo.

Agitator, man with drive and self-belief, who told me “that’s what I’d really like to do – make Grand Vin,” drawing his inspiration from Marcel Richaud and Frédéric Alary, both at Cairanne. Well, Christophe, dear Christophe, you achieved that. In your all too short life, you packed in more than many people could ever aspire to doing. Around the world your wines pleased, brightened and enhanced people’s lives, while at home at Tavel, you won the respect and admiration of vignerons and vigneronnes for all you did for the village and its wines. May you rest in peace.

YOUNG VIOGNIER ON THE COTEAU DE VERNON AT CONDRIEU

JUNE 2015

COTEAU DE VERNON from DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY approaches sophisticated white Burgundy in its intricacy, and should be drunk when aged at least five or six years. Examples from my cellar of this wine at considerable age have been: the ****** 1976 drunk in November 2009 with the Vernays, the ***** 1983 drunk in October 2005, and the ***** 1996 drunk in July 2011. 

An April 2015 vertical tasting of COTEAU DE VERNON DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY from 2008 to 2013 has been posted.

YOUNG SYRAH VINES AND THEIR WOODEN STAKES

MAY 2015

The clement spring has allowed growers to proceed with plenty of vineyard activity. Apart from tying the young branches to avoid snapping from the wind, there is work on the planting of new vines. In this case, PASCAL FAYOLLE is putting the stakes for 2,000 SYRAH on his newly grubbed out 11 terraces that cover 0.4 hectare. The ground was cleared in 2013, and then left until this year to allow the terraces to stabilise. It takes two men two days to drive in all the wooden stakes.

CROZES-HERMITAGE is indeed the appellation that I term the one of snow and snakes. In the northern sector, where soils are often a loose granite and high up, roads can be closed in times of snow. In the southern sector, which forms the majority of the appellation, I have seen crows feasting off road-kill in the form of a snake.

The northern sector wines bear red fruits, and fine tannins, whereas the southern sector wines more usually express black fruits with racy, streamlined tannins, and evoke the first footsteps towards Provence. “In 2014 I would like a little more depth and tannin on my reds,” commented PASCAL.

THE HIGH POINT OF CAIRANNE

APRIL 2015

CAIRANNE is finally about to be allocated its own full appellation cru status, to join the likes of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, GIGONDAS, VACQUEYRAS and neighbour RASTEAU. For years there has been a long debate within the village about which lands should or should not be allowed to ascend to this; the broad result is that some vineyards towards the south of the appellation zone will be downgraded to CÔTES DU RHÔNE. Meanwhile, the RED and the WHITE will be CAIRANNE, with the ROSÉ classed as CÔTES DU RHÔNE.

The quality spectrum at CAIRANNE is wider than any other similar promotion of the past 25 years, with at least 25 domaines that can act as locomotives for the desired high standard required if an appellation is to make its own way outside the CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES umbrella. Hence this is an exciting development for the Southern Rhône. A report will follow on all the latest news from CAIRANNE in May 2015.

THE NORTHERN RHÔNE COMES TO LONDON

MARCH 2015

The 2013 vintage has been selling well according to British wine merchants. Most opening offers are pro rata heavier on the NORTHERN RHÔNE than the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, with the whites from both regions standing out.

The most recent reviews on 2013 have been on CÔTE-RÔTIE and CROZES-HERMITAGE RED. Go to 2013 NORTHERN RHÔNE, subtab THE LEADING WINES

WINTER ON THE GRANITE AT HERMITAGE

FEBRUARY 2015

2013 is a West End vintage at Hermitage, where the Big Three climats or sites have all excelled – Les Bessards with its crunchy, fine grain, rocky qualities from the hard granite; Le Méal, ripe and measured; L’Hermite, intricate, complex

2013 Hermitage is a very, very good vintage; with crop levels low, the wines are emerging as excellent when drawn from the main westerly sites. There is a little more depth than in 2012. A full report has been listed under 2013 NORTHERN RHÔNE, subtab THE LEADING WINES.

LEADING LIGHTS AT VACQUEYRAS

JANUARY 2015

DOMAINE LA FOURMONE is centred on 20 hectares at Vacqueyras; the 10 hectares of Gigondas are at 380 metres on Le Petit Montmirail, where there is limestone present in the clay, the vineyards surrounded by pine trees and garrigue outcrops. Concrete vat raising and low cellar intervention help the wines to retain freshness, and they regularly provide good value at around €11 for the Vacqueyras at the cellar door. The 2013 reds are above average in both appellations. Marie-Thérèse is also an accomplished painter, who likes to capture the vivid essence of her region in her landscapes. Her son Albin has been working on the domaine since 2011.

Serge Férigoule also has his son Frédéric looking after his vineyards. LE SANG DES CAILLOUX has been biodynamic since 2011. Serge rotates the name of his classic Vacqueyras every three years; they are named after his three daughters – Azalaïs (2012), Doucinello (2011), Floureto (2010) – while his old vines cuvée Lopy, which includes a good slug of Syrah dating from the late 1960s (it was rare to have Syrah planted at Vacqueyras then) and Grenache dating back to the 1940s-1950s, is produced every year. These are genuine wines derived from the heated lands of upper Provence.

Notes on 2013 GIGONDAS and 2013 VACQUEYRAS are now being posted. The great mass of 2013 NORTHERN RHÔNE REDS and WHITES are being tasted at the end of January, and notes will follow on them during February.

Meanwhile a very Happy 2015 to all readers and subscribers. Among the young vintages, 2011s will be showing well, as well as the 2013s from the lower level of the pyramid, their clear fruit and sparkling freshness attributes in the immediate term.

STEP FORWARD, THE NEXT GENERATION

DECEMBER 2014

PIERRE-ANTOINE GAILLARD spoke of the travails the family faced in 2013, more so with the SYRAH crop than the whites, the red grape harvest being “complicated.” “But at least we had more crop than in 2014, when our average of 40 hl/ha in 2013 fell to 30 hl/ha due to the attack of fruit flies – moucherons in French, biological name suzukii - when the grapes were ripening, a blight resulting in rot that had already hit a lot of the vineyards in Switzerland.”

For him, the 2013 whites are very jolis, while his preferred appellation of the vintage is SAINT-JOSEPH. The PIERRE GAILLARD CLOS DE CUMINAILLE SAINT-JOSEPH RED has been a regular quality performer over the years, and the 2013 is as stylish as usual, holding admirably clear fruit.

Meanwhile in the 2013 En Primeur market, merchants are playing it cautiously. The vintage does not carry great advance billing, being in no way a grandiose affair. The style is for openly fruited wines that lack the normal stuffing of the warmest and best vintages. Some importers are not presenting 2013s pre-bottling, while others, such as H2Vin and BERRY BROTHERS (in 2015) have a reduced line-up in prospect.

MEMORY LANE, 40 YEARS AGO

NOVEMBER 2014

Assembling such an array of wines, having tracked down their vignerons and domaines with only one’s own initiative as a guide, was a very long task. I would visit domaines such as ALARY at CAIRANNE, CLAPE at CORNAS, VERNAY at CONDRIEU or CHAVE of HERMITAGE, and ask the owner if he knew of any other growers then bottling their wines. The alternative was to hang around the PTT, the village Post Office, and something of a meeting point before the midday aperitif, announcing that I was looking for vignerons. I got a few funny looks, as an itinerant Britannique was a complete rarity in those days.

Having asked endless questions and tasted at the growers’ cellars with my young, unversed palate, I would bring bottles back to Aix-en-Provence to the house of MELVYN MASTER, whose idea it had been to write a book on the Wines of the Rhône Valley. He, TIMOTHY JOHNSTON and I would then taste the wines blind to add experience to the assessment of the wines. I recommend any young enthusiast to taste wines blind over and over again: it is a process that will form the bedrock of one’s palate for life, since everyone can be a good label drinker. I continue to taste blind when in organised tastings in the Rhône, unlike a majority of wine critics.

Here we have enfant terrible TIM JOHNSTON pulling one of his usual controversial faces and brandishing a bottle of 1971 CHÂTEAU-GRILLET. I am standing above a three-pack from the CAVE DE TAIN. I note the presence on the window shelf back left, wrapped in paper, of the marvellous 1972 MUSCAT DE BEAUMES DE VENISE made by LOUIS CASTAUD at DOMAINE DES BERNARDINS. This had a green wax insignia on its neck, on which was stamped the vintage. It was brilliant wine, still going strong 30 years later.

Other wines included the 1971 SAINT-JOSEPH RED from GUSTAVE COURSODON, then Mayor of Mauves. This, too, was a wonderful wine, and over 40 years later I still have a couple of bottles chez moi. GUSTAVE followed the habits of the day by using a thick, coarse red plastic neck capsule that was perforated on the top of the bottle above the cork. Opening these bottles almost necessitated the purchase of an industrial drill.

From CÔTE-RÔTIE, where around 20 estates bottled their wine, some in quantities only for family and friends, there were wines from MARIUS CHAMBEYRON, devotee of heavily tilted casquettes or flat hats, and father of NICOLE LEVET of THE STGT DOMAINE LEVET today. GEORGES JASMIN’S marvellous 1971, of which he bottled six magnums each for me and Tim personally, was also present, a wine that was in super form when the last magnum was drunk in 2011.

CONDRIEU’s total vineyard amounted to just 12 hectares (30 acres) in 1973. After a ravaging hail storm in July, the 1969 crop amounted to a mere 19 hectolitres, or 2,530 bottles all told. Think about that as you drink your VIOGNIER from VIRGINIA, the CAPE or SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Apart from GEORGES VERNAY, there was dry CONDRIEU made by MARC DUMAZET, ANTOINE CUILLERON, ANTOINE PERRET, EMILE DAVID, PAUL MULTIER at CHÂTEAU DU ROZAY and DELAS. ANTOINE PERRET was the grandfather of ANDRÉ, and first bottled the family wine in 1969. ANDRÉ DÉZORMEAUX made good, concentrated sweet CONDRIEU from his vineyard on the COTEAU DU COLOMBIER above the N86. The most secure buyer of CONDRIEU in those days was the legendary 3 star RESTAURANT FERNAND POINT in VIENNE. Export was near impossible.

MELVYN MASTER exported the best of these RHÔNE wines to the USA, and subsequently went on to start and run successful restaurants in the USA, notably JAMS in NEW YORK, and to create branded wines such as TORTOISE CREEK, often using wines from the Rhône and/or Languedoc. He is still full of business beans today, based in the USA. TIM JOHNSTON started the buzzy, sometime action-packed JUVENILES WINE BAR in the rue de Richelieu in PARIS, and it is flourishing today under the guidance of Tim and his daughter MARGAUX. As for me: I am still tapping away, although I have had an upgrade from my portable OLIVETTI LETTERA 22 typewriter.

Incidentally, our nearest neighbour in Quartier Patheron in AIX was CHARLES TRENET, the chanteur-crooner best known for his ballad LA MER. He would be seen sometimes after rain gathering a few snails for his cuisine.

VINIFICATIONS WELL UNDER WAY: NORTH SLIGHTLY EASIER THAN SOUTH

OCTOBER 2014

Right until the end, the vineyard year of 2014 in the Rhône has posed hurdles and challenges for growers. It may be that the Northern Rhône has had a relatively more straight forward run into the harvest than the South, where copious amounts of GRENACHE NOIR and a lack of prolonged periods of sun and warmth have led to a stubborn ripening. By an act of providence, however, the disastrous 300 mm (12 inches) of rain that fell on MONTPELLIER on Monday 29 September did not move east into COSTIÈRES DE NÎMES and the GARD département, which had already harvested much of their crop, anyway.

NORTHERN RHÔNE

CÔTE-RÔTIE: the weather was pretty dry, the rainfall lower than at CORNAS, for instance. But there was the onset of acid rot, which meant that growers had to harvest quickly. FRANÇOIS MERLIN reported “a good colour and maturity on the crop; I have lost 25-30%, making my yield around 30-33 hl/ha – but the main reason was the poor budding in the spring; there was light rot as well. My SYRAH degrees for both CÔTE-RÔTIE and SAINT-JOSEPH are 12.7° to 13°. I harvested both mostly around 25 September.”

CONDRIEU: FRANÇOIS MERLIN was happy: “it’s very good, both ripeness and quantity on the VIOGNIER, with harvesting between 15 and 25 September. I didn’t want to chase extreme maturity this year, and fermentations have turned out to be long – they are still going; it’s a good vintage, with good pH and total acidity as well, the degree 13.8° to 14°. There is more charge in the VIOGNIER than the SYRAH this year, and it is perhaps more rich than 2013, maybe a little gourmand.”

CORNAS: PIERRE-MARIE CLAPE gave this account of events: “we have devatted all the wines, and one or two malos have started. Our first harvesting was on PATOU in the south on 11 and 12 September, and we ended on 19 September. There was a big rainfall of 100 mm (4 inches) on the evening of 17 September, and between then and 22 September, we had 130-140 mm (5.2 to 5.6 in) altogether. Hence there is a divide this year between those who harvested before and those who harvested after the rain.

We harvested just in time, as did GUILLAUME GILLES and THIÉRRY ALLEMAND. Those with later vineyards high up at SAINT-PIERRE such as PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ also had hail to contend with on 28 September, and you would expect their degrees to be around 11.5° in the first instance.

Our yield was up to the maximum – 40 hl/ha. There were very fat grapes due to the humidity, a lot of juice in them. On the wines finished already, our degrees are 12.8° to 13.5°, the total acidity 3.4 to 3.8, near a normal vintage; the pH is 3.8 on the old SYRAH. It’s been a very complicated year, with a lot of weeds, and rain in July. We have had more rain than HERMITAGE, CÔTE-RÔTIE and SAINT-DÉSIRAT in the middle of SAINT-JOSEPH.

As for SAINT-PÉRAY, the degrees on the MARSANNE are good this year – 13.5° on the young vines, and 14° on the older vines. This year we have made 30 hl (4,000 bottles), which is wonderful – 2013 was only 6 hl (800 bottles).”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE

GIGONDAS: PIERRE AMADIEU noted the amount of effort needed this year, when he commented: “you had to sort an awful lot this year; we employ experienced Spanish harvesters, who understood that they had to be cutting back unripe or unhealthy crop in the vineyard. We had rainfalls in August and September that meant it was never really dry for long and the soils remained humid, so there were problems in those zones where the crop was copious; that was the case with the GRENACHE. If you took out the pink grapes, there is quite good fruit and balance in the rest, and there isn’t too much alcohol. Our GRENACHE ranges between 13° to 13.5° for the early pickings, on to 14° to 14.5° or 14.8° for the later harvest.

The SYRAH yield was OK, while there was quite a lot of MOURVÈDRE. Overall, our quantity is full, at 40 hl/ha – after the recent tiny vintages such as 2013, people have taken the opportunity to stock up on GRENACHE. There are some extraordinary aromas, and it should be good for whites and rosés, their degree not high. To give an example of the slow end to the ripening season, I had some GRENACHE BLANC that went from 12° to 12.5° over three weeks – very slow progress indeed.

Domaines such as GRAPILLON D’OR and RASPAIL-AY finished harvesting on 7 October; I know that SAINT COSME are harvesting their GRENACHE now; we have another 25% to pick. It’s definitely a vintage for the winemaker (vigneron).”

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: DANIEL BRUNIER of DOMAINE DU VIEUX TÉLÉGRAPHE reported “after the tricky year, the result isn’t bad at all; there are very handsome SYRAHs with attractive ripeness and nearly perfect health. The GRENACHE has been very slow to ripen, not helped by the rains from the West and a relative low incidence of MISTRAL Wind to clean things up. Late September harvesting was interrupted by spots of rain – just 5 mm (0.2 in) on 30 September, for instance, but enough in these conditions to halt us.”

TAVEL: PASCAL LAFOND, DOMAINE LAFOND ROC-EPINE: “of course the climate was damp, which meant that rot started in September after the rains. Hence a lot of sorting was necessary, although given the rosé vinification, the rot – on skins and pips and so on – it mattered less in vinifying the rosé than the red wines. So it’s an interesting year with less colour than recent vintages. It is perhaps like 2011 in style, and with a bit less concentration and richness than 2012. Alcohol degrees are less than usual, perhaps 0.5° lower, perhaps because we picked that bit earlier with the grey rot developing – we are at 13.5°, or a touch more. We started on 9 September.”

On LIRAC, PASCAL commented: "“a lot of discarding and sorting was necessary, which you can’t really do so well when you machine harvest, as we do for our CÔTES DU RHÔNE. We started harvesting on 15 September, but were halted for three days by the rainfall of around 70 mm (2.8 inches) on 17 September.

Grey rot was the big problem – we even had rot on the less abundant vines this year, which is unusual. Apart from the GRENACHE, there was also quite a lot of rot on the CINSAULT, though the MOURVÈDRE was OK. Our yield is normal, the maximum in fact – 41 hl/ha. We had some GRENACHE NOIR at 15° to 16° from a galet stone plateau vineyard at ROQUEMAURE near CLARY – it’s very exposed, very windswept, but elsewhere the GRENACHE degree was often 13.5° to 14°. Our SYRAH was 12.5° to 13°. This year, with all the rot about, you have to watch out very closely for any Volatile Acidity when vinifying.

I am very confident about the white wine, just like recent years. The VIOGNIER and the ROUSSANNE both did well, and it’s a good vintage for them.”

SUNNY SEPTEMBER, FINGERS CROSSED, SECATEURS WELL SHARPENED

SEPTEMBER 2014

2014 has been marked by difficulties through the summer, its uneven rhythm causing extra work for the growers. The unseasonal early spring warmth pushed the vineyards into an advance of around there weeks, but this was reeled in as the summer weather failed to inspire, a modest and often rainy July the heart of the problem. However, from mid-August the weather has been stable and dry up and down the Valley, a stability that will prove central to the style of the vintage.

Harvesting has started in places, notably on the right bank GARD and in the CÔTES DU RHÔNE, with some estates on the go at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE such as CHÂTEAU FORTIA, CHÂTEAU LA NERTHE, CHÂTEAU GIGOGNAN and the CLEFS D’OR – all those with more southern sector vineyards.

However, the main game now for many is to allow as much time as possible for the pips and tannins to ripen, and the grapes to concentrate further. Any hint of rain will have them running for the secateurs, and cropping at great speed, though, with skins potentially fragile.

The white grape harvest is uniformly splendid across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, and very good across the NORTHERN RHÔNE. Red grape yields are good, along the lines of 2011, which was the most abundant recent vintage. There is much more GRENACHE than in 2013.

A detailed report from several different domaines all over the Valley has been sent to Subscribers.

PROFILE OF A HARVEST TEAM

CHÂTEAU FORTIA employs a team of 33 to bring in the harvest from its 30 hectares of vineyards. As befits an estate of long standing, its vineyards are based around the Château itself, making access swift and easy to the cellars. Most family domaines at CHÂTEAUNEUF have been built up by marriage and liaisons (perhaps some dangereuses) over the decades, so tractors scurry here and there taking crop to the cool of the cellars.

“We have 3 full-time employees working with the 33,” states PIERRE PASTRE, who is in charge of the estate; among those are 10 Poles, 7 Spaniards, 1 Ukrainian, 1 German and the rest French. They look after their own lodging and feed, and work 07.30 to 11.30 in the morning, and 13.00 to 17.00 in the afternoon. The team didn’t want a longer lunch break, so we do it that way. They split the tasks of cutting and carrying among themselves. Our staff look over the sorting especially.

80% of them have worked with us before. I estimate that it will take 16 to 18 days to bring in all the harvest, with a 6 day week. Obviously rainy days will prolong the whole exercise, and can mean that some of them have to return to their countries before the end if we overrun.”

A MODERATE SUMMER, GRADUAL PROGRESS

AUGUST 2014

Apart from 10 days in June, the Rhône in 2014 has had no real sustained run of good, hot weather, and there has been enough rainfall to encourage a lot of greenery across the vineyards. Progress is therefore gradual, with growers cautiously content so far – unless they are in the north of the GARD département around the village of SAINT-JUST and the southern ARDÈCHE villages of SAINT MARTIN D’ARDÈCHE and SAINT MARCEL D’ARDÈCHE, where a tornado hit on Sunday July 20.

SOUTHERN RHÔNE: from the CÔTES DU RHÔNE at SABRAN in the right bank GARD département, RÉMY KLEIN of DOMAINE LA RÉMÉJEANNE told me: "it’s been a complicated year – we have lost 30-35% of the crop from hail, but have fared better than those further north in the ARDÈCHE. We had a lot of rain in July, so what is shaping up this year is for us to make basic wines, but not the top level range of cuvées, and that is what a lot of people will do.”

A lucky outsider – just – from the ravages of the July hail was CHRISTELLE COULANGE, who makes attractively fruited CÔTES DU RHÔNE wines at DOMAINE COULANGE, near BOURG SAINT-ANDÉOL, north of SABRAN. She told me: “we were on the fringes of the storm – we avoided catastrophe across the valley, just one slope away. The crop had been big before the hail, which lasted 20 minutes on the Sunday afternoon, came in from the south-west and at its worst delivered hailstones the size of ping pong balls at SAINT MARCEL.

We now need hot and dry weather, but haven’t been able to have a run of good days. Nights are fresh, and the days are around 27-28°C. My father has worked hard against oïdium, but there are a few spots of mildew. There was no coulure on the GRENACHE, the SYRAH is a little in advance, and we are nearing the end of the véraison (grapes changing colour). On the white crop, there has been a threat of rot on the GRENACHE BLANC and the ROUSSANNE, less so on the MARSANNE and VIOGNIER.

As for our date of harvest, we could be around 10 September, but a lot depends on August, which is absolutely crucial. If it remains as it is now – not very hot, rather unsettled – it will be slow, but with heat, it would be earlier. It’s been what we call  a “special” year – not straightforward.”

At SAINT MARCEL D’ARDÈCHE, two of the region's top names lay on the path of the devastating hail storm. The MAS DE LIBIAN of HÉLÈNE THIBON suffered around 80% damage, while their neighbour DOMAINE SALADIN, run by sisters ELISABETH and MARIE-LAURENCE, had just two plots spared from the hail. Their year was hammered on that fateful Sunday.

The left bank VAUCLUSE département has been spared the hail by and large. From the north-west of the 3,150 hectare area of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, LAURENT CHARVIN of the excellent, STGT DOMAINE CHARVIN reported: “things are OK. The year was very dry from the end of the winter until early July, but in the past month it’s been quite humid. We have work to do to air the vines because of the amount of vegetation. There has been hail, a very little mildew on the new small leaves and, as for oïdium we have worked on that. So the health of the crop is good overall. The GRENACHE looks very good, while the MOURVÈDRE is in good form. Yields can vary on the SYRAH, which happens every two to three years.

As for the rain, we have had around 100 mm (4 inches) over the past five weeks since early July. Days have risen to 30°-31°C, with nights down to 12°-13°C. Across the whole of CHÂTEAUNEUF, people say the same as me – we are all OK so far.”

To the east at later ripening GIGONDAS, LOUIS BARRUOL, patron of CHÂTEAU SAINT COSME,  told me: “we are a little in advance, and for once we have an enormous amount of GRENACHE – too many grapes, in fact – I have never seen so many, more even than in 2000. If we follow the 2000 comparison, it may not be a very great year, but a balanced, rounded one. However, if September’s weather is bad, we could be in for a bad year.

Our July rain came in five or six falls totalling around 40 mm (1.6 inches), so the vines won’t suffer even if we now have two dry months. In July temperatures weren’t nearly as high as they had been for 10 days in June – a moderate 25°C to 28°C, and nights were fresh, as well. The vineyards now look magnificent – but note that both bunches and vegetation are still growing, whereas obviously I would prefer the plants’ energy going into the bunches.”

SINGING IN THE MESSIDOR RAIN

JULY 2014

The opening days of July have marked an important development in the ripening season. Rain, has fallen, and it has fallen in sensible, helpful amounts to free the vines of their stuttering progress as drought conditions started to build up. For those who do not study history, the period of mid-June to mid-July was named as the month of MESSIDOR under the Revolutionary regime in the late eighteenth century.

NORTHERN RHÔNE: as the vineyards prosper, so does the lawn. BERNARD BURGAUD in CÔTE-RÔTIE broke away from cutting his gras to tell me about current conditions: “the vineyard is magnificent, with perhaps a ten day advance now. The period of drought – pretty much in May and June (unlike 2013, which were the opposite – very wet) – could have given problems if it had gone on further. The recent rain has really got things going; it fell softly to nourish the vines and to allow the grapes to expand.

There was a little rain in May and June, but the drought was aggravated by a lot of wind, both North and South. Just now we have had a tranquil fall of around 30 mm (1.2 inches) a couple of times, and that water entered the soils well. Things are extremely healthy, with neither mildew nor oïdium. As for yields, the budding was partial in some of the precocious zones, so they may have less crop later on. We might be heading for a harvest date of 15-20 September at present.”

Further south in the village of MAUVES, the cradle of the original SAINT-JOSEPH appellation, BERNARD GRIPA talked about his vineyards in SAINT-JOSEPH and a little further south in SAINT-PÉRAY: “the vineyard looks well, is handsome and healthy, but we may have a small crop, and I am not sure why. We had a lower budding than usual, and the white crop has been particularly hit. Everyone at SAINT-PÉRAY is in the same boat.

We’ve had 40-45 mm (1.6-1.8 inches) of rain recently, which has helped the grapes to expand. I reckon that’s enough rain to see us through the season now, and maybe we have a mid-September date for the harvest in sight.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE: THIÉRRY SABON at CLOS DU MONT-OLIVET, CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: “things aren’t bad for now; it has been a little more wet than we would have liked. Over the first week of July we have had around 120 mm (4.8 inches) of rain, the last a storm of 40 (1.6 in) on 7 July. The vegetation is very pretty, there is a decent amount of bunches, so much so that we will be cutting them back from the middle to the end of July. Nights have been cool - a help, also, and a light Mistral is drying the bunches, with the days not over warm at 25°C. It is all a lot better than last year.

This year, for once, we haven’t had much coulure – flowers not converting into fruit – since our vines are mostly in an early sector. The bunches are good and loose, which helps as well. As for the Syrah, its crop may not be very big.  The white grapes are splendid, and we may even have to cut them back this year, unusually. Our CÔTES DU RHÔNE vineyards near BOLLÈNE will give less crop than CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, but the old GRENACHE, while not very abundant, will be good quality.”

From GIGONDAS, GUY BOUTIÈRE, father of MATHIEU at DOMAINE DU PESQUIER, often a source of STGT wines, related: “”it’s not too bad; there is a very handsome crop in prospect – we have good bunches, and have had no hail. Between the very end of June and the first week of July we have had two 15 mm (2 x 0.6 inches) storms and 50 mm (2 inches) the week before, a total of around 80 mm (3.2 inches) that I reckon will take us through to the middle of August. Some areas here have had 100 mm of rain (4 inches), but it has been well-timed. What we need now is Mistral wind and heat. The fact that there has been no coulure on the GRENACHE has been good, and I would say we are just a few days ahead of a normal harvest date - not before the 15-20 September.”

Across the river in TAVEL, which is always ahead of the VAUCLUSE vineyards of CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE and GIGONDAS, GUILLAUM DEMOULIN from the excellent, stylish CHÂTEAU DE TRINQUEVEDEL at TAVEL, explained: “this year the vineyard is joli, very beau, very green. We have had two weeks of rain off and on, but that resolved the drought that had been building on some spots such as LES VESTIDES, and the sandy zones with young vines. In total, we may have had 75 mm (3 inches) in about three falls, but no hail, and no mildew.

Flowering went well, and for once we didn’t have coulure on the GRENACHE, which was great after the catastrophe of 2013 with it. Things are good at LIRAC as well. I expect the crop size will be average, and we are probably heading for harvesting in the first week of September.”

SO FAR, SO GOOD . . . WITH A TOUCH OF “PHEW, IT AIN’T HALF HOT, MUM”

JUNE 2014

The second week of June has brought the first real high summer heat to the Rhône - a gradual intensification up to levels of 35°C (94°F) in the shade at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. “The vineyard is in magnificent condition,” reported MICHEL ARNAUD from the traditional quality DOMAINE LA MILLIÈRE in the north-west of the appellation. “flowering is nearly finished, and I am optimistic; there is very little sense of coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit)  on the GRENACHE, which is encouraging for yields vis-à-vis the past two or three years. The last rain of consequence was around the middle of May, but our vines, which are mostly old, have deep roots and can draw on reserves built up during the wet winter and early spring.”

Away to the eastern end of the appellation in COURTHÉZON, the charming and peerless JACQUELINE ANDRÉ of DOMAINE PIERRE ANDRÉ has remained loyal to her father’s organic ideals that have been set in place since the mid-1960s, after PIERRE tried herbicides on two hectares and found that the effect in sandy soils was that the vine nourished itself above the soils and not deep down. “Our soils are in very good shape,” she related; “the spring was nice and regular – no swings, the wind not violent, and there has been a joli flowering, a lot of bunches. The GRENACHE and SYRAH are largely completed, the MOURVÈDRE just starting out on its flowers. The leaf colour is good, and when I am in the vines I feel a good energy and pulse.”

Further north at VALRÉAS, EMMANUEL BOUCHARD, the President of the Growers Union and long-time locomotive of the appellation with his late, much loved father ROMAIN at DOMAINE LE VAL DES ROIS, spoke of “a very good start this year, a lovely budding. There is very little blight, the leaves look good, and flowering is ending now. The only possible question will be the effect of the current high heat on the late flowers. A little hail hit the plain around TULETTE on 22 May. We are now shaping up for a classic harvest time of around 20 September.”

From late cycle GIGONDAS, DÉLPHINE FARAUD of the very good, traditional DOMAINE DU CAYRON told me: “Flowering started in the last week of May after a very good budding. The wet winter – we had over half our annual rain in three months - meant that our pruning ended over two weeks later than usual, at the end of March. Since then we have had very little rain, and that is a little bit of a worry. The storm of 23 May only gave us 10 mm (0.4 in), against hail on the plain towards TULETTE and VISAN. Hence our freshly planted vines on the high part of COL DU CAYRON may suffer a bit from this dry spell.”

From VISAN, MARIANNE FUES of the excellent DOMAINE DE COSTE CHAUDE had not been hit by the May hail: “things are excellent; we had lots of rain, which was needed, in the lead up to the season, but this hot and dry weather is just right; there has been no rain during flowering.”

The NORTHERN RHÔNE is proceeding quietly and well; PIERRE CLAPE at CORNAS stated that flowering went well, while LAURENT FAYOLLE of the stylish DOMAINE FAYOLLE FILS & FILLE at CROZES-HERMITAGE spoke of the quick-slow nature of the start of the season: “the vegetation got going really quickly due to the heat in April, but the fresh, quite capricious weather in May slowed that down. Flowering has ended except for in the most north-facing and windy spots.

With this high summer heat, the vines are galloping along again. As for yield, the areas with the poorest soils seem to be giving small berries and not too many bunches – some of our old vines may have just one bunch instead of two or three per shoot. There is very little mildew pressure so far.”

Across the river in the village of MAUVES, part of SAINT-JOSEPH, the STGT domaine of GONON view was as follows from vineyard chief PIERRE GONON: “well, it’s a lot easier than last year! It is a bit heterogeneous – flowering has advanced a lot in some places such as the most sheltered, but not very much at all in others where the effect of the North Wind is more felt. Water reserves are good – our last rain was a big storm of 75 mm (3 in) in late May, but there was no hail with that. There is hardly a spot of mildew. The white crop didn’t have a big budding, perhaps affected by the cold at flowering last year, but flowering on the MARSANNE and the ROUSSANNE is going well.”

NEXT STOP FLOWERING

MAY 2014

As the buds turn towards flowers, growers of Grenache across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE are preparing themselves for the most critical moment of their year. If the weather is cold, if it is damp, or if there is a biting wind, the Grenache may lose crop from coulure – flowers appearing, but not converting into fruit. The economic hardship from this is extreme, as is the damage to the region’s identity, which revolves around wines centred upon the Grenache, regarded as the natural Child of these soils.

“In 2013 I had a lot of coulure on my old vine Grenache,” relates JEAN-PAUL VERSINO of the excellent, traditional approach DOMAINE BOIS DE BOURSAN at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. In that regard it was similar to 1984, when there was also a lot of coulure, but those 1984s came back to give lovely surprises after 20 years, as their acidity settled in, their balance arranged itself,  and their behaviour reflected that of Burgundy reds.

We are on target this year for flowering between 25 May and 1 June, similar to 2012. We must hope that we can avoid cold weather then. Budding on the Syrah, Mourvèdre, Clairette and Bourboulenc has been average, not a lot nor a little, but the big question revolves around the Grenache at the end of the month. The vegetation this year is going well, and has slowed since a cooler spell from late April into early May. There are no signs of any oïdium or mildew.”

Reflecting the cooler zones of the Southern Drôme, PHILIPPE ARNAUD of the benchmark DOMAINE CHAUME-ARNAUD, makers of good VINSOBRES and also SAINT-MAURICE, spoke of flowering heading for 10 June or thereabouts. "What pleases me the most is that the vineyards are in a wonderfully homogenous state," he explained; "after all the heavy rains and little cold weather during the winter, the vines look good and are ahead of their usual evolution. There are no blights, and budding was joli."

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE, the early advance as a result of a mild winter and warm weather in March and April has been whittled back after some cooler conditions in late April and the first week of May. “We’re still ahead of schedule,” commented DAVID REYNAUD, who has been turning out excellent 2012s in the southern zone of CROZES-HERMITAGE from his DOMAINE LES BRUYÈRES. “Budding was belle on the Syrah, though the Marsanne was poor, and that will be a small crop this year. We had a lot of winter rain until mid-February. We need one more good raining before flowering.”

At CÔTE-RÔTIE, GILLES BARGE, doyen of matters syndicales for the appellation, and proud traditionalist, spoke of the very fast start in March and early April 2014. “We are now one week ahead,” he stated. “This year we had to delay our working of the soils by around two weeks because of the very wet weather in February. The vegetation’s growth has slowed with the cooler spell of late April and the start of May. Reserves of water are good.”

Meanwhile, the market for 2012s is strong and steady, the market for the lighter 2013s less stable. A good, abundant, sound quality vintage would be in everyone’s interests this year. There is du chemin à faire, there are ways to go yet. Already present in the vines is the makings of the 2015 crop, though, which may reflect the stresses of 2013. The cycle is not merely from one year to the next.

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2012 REDS: FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE

APRIL 2014

Ah, the darling buds of May, well, in the Rhône 2014, make that late March. The winter has been mild, there is a good level of water in the vineyards and the buds are starting to show - early after the late maturing of last year. Another season, another set of hopes and dreams.

I had a busy day at the end of July 1966. Apart from attending the World Cup Final for the Jules Rimet Trophy between England and Germany, I met a few people at Wembley Stadium. My father was responsible for the catering, and I was in with the VIP guests and high profile personnages of the day. My first and outstanding triumph was to meet and shake the hand of MUHAMMAD ALI, THE CHAMP.

He was seated in a corner of the Reception Room, no big crowd around him. I walked up and asked him for his autograph, while his couple of minders (would have been x10 in the USA) urged him “C’mon Champ, we gotta go see the football game…” to which My Hero responded, “No, I gotta look after my fans here in England.” I thought it would be good to have his autogrpah in the right place, so I opened the page of the Final programme where the teams were written out, bang in the middle, he signed, we shook hands, my paw disappeared, and I departed. Years later, after the death of my parents, the programme was thrown out in the house clear-out. Gutter.

When living in Aix-en-Provence in the early 1970s, I wrote Muhammad Ali poems and pranced around, shuffling in my espadrilles, weaving, shadow boxing, bobbing and all, as some of my wearied friends will testify. Like a gnat or a stringy bluebottle on speed. Ali's Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire on the night of my birthday, 30 October 1974, had me up all night in my flat in Aix, twiddling the radio dials for some scrap of information on the fight. Nothing. Total anxiety.

One particularly horrendous line of homespun poetry ran: “Why, Muhammad he got brain, he ain’t come from no drain, he make ‘em pay their dues . . . with those flashin one-twos.” [I admit to minor plagiarism of the Louisville Lip].

The Mighty Legend is the subject of this account since he is invoked in my review of the 2012 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE REDS, which I have just published. This is a FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE vintage. It has grace, charm, inner strength, and is the one year when just maybe the growers will realise that they do not have to churn out obviously heady, high sucrosity wines, and can make a decent living reverting to the finesse present in the best Châteauneuf-du-Papes of my youth.

This theme and over 200 wines that range from 2.5 to 5 stars are looked at in depth. As in such matters, the review is discursive, since I am my own Editor. In the matter of vintage comparison, I go back to possibly 1964, possibly 1979, and most possibly not, but for a fleeting moment, 2006.

GIGONDAS 2012: FREE AS A BIRD

The 2012 vintage in the Rhône has been well received, even if at times I feel that wine merchants are talking it up in a big way since they cannot sell much Bordeaux at present. It is a good to very good vintage, with lucidity of fruit and freshness of texture the prime features.

A full Report on 2012 GIGONDAS REDS has been posted under 2012 Southern Rhône, The Leading Wines. Across over 120 wines there are two 5 star wines, and plenty of 4.5 and 4 star wines. The best are very enjoyable or will be in a few years. For good measure, there are also some GIGONDAS ROSÉS from 2012 cited – usually I find Gigondas rosé too heady, but the more moderate degrees in 2012 have helped the vintage. They are wines for the table, not for the aperitif.

A full Report on 2012 CONDRIEU has also been posted – see 2012 Northern Rhône, The Leading Wines. I like the vintage there - it bears the accepted vivacity of the year. There is also a trend towards lighter Rhône white wines, a matter that I debate in the Report. Outside influences can help, but they can also neuter regional character.

Meanwhile, many 2012 Tasting Notes have been posted across CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, RASTEAU and VACQUEYRAS. Full Reports will follow. Look for the LVT 2012 r code under each domaine – Last Vintage Tasted 2012 red.

ADIEU TO CORNAS, THE DRINKRHONE MASCOT

FEBRUARY 2014

We welcome the Year of the Horse with the news that the drinkrhone CHEVAL MASCOT, our super equine friend CORNAS, has been retired from his racing career. Born on September 14, 2002, he officially became 12 years old on 1 January, 2014. He appears to have lost his zip, his last two races at Chepstow and Exeter (where he has a very good record) being very disappointing. He is showing signs of fatigue with the challenge, although he is sound in limb. At present, he is at the stables of Nick Williams, and a new retirement home is being sought for him. If any reader has a good paddock or two, please let me know.

CORNAS has always jumped with nimble accuracy, and perhaps could be retrained for more sedate jumping. During a career that started in October 2007, and has been followed with interest by readers from around the world, he ran 34 times, for 1^st place 5 times, one of those wins in Ireland, 2^nd place 4 times, 3^rd place 3 times, one of those in France. He mixed in the best company, as they say. I know readers really get a buzz from the wines of CORNAS, old or young, rustic or polished, so please raise a glass to CORNAS, who, as I always tell the Mayor of the Village, is more famous than him. ALLEZ, CORNAS!!

On a personal note, I have been diagnosed with stomach bacteria probably picked up a few months ago on one of my journeys in the Rhône, the result being a sharp slowdown in the ability and energy to work. As a result, the close-up reports on appellations for 2012 have been annoyingly delayed. What I have done instead is to enter as many 4 star wines and above as I can for 2102, both Northern and Southern, so I recommend use of the Search engine for those. Treatment is now under way, so an acceleration in the data posting will occur later in February. Apologies for the delays. If subscribers have pressing questions about particular 2012s, send them in; I answer every email and the address remains jll@drinkrhone.com

2014: THE YEAR OF CHARACTER

I greatly prize a grower’s ability to create stimulating wine, to allow me to drink physically and spiritually, to provoke my sense of wonder. I taste thousands of wines, but remain wedded to those that appear in my notes with words such as “character”, “interesting”, STGT, w.o.w. and so on. These are wines that are not made to appeal to the fashion gallery and to make an impact by sheer weight of extraction, or through muscled cellar-derived depth.

Taking the 2012 CÔTES DU RHÔNE RED category, for instance, under CÔTES DU RHÔNE, MATTHIEU DUMARCHER, DOMAINE GRAMENON, MAXIME-FRANÇOIS LAURENT and DOMAINE SAINT MICHEL, to name a few, achieved this. At BEAUMES-DE-VENISE, the DOMAINE DES BERNARDINS, at CAIRANNE the DOMAINE ALARY and at LIRAC the DOMAINE DES CARABINIERS came up with such wines, all of which I commend to you. The CARABINIERS LUNAR APOGÉ with a spot of cool riff, jazz music, Sarah Vaughan on vocals, for instance. Get in the Mood, Readers. 2014: the year of CHARACTER.

INSPIRATION, MAESTRO

The inspiration that wine can bring was brought home to me recently when I received a lyrical, heartfelt report on a single bottle of wine from a subscriber in Switzerland. His name is PAUL CLARK. Paul wrote to me as follows: “I had a very nice windfall yesterday. I stumbled across a bottle of 1990 CÔTE-RÔTIE GENTAZ-DERVIEUX in my local caviste's shop. It was from his private collection. He looked at the fill (which was maybe 1.5cm low) and asked me CHF60 for the bottle. I was shaking with excitement. Previously I believed I would never have the chance to experience one of these wines because of cost and scarcity. I was literally trembling the entire way home.

It was a perfect bottle. My wife's first reaction after tasting the wine was "fumée". It was all bramble fruit, violets, smoky woods and burnt forest. The fruit was floral, incredibly fresh and sharp, yet there was a charred element, the smoke and truffle. Never a moment of confiture. It was so bright on the palate. It was so amazingly full yet never heavy, always incredibly aerien.

I had trouble sleeping last night. The excitement hanged in the air as long as the aftertaste of Gentaz-Dervieux's ethereal wine.

Incidentally I'm emailing you this because I've been a reader of your work for nearly four years and I can't think of anyone who would be able to appreciate the emotions I felt more than yourself. I reckon 99.9% of wine fanatics would wonder what all the fuss was about...Gentaz-Dervieux's is such a rare name let alone bottle to stumble across these days. Thanks for your passion and continued work to share your knowledge of these wines, it's your writing that gave me the ability to recognize this bottle and eventually have one of my most memorable vinous moments."

THE NITTY GRITTY: TRUE APPRECIATION

PAUL subsequently added this: "a debate ensued on the wineberserkers.com board as to whether or not other folk would have "flipped" the bottle for $1,985 pocketing a $1,925 gain.  I wouldn't have paid $2k for the experience but, that said, I wouldn't sell the experience for $2k either!  The story embodies everything I love about wine.  The bottle came from a private collection, the owner / caviste is an amateur of aged wine, he recognized me as a guy that is passionate about wine but too young to have appreciated numerous versions of well aged wine.  He proposed to sell me the bottle at an average "Côte-Rôtie price".  I didn't see it as an opportunity to buy a bottle for CHF 60 but, rather, a CHF 1,925 gift from a very generous caviste (don't tell the tax authorities about that!).  Its refreshing to enjoy opportunities which are increasingly becoming limited to oligarchs and Asian billionaires.  And it served as a perfect Christmas celebration between my wife and I.  A roasted pigeon and sautéed spinach paired with it perfectly!”

BRAVO to PAUL CLARK for embodying the true spirit of a wine lover. May we conquer "collectors" and "flippers" the world over.

BACK TO WORK IN THE VINEYARDS

DECEMBER 2013: how swiftly the seasons roll on. Just as the malolactic fermentations have been occurring in the cellars, with 2013 harvest vinifications reported as presenting no challenges from north to south of the Valley, it is time to get straight into the vineyard for a series of winter tasks.

Some growers are preparing their holes for planting in the spring. The mortality rate of the February 2012 frost rose in 2013 in reality, since many old Grenache vines were not dead to the eye, but simply failed to produce crop. VINCENT AVRIL of CLOS DES PAPES at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE told me: “it has hit Grenache of over 40 years’ old, and has been more catastrophic than was first imagined. A lot of vines revealed themselves as dead the next year, but then there was this series of vines standing there but not giving any crop – well, perhaps 3 to 5 hl/ha. The experts, the nurserymen, say we should wait, since it is only a lack of nourishment. That’s hard to do, with the harvest so small. Just recently, with blight from the esca included, we have lost 3,300 plants per annum. The net result for me over the past six vintages is the loss of two whole harvests if you take the 2007 crop of 25 hl/ha as the standard average. 2013 has been just 13 hl/ha.”

Holes of 60 cm (22 inches) are drilled at the rate of 250 or so a day, a rate slowed by the fact that plants here and there are dead, not those in just a straight line all the time. Growers such as LOUIS BARRUOL of CHÂTEAU SAINT COSME at GIGONDAS plant before the end of the year to benefit from the rains of the season - one year old plants that are protected against frosts. Others, such as MATHIEU BOUTIÈRE of DOMAINE DU PESQUIER, also at GIGONDAS, drill the holes in December, and plant in the spring, aware that they have to keep the holes watered and fed before planting.

Meanwhile, the basic task of tilling and turning the soils occurs, with pruning just starting now, later than usual, due to the vines keeping much of their foliage well into December this year. The three week delay in the 2013 ripening cycle will be absorbed over the winter months, however, and the 2014 season will re-start at square one as usual.

2012: COOL FRUIT FOR COOL CATS

NOVEMBER 2013: a clearer picture of 2012 is emerging in the Northern Rhône, after tastings of over 500 wines. The cool fruit will please, and the structure of the wines, their shape, is more delineated and promising than that of the 2011s. Notes are being posted on CÔTE-RÔTIE  for now. In the South, similar comments apply to 2012: the reds have better balance than the 2011s, and will be more interesting over time, as well.

2013 vinifications throughout the Valley have proceeded smoothly, with everyone is in need of a good rest after what has been a tiring, worrisome vintage – late, late, late; complicated at all levels regarding quantity and health of the crop, hiring people to harvest when the usual pickers were back in another country after the month’s delay and so on. Tiredness, illness and drunkenness have all been observed! However, the colours on the Syrah reds are dark, the juice concentrated.

ALLEZ, CORNAS and AMIS! CORNAS (CHEVAL MASCOT) revealed a breathing problem in his latest race at Chepstow, when he finished fourth. He is now an 11-year old, and is described as a VETERAN. I know how he feels.

Rhône vinifications going well

NOVEMBER 2013

Growers across the Rhône, North and South, report their 2013 vinifications going well. At CÔTE-RÔTIE, yields of 30 to 35 hl/ha are encouraging. PATRICK JASMIN reported: “you had to harvest before the early October rain; I advanced my picking from 5 October to 27 September because of the weather and the forecast, and was glad I did; we had 30 mm (1.2 in) on Sunday 7 October, which brought botrytis, rot. My degree on the SYRAH ranges from 11.8° to 13.4°, and the wines have colour and structure.” Yields at CONDRIEU, however, are low this year.

In the South, the late season has been fine, with pockets of rain among the generally mild days. Seasoning the GRENACHE  so that its skins and tannins are ripe has been the final challenge. One can expect good surprises as always, but the 2013 Grenache expression may be subdued. Meanwhile, SYRAH and MOURVÈDRE have ripened well, and their degrees of 13.5° or a little more will help to stabilise the wines. Following on the footsteps of the clear flavours of 2012, 2013 looks like being a similar vintage, far removed from the baked ripeness of 2007 and 2009, and certainly in a vein similar to vintages of the early to mid-1990s or even the 1980s. The great difference with those earlier times, of course, is that both vineyard and cellar management are much improved.

RECENTLY ENTERED: a visit to CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL which involved tasting of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 BEAUCASTEL and HOMMAGE À JACQUES PERRIN reds, along with the latest BEAUCASTEL whites and COUDOULET wines. The FAMILLE PERRIN 2012s and some 2011s were also tasted. Some leading 2012 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE whites have also been entered. I suggest starting at 3 stars and above to reference those on the Search engine. I have been impressed by the whites and rosés of 2012, and the best 2012 CÔTES DU RHÔNE reds and 2012 VILLAGE reds also present themselves well. 2012 quality is more up and down than 2011, but the best wines are superior to the 2011s in terms of structure and balance.

2013 VINTAGE REPORT

EARLY OCTOBER 2013

2013 VINTAGE REPORT: the vineyards continue to advance at the most sluggish rate. However, hands are being forced by the rain that fell all over the Valley on Sunday 29 September, 2013. Until then one important blessing had been the stable, dry weather of September. It is a question of getting in the crop in the early vineyards, as the spectre of rot grows, temperatures between 24° and 28° being unseasonably high and provocative for the season. This may last until 4 October.

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, one of the most precocious vineyards, have harvested much of their SYRAH, but the GRENACHE NOIR is still only just being picked here and there. Some domaines there have not harvested a grape yet. The village received 20 mm (0.8 in), Courthezon in the north-east 22 mm and just south of there, Bedarrides 30 mm (1.2 mm).  Many growers will attack their harvest properly from 1 October, having let the vineyards dry for a day. Matters are indeed on something of a knife edge.

At RASTEAU, ROBERT CHARAVIN of DOMAINE COTEAUX DES TRAVERS told me: "we had 45 mm (1.8 in). We hope the weather holds now. We are starting now on Syrah from garrigue [warm] soils." From GIGONDAS, LOUIS BARRUOL of CHÂTEAU SAINT COSME reported rainfall of 50 mm (2 in); "we will see," he said, since our Grenache still isn't ripe."

The NORTHERN RHÔNE, more accustomed to late harvesting, is also slowly upping the ripeness levels, but expectations are for a reserved, unshowy vintage. I have confidence that the best domaines, those that know and run their vineyards with intimate care, and who sort crop precisely, will emerge with sound wines. It is in some ways easier to be precise with a patchwork of small, half hectare plots visisted constantly on foot, than it is with rolling lands of ten hectare plots visited by tractor or 4 by 4, as can be found in the South.

From CORNAS, OLIVIER CLAPE gave this rundown: "we had 50 mm (2 in). We started on our white grapes on 25 September, then the Syrah the next day. We are very pleased we did start then, with harvesting on the low slopes now, since rot is arriving at the gallop. There is still a lot of harvesting to be done across CORNAS as a whole."

A final word from PAUL ANSELLEM of DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY at CONDRIEU: "our rainfall here was 37 mm (1.5 in). We are starting on 1 October with the Coteau de Vernon."

NEW FEATURE for www.drinkrhone.com : I am also launching an occasional, simple Subscriber email which will nominate a high Value, STGT or w.o.w. wine, an estate to note and perhaps a restaurant as well. For the first one, the wine is LA CELESTIÈRE, a VIN DE PAYS DE VAUCLUSE red, DOMAINE L’ECHEVIN at SAINT-MAURICE, and RESTAURANT LA FLEUR BLEUE at CRESTET.

2013 VINTAGE REPORT

THIRD WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2013

2013 VINTAGE REPORT: harvest 2013 gradually draws closer, but progress has been slow. The hope is that the seven to 10 days from 18 September onwards will be stable, marked by high pressure, Mistral wind in the south, and a lack of rain. In such conditions the already limited crop could concentrate, lose acidity, and gain in degree. Always remember the rule of thumb of a gain of 1° per week in the late stages of ripening – provided conditions are sound. Here and there in the more precocious parts of the South, varieties such as the VIOGNIER and the SYRAH are starting to be harvested.

NORTHERN RHÔNE: from GERVANS in the northern, hilly sector of CROZES-HERMITAGE, LAURENT FAYOLLE of FAYOLLE FILS & FILLE commented: “we have had good weather in early September, but in the third week progress has slowed because it’s been cooler. The Syrah skins are very firm, but the balance in the grapes is improving. Our Syrah is at 10° to 11° now. We had 20 mm (0.8 in) of rain in the first week of September, and now need stable conditions. It’s been cloudy with dribbles of rain here and there, but high pressure and good weather are forecast running towards the 26 September. Quantity will actually be OK, helped by two storms of 40 mm (1.6 in) each in the first half of August, rain at the same time as the veraison that served to expand the grapes. It’s certainly my latest vintage since I started in 2002.”

From CORNAS, VINCENT PARIS gave me this bulletin: “it’s very late, but is presenting itself well. Our best Cornas Syrah is around 13°, the acidity is good, and the grapes are healthy. The later plots such as those at altitude will only get to 12° to 12.5° at most. We had 20 mm (0.8 in) of rain in the first week of September – it was interesting rain, since it fed the bunches after a long spell of dry weather. Since I started I haven’t had such a late year, nor had such high acidity on my later zones, which is a challenge. I will start to harvest my Cornas on 25-26 September. This year SAINT-JOSEPH for me is closer in date to Cornas than usual, but is only at 10° to 11° at present [the vineyards are at 300 metres at ARDOIX, a late ripening zone]. The weather is fine now, at 20°C, rising to 23-24°C for the third weekend of September. For the time of year, nights have been fresh, around 10°C. I have to admit that it is years like this when I am very happy to have a south-facing vineyard like La Genale.”

Up at CÔTE-RÔTIE, JEAN-PAUL JAMET had the following thoughts: “with rains returning every four to five days, it’s not yet a problem – the grapes are sufficiently hardy still to resist that. I should think we will harvest around the first week of October, or later if the weather dictates [J-P Jamet is usually one of the last to harvest]. The vineyard is very healthy – we have stripped leaves off, tidied things up, so I am confident about the potential. Now we need to finalise things, so we have the potential for concentration and complexity. Quantity will be OK, without abundance, similar to the 1980s. If I had to select a couple of vintages like this, perhaps they would be 1996 and 1998 – the more direct, cooler years. Our Syrah is now around 10°. The early September rain around 7 September of 35 mm (1.4 in) helped us to avoid stress from dry soils. I expect the acidity, which is higher than ideal now, will show more this year. Nights have been fresh, down to 15°C, and today it is around 23-24°C.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE: VÉRONIQUE MARET, DOMAINE DE LA CHARBONNIÈRE, one of the top estates at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: “all is fine; we will harvest our ROUSSANNE on Monday 23 September – it is at 14° now, and our CÔTES DU RHÔNE SYRAH is now at a healthy 13.8° to 14°. Across CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE different sectors are giving different results; our ripest zone is on MOURRE DES PERDRIX and VALORI, on the sand near COURTHÉZON [north-east of appellation], where we are at 14°.

The GRENACHE is very much delayed this year," she continued, "so we still have crop around the cellars here at 12° - they are usually later, but are some way behind. Some vineyards are 50% down on crop, and my father says that the coulure on the Grenache reminds him of 1984; he is saying we have a 1970s to 1980s style vintage on our hands. Our yields will be 20-24 hl/ha. The last big rain a couple of week ago was 30 mm (1.2 in), which fell as the very first signs of hydric stress were starting in places. It is now cooler than usual, with mornings at 12°C, rising to 24-25°C, with fine weather and Mistral of 50 to 80 km (up to 50 mph) announced running towards 27-28 September.

The white crop such as GRENACHE BLANC and CLAIRETTE is also taking its time: the Clairette is at 10-11° now, the Grenache blanc one degree higher. We’ll pick them at the same time. At VACQUEYRAS, our GRENACHE NOIR is around 14°, the SYRAH 13.8°.”

Further north in the CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGE of MASSIF D’UCHAUX, MARIE-PIERRE PLUMET of the good LA CABOTTE was calm and purposeful: “our VIOGNIER has advanced well since mid-September, and is now at 13.7°, so we are harvesting that on 20 September; the GRENACHE BLANC is at 13.3° now. The whites have good acidity, and their wines will be fine.

Yields on our GRENACHE NOIR will be around 20-25 hl/ha only, but the SYRAH, the MOURVÈDRE and the old CARIGNAN are all looking good. We will harvest the SYRAH around 25 September, and the main drive will come in the first week of October. Our last rain on around 7 September was 35 mm (1.4 in), and that helped to unblock the GRENACHE, so more rain now would not be welcome. The SYRAH skins are quite thick, firm, but are starting to fine down, and the current good weather is a great help. Our mornings are at 10°C and the days rise to 26-27°C. In our 32 years here we have never harvested as late as this year.”

2013 VINTAGE REPORT

SEPTEMBER 2013

2013 VINTAGE REPORT: August and early September 2013 weather has been stable and warm in the Northern and Southern Rhône, as a ridge of high pressure has settled comfortably over the Valley. However, 2013 is shaping up as a vintage that will need considerable hard work, and even ingenuity, if growers are to produce good wines. Luck, in the form of the weather, will also be needed.

Putting aside the low level of crop, the problems are several. There is too much vegetation; vines are draped in Hotel Ritz blankets of green, deep green this year thanks to abundant water reserves, something not seen for a few years. The plants’ energy is not all heading towards the fruit, thus. Conscientious growers are back in the vineyard cutting back leaves and excess shoots or spurs and exposing bunches as they realise what is (or isn’t) happening. The complacent are still on holiday.

2013 CANOPY MANAGEMENT AT CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL, CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: THE PERRINS ARE MOST DEFINITELY NOT STILL ON HOLIDAY

The weather looks and feels great, with maximum temperatures of 26-28°C in the Southern Rhône. However, nights are cool - the temperature drops sharply from around 10 pm, and the day starts at 15°C or so, not really heating up until around 10.30 am. The heat then falls again from 15.30-16.00 hours. Hence the plants shut down and have to restart each day for only a little over five hours of proper, productive warmth.

Tests show degrees are struggling to rise. Tasting the grapes gives a little juice and a lot of residue skin, thick thanks to the long ripening cycle. On 29 August, 2013 GRENACHE grapes at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, the precocious appellation as opposed to GIGONDAS, VINSOBRES and VALRÉAS, for instance, showed an average probable degree of 11.4° (27 Aug 2012: 13.8°), a total acidity of 5.4 (2012: 3.4), malic acidity of 3.89 (2012: 1.33) and a colour index of 424 (2012: 452). The 2013 SYRAH was 11.0° (2102: 14.1°), total acidity 6.40 (2012: 3.51), malic of 5.66 against 1.77 and colour index of 800 against 904. The 2013 MOURVÈDRE is similar.

The rule of thumb calculation is a gain of 1° a week, so we are stretching towards late September and October, and also assuming that the weather deals a fair hand; the Equinox has yet to occur, and the Episodes Cévennales – serious lashings of rains and floods that are built up by the warm water of the Mediterranean clashing with cooler Atlantic fronts – are predicted as possible this year. They stem in the Cévennes hills made famous by RL Stevenson and his donkey and travel north-east from there. The destruction in Vaison-la-Romaine in 1992 was an example.

The vintage trundles forwards, therefore, but I would not blame any grower for feeling uneasy about the outlook.

2013 VINTAGE REPORT

LATE AUGUST 2013

2013 VINTAGE REPORT: "Complicated" is a word I am hearing more and more this year. There is a definite sense of unease among the growers of the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, while their NORTHERN RHÔNE counterparts are more philosophical, and have a potentially better outlook, even if ripening is taking ages.

NORTHERN RHÔNE: from CORNAS, PIERRE CLAPE gave me the low-key findings of crop checks done on Monday 26 August, 2013: "in the best parts of CORNAS, on the full slopes, we were at 7.7°. HERMITAGE SYRAH was at 7.3° with 12 gm of acidity, while CROZES-HERMITAGE SYRAH was 6.9° and NORTHERN SAINT-JOSEPH SYRAH at 6.5°. We are still in the game, the hillside grapes had turned red by around 21 August. We need one month of fine weather - if the weather degrades, we have problems. According to the archives of the Chamber of Agriculture, this situation at this time resembles three vintages - 1987, 1983 and 1978. I would prefer it to be either of the last two, not the first! All we can do now is cut out all new shoots, but we don't need or want any more rain. Our CORNAS crop will be harvested in early October at this rate."

From CÔTE-RÔTIE, the doughty NICOLE LEVET of the STGT, traditional DOMAINE LEVET is calm, her life as the daughter of a vigneron (she is a Chambeyron) coming to the fore: “it’s like the 1980s, a late year. We will probably harvest in the first week of October, like we used to in the 1980s. We have the experience for this, and we just need time – it’s a question of a lot less crop and a better quality in this situation.

We’ve had heat since July, a lot of heat, and not a lot of rain. The last rain came a little while ago, and was just enough to help the ripening to advance. I have been dropping a few grapes on La Landonne – every fourth of fifth vine has too many bunches. I’d say the veraison (grapes turning colour to black) is about 80% completed, and there is no mildew and no oïdium. I am a bit on my own in the vineyard, since my daughter AGNÈS had a baby girl, her second child, on 6 August.”

Further south and across the river at CROZES-HERMITAGE, OLIVIER DUMAINE, who works organically at Larnage, in the northern, hilly sector of the appellation, is relatively sanguine. He reported: “the vineyard is sympa for the moment, and the delay means harvesting towards the end of September or even the start of October. About 50% of the veraison has been completed. The bunches are poorly distributed across the vines – it’s very variable, but actually the loss of crop may not be bad thing for a late harvest. The Syrah is complicated – only 70-80% of the normal yield. The white crop is small. The late spring has been the problem. We have no worries on mildew or oïdium, but what we do need is a joli autumn.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE: hmmm, the GRENACHE NOIR is not top of the popularity polls this year. As reported earlier, it has been ravaged by coulure - flowers failing to convert into fruit - but it is also taking ages to ripen. The veraison in the South has been extremely protracted, despite the warm to hot, and largely dry weather.

From VINSOBRES in the north, PASCAL JAUME of DOMAINE JAUME gave me the following account and personal observations: "it isn’t too bad. We’ve had what we call selective coulure - it hit the early zones but spared the later ripening vineyards, and are 10 to 15 days behind now. Some of our 30 year old Grenache maybe won’t give more than 15 hl/ha. Regarding the coulure that has so badly hit the southern Rhône, with severe loss at Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Vacqueyras, for instance, it’s been less full scale in the later areas of the southern Drôme and northern Vaucluse – meaning vineyards such as VALRÉAS, SAINT-PANTALÉON-LES-VIGNES [one of the most obscure VILLAGES] and VINSOBRES.

We are crossing our fingers that good weather will come along. The veraison is happening slowly – it’s about 50% completed on the Grenache, which is going more slowly than usual, especially as there isn’t even a lot of crop in the first place. I reckon the stress of the cold month of May was the key factor; you only have to see tomatoes struggling to ripen, and the vegetation so abundant in the vineyards. The sap isn’t going to the right places.

I go back to the 1980s for this year: in 1980, I was finishing my studies in Avignon, and remember the vines being in flower when I came home on 15 June, and then on 14 July they were still in flower. So slow years are from that time; in fact in 1980 we ended harvesting at Vinsobres on 4 November, while the Cave Co-operative and others ended 11-14 November.

Now it’s nature driving the show, and we have to be patient.”

Over at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE (ie further south-west, a much more precocious than VINSOBRES), the experienced GÉRARD CHARVIN, pa of LAURENT of DOMAINE CHARVIN, centred in the north of the appellation, gave me his views so far: "there is some blight but it's on the leaves and isn’t troublesome. It’s hot and dry, we’ve had no hail, and the veraison is starting now. We won’t harvest before 20-25 September, and that depends on a good next 30 days. Our Grenache may be only at half crop size, but it’s funny with the coulure this year – we have a Merlot vin de pays that didn’t suffer at all, for instance. We don’t need rain, and have probably had a little bit too much. Because we are behind, we are doing some leaf management, as the vegetation has continued to evolve, not helping the fruit.”

JEAN-PIERRE USSEGLIO of DOMAINE PIERRE USSEGLIO & FILS works a good spread of plots with his brother THIÉRRY. He expressed the following thoughts: "it’s been a very complicated vintage so far. We can make beau vin, but are being obliged to work on various different fronts, especially as we work our vineyards on a plot by plot basis.

Like 2010, we have a small crop, especially on the Grenache. Things are healthy, but the veraison is very slow to complete – it’s very irregular, and we find the southern quartiers such as Les Serres to be better off and more attractive than the northern parts of the vineyard. The big difference between fresh mornings and temperatures later in the day has slowed down the veraison. Harvest date could be around late September.

Coulure on La Crau [the high-profile, important site east of the village, a big stony plateau with a lot of old GRENACHE], has been vast – yields of 12 hl/ha only, while there is some mildew on the leaves, not the bunches. The last rain was over two weeks ago, with 80 mm (3.2 in) in the south, and 50-70 mm (2-2.8 in) in the north; that caused problems if people wanted to treat their vines since tractors couldn’t get in the vineyards to spray.

As for LIRAC [the brothers have a 6-hectare vineyard at ROQUEMAURE], the bunches are looking good there across the river, and the vineyards are a little healthier, I’d say. Harvest date there – perhaps 8-10 October."

But for a really bleak view, we turn to my amigo LOUIS BARRUOL of CHÂTEAU SAINT COSME at GIGONDAS. He is not a happy bunny, with the virtue of working a late to ripen area – beneficial in recent vintages at GIGONDAS – looking like a hangman’s noose this year. Take it away, DON LUCHO: "well, John, you’ve tasted 1963? I think so, so it’s possible you could re-taste it 50 years later in the form of 2013. Normally at this time my vineyards are at 13.5° - this year they are at 9.8°. We are three weeks behind, which we won’t catch up. That means a start to harvesting around 18 October, like in 1963, the most dreadful of vintages. In the end, the very small crop could actually help us a bit. I am now relying on God to give us high heat in October, but in my profession, when you start to count on the aid of God, you already have one foot in the grave. I am pessimistic.”

Summer Weather

AUGUST 2013

Following a pattern established over the past three or four years, the Rhône has escaped some of the worst excesses of France’s weather during the ripening season of 2013. The slow start after the wet and cold of the spring and the early summer into June gave way to a July of generally fine and hot weather all over France and much of Western Europe.

Within this sunny context, the menace of build-ups of high pressure leading to massive thunderstorms has duly emerged, hitting Champagne and Burgundy, notable Volnay and Pommard, but also going as far as causing structural damage to Châteaux in Pauillac, including Pichon Lalande. Loss of crop and degradation of bunches create both headaches and much painstaking additional work for growers. Lower yields, higher costs = prices likely to rise if 2013 proves to be a correct vintage quality-wise.

NORTHERN RHÔNE: in the Rhône, the Atlantic storms of the last weekend in July that so hit Pauillac, came in the form of an extremely fruitful, helpful band of rain. “We had 50 mm (two inches) centred on 28 July – the rain fell softly, over nearly two days, without hail or violence,” BERNARD BURGAUD told me from CÔTE-RÔTIE. “It is hot now, and ripening won’t accelerate in the heat, so we are still on target for harvesting at the end of September, with yields around the 2010 level of about 35 hl/ha. It has been hot all through July, which made the late July rain so very timely. Our hottest days have gone to about 34°C, with nights mostly around 16-18°C.”

Nearby, LIONEL FAURY of DOMAINE FAURY, with vineyards in CONDRIEU, CÔTE-RÔTIE and SAINT-JOSEPH, also appreciated the rain: “the two inches was so regular that it did a very good job, allowing the vines to breathe; it was our first rain since about 20 June. It’s going to dry quickly, since we have wind now.

“Quantity is down – the Viognier has been very irregular now, with a loss of 15-20%, while our white Saint-Joseph crop has suffered from very small bunches. “On the plateau – the later zone – our Syrah has suffered from millerandage (small, seedless berries), but on the slopes, the earlier zones, the crop is in good shape. Looking ahead, I wouldn’t mind less heat in August to help to preserve acidity, after the constant heat of July.”

Hail hasn’t hit the Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, northern Saint-Joseph areas, but it has affected the south of CROZES-HERMITAGE near Pont de l’Isère, where DOMAINE COMBIER lost around 20% of its crop on that vineyard. LAURENT COMBIER stated: “the hail came in the second week of July, but the vineyard has dried out, and we’ll have to do some sorting. The hail also struck Beaumont-Monteux, following the run of the Isère River and crossing the Rhône south of Mauves in Saint-Joseph territory. The 50 mm of rain (2 in) served us well on 28 July, and there is no mildew, the vines are healthy. We may green harvest on some young Syrah, while the Marsanne and the Roussanne for the white have seen a little coulure.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE: a most sorry tale came from RÉMY KLEIN of the leading CÔTES DU RHÔNE DOMAINE LA RÉMÉJEANNE at Sabran in the right bank Gard departement. “Quality – that’s OK. Quantity – that’s a problem. Our Grenache has suffered from such strong coulure that means our Grenache yields are 10 hl/ha against an average of 35 hl/ha. No-one in living memory has seen such coulure, including one 80-year old vigneron I talked to. Bunches have just fallen to earth, with no grapes on them.

“The sap had run up into the vegetation after a spell of hot weather between the early cold and the flowering, with branches growing by 40 cm (16 in) in a week during flowering, in competition with the fruit and the bunches. Some areas, such as Remoulins had very little coulure but the northern Gard and the southern Ardèche were ravaged. Either very late or very early sectors did OK. LAUDUN is very bad, while the village of Tresques had less than some. The Syrah has had no problem, while the Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre are all OK. It is certain that bulk prices of Côtes du Rhône will rise, while we will all have to adapt our blends this year to compensate for the low Grenache content.”

From RASTEAU, ROBERT CHARAVIN of DOMAINE DES COTEAUX DES TRAVERS gave the following bulletin: our Grenache here at Rasteau has lost a lot due to a serious bout of coulure, which hasn’t hit us like this since 1983. We are talking about Grenache yields that can be as low as 1-15 hl/ha. Our Syrah is marked by small bunches, and average yields around 30 hl/ha, while the Mourvèdre has done well, and is likely to crop about 35 hl/ha. There are only a few spots of mildew, nothing serious, and we have no oïdium. As for hail, we had one episode in the south of the appellation, where 30% of the crop was affected. 

JEAN-PIERRE CARTIER of DOMAINE LES GOUBERT at GIGONDAS also has vineyards at SABLET and BEAUMES-DE-VENISE. His report mirrored those of his neighbours. Not a man to deal with percentages, he nevertheless suggested that the coulure would cut his Grenache, although the higher, later zones of Gigondas had fared a little better than the more precocious vineyards on the plain.

“The late July rain I would say was 42 mm (1.6 in) at Gigondas, about 50 mm (2 in) at Sablet and about 60 mm (2.4 in) at Beaumes-de-Venise,” he informed me. “It’s been very useful. We are a good two weeks behind, heading for our first harvesting around 23-24 September, or two weeks behind. Morale is sad, though. Tourists aren’t visiting cellars, and summer sales from domaines are super, super calm.”

VINEYARD REPORTS

mid JULY 2012

The 2012 vintage is starting to present some shape now, and there is one refrain repeated across the Rhône, North and South - "above all, thank goodness we do not live in Champagne, nor in Burgundy, the Beaujolais and even Bordeaux." The wet, gloomy summer has brought on large problems for those regions, while the Rhône situation is still well manageable.

As expected, the SOUTHERN RHÔNE has been warmer than the North, and growers present a calm face for now. From CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, CHRISTOPHE SABON of the top-notch DOMAINE DE LA JANASSE, situated in the north-east corner at Courthézon, told me: "I have no complaints for now, unlike the other regions of France. Our yields will be low, like 2010 after we suffered coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) on the old Grenache. There are spots of mildew here and there, but we haven`t had storms and hail, only light rains when they have come. It`s been very dry and also hot for two weeks now, with temperatures around 32°C, our last rainfall being 3 mm last week and 20 mm (0.8 in) on the first weekend of July. Our Syrah are starting to turn colour, and we may be targeting a harvest for the Viognier, Roussanne and Syrah around 3 to 5 September, the Grenache 10-15 September for now. It is a year from the old days, when Parisians were forced to come to Provence to seek the sun," (did I detect a note of relish in his voice there?)

PIERRE AMADIEU at GIGONDAS told me a somewhat similar story: "it`s been fine for a month now, with a bit of oïdium around, as often happens at this time of the season. Flowering was very spread out over time this year, not helped by the freezing of the old vine Grenache with delayed vegetation all over the place a result. The bunches are loose which will mean less likelihood of rot (also noted by C Sabon), and the quantity will not be as great as 2011, more like 2009 and 2010, around 32 hl/ha or so. We have had to treat against mildew, and now especially against oïdium, but I am quite optimistic." The remarks about coulure on the old vine Grenache also apply to Vaucluse Villages such as CAIRANNE, so 2012 is set to not be a large yield year anywhere.

Over in the right bank Gard, FABRICE DELORME of DOMAINE DE LA MORDORÉE at TAVEL observed that there were no real worries, with a series of rains that had made very little adverse impact on their vineyards in TAVEL and LIRAC. "We are working to prevent oïdium and mildew, but seem to be heading for a normal date of harvest and normal yields this year. It is 32-34°C towards the end of the second week of July, and we have not had much rain since the end of June."

The NORTHERN RHÔNE situation is more delicate due to the lower heat levels, and hail has also played a role here. At CÔTE-RÔTIE, PHILIPPE GUIGAL stated "it is a classic vintage, indicating possible harvesting towards the end of September, about 10 days behind recent dates. There is pressure on the health of the vines, and the crop will be smaller than 2011, which is desirable. It is not a year when it will be at all easy to succeed with purely organic practices - it`s more a year for mushrooms with the constant cycle of rain then sun then rain. The vineyards look good, but I am aware that we have to be vigilant, even if I am not pessimistic." Philippe also informed me of a blow to their SAINT-JOSEPH vineyards at Le Lieu-Dit Saint-Joseph at Tournon on the night of 9 July - "we had hail there, which also hit the commune of SARRAS quite badly."

Neighbour PATRICK JASMIN at CÔTE-RÔTIE also talked of the continuing tasks this year - "we have to manage matters, with oïdium lurking and mildew to combat, and it is not a vintage for organic working. I was in fact agreeably surprised by the quantity of crop on my Côte Blonde vineyard this morning, which never delivers a lot, but has held up well; overall we might be at a yield of 35 hl/ha, which is OK. There has been coulure on the high vineyards, though. As usual for the first two weeks of July, mornings have been fresh, around 15°C today, with a high of 25°C. If I am at all morose, it is only that I personally would like to see more sun for myself!"

From CONDRIEU, LIONEL FAURY of DOMAINE FAURY commented: "after our fast start to the season in the spring, we had two months of rain, and since then it has been hot and stormy, a difficult year for the climate side of the equation. I am not too worried, but there are traces of mildew and black rot, while coulure on the Viognier will mean a loss of crop. Ripening is also very variable from one plot to the next, so I expect harvesting to be on a dateline from 15 to 20 years ago, not before 15 September. At SAINT-JOSEPH we have some oïdium on the white grapes. Overall, we have had to do a lot of work this year just to keep stable in the vineyard."

Further south at HERMITAGE, JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE told me: "the vineyard looks really green and joli, but the growers are less joli because of all the work we`ve had to do. There was some rain at flowering, and what we need now is good weather to get the grapes going well. There has been some mildew, but it is controllable, and not anything like Burgundy and Bordeaux this year."

At CROZES-HERMITAGE, JEAN-LOUIS PRADELLE of DOMAINE PRADELLE also spoke of the higher than usual work load this year: "we have had to take off a lot of vegetation to air the bunches, which are small this year; our main pressure came at Ascension, with that month until around 20 June being a time of some mildew, and now mainly oïdium as the principal threat. I may be heading for harvesting around 20 September."

From CORNAS, PIERRE CLAPE of DOMAINE CLAPE gave me the dry comment: "well, there are still grapes on the vines, but also a lot of grass; we need heat, although a few grapes are starting to change colour today after some days of 26-29°C. The big pressure has been oïdium, not surprising given our rainfall of around 300 mm (12 inches) in April, May and June. There has been some coulure, especially at the bottom of the slopes and with the old vines, but the full slope vineyards are in good shape. Our SAINT-PÉRAY vines have some mildew, but are better off than those further south towards Valence. It is a Year of the Worker."

In unfortunate circumstances is JEAN-MARIE LOMBARD at BRÉZÈME, whose 6 hectare vineyard in this "mid-Rhône" area was struck by mid-July hail, borne by a large storm coming across the river from the Ardèche. "It hit the west-facing vines, and we have lost 20-40% in places," he reported. "Until then, all was fine; the last serious hail we had here was 1991, on 31 July, when the damage was a lot more severe due to the vast amount of small hail stones; this time the stones were fewer and bigger. The fruit growers - peaches, apricots - have been very badly hit." 

VINEYARD NEWS

JULY 2013

NORTHERN RHÔNE VINEYARD NEWS, EARLY JULY 2013: the theme of a late to ripen year is constant across the vineyards. Quantity is small. Flowering has been very late, in some cases three weeks behind the dates of recent years, and still occurring at CORNAS in early July. From there, LUDOVIC IZÉRABLE of DOMAINE PIERRE LIONNET told me: “things have been better in the past two weeks, but until mid-June it has been complicated, with rain and cool weather. The grapes are coming through, but are very small. We look like a year with 25-30 hl/ha yields, which for us as an organic domaine is not far off the usual mark. For other domaines, it will certainly be less abundant than usual.”

PIERRE CLAPE of legendary DOMAINE CLAPE at CORNAS also talked of a “complicated time” this year. “Rain but also the low temperatures have been the main problem. Our flowering ended on 20 June, which, using the 100 day rule, would imply a harvest date around late September. The budding was modest, and flowering was irregular, with a lot of coulure (flowers not converting into fruit), while some plants did well. There has been some menace of oïdium, while mildew has been restricted to Roussanne and Marsanne at SAINT-PÉRAY.”

From CÔTE-RÔTIE, BRIGITTE ROCH of the organic DOMAINE CLUSEL-ROCH reported the following situation: “The rain has meant a lot of grass in the vineyards, which we have to pick axe out, but we have big lads to do that work! Mornings have been very cool, with the Bise north wind around. Flowering went well, during a rare week of hot weather. The last 7 to 15 days until early July we have had good sunny days up to 28-30°C, with only a few spots of rain. We are 2 to 3 weeks behind recent years.”

SOUTHERN RHÔNE VINEYARD NEWS, EARLY JULY 2013: a gloomy outlook here. The Rhône has been spared the catastrophic hail that has wiped out parts of VOUVRAY in the LOIRE and PROVENCE this year, but has been hit by widespread coulure on the staple Grenache variety. Just as the flowering got under way, very late, the sap was rising, vegetation was stirring, and a cold front came in. Bang.

As DANIEL BRUNIER of DOMAINE DU VIEUX TÉLÉGRAPHE at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE and DOMAINE LES PALLIÈRES at GIGONDAS told me in early July: “flowering was awful on the old Grenache at Télégraphe – a loss of 30-40%, also on our white vines. The young Grenache is OK, but the Syrah crop is also small; maybe we will achieve only 23-25 hl/ha. The vines look super belles. Ironically the budding was great, now we are in big trouble. At GIGONDAS, flowering isn’t finished, but last week’s weather was fine, and as it’s a late ripening zone, things could yet be OK.”

From GIGONDAS, DOMINIQUE AY of top-grade DOMAINE RASPAIL-AY summed up as follows: “it’s not catastrophic, but is tense. We had strong coulure on our Grenache of all ages, thanks to the cold during flowering. All the most precocious vines were the worst hit, so there are now bunches with 3 or 4 grapes on them. The Syrah and the Mourvèdre are in good shape. Harvest date: the end of September. We are due a run of hot weather now into the second week of July."

ENTERED RECENTLY: in an attempt to unleash les bons temps rouler of hot weather, a full review of 2012 TAVEL ROSÉ  has been posted under the sidebar THE LEADING WINES, subtab 2012 SOUTHERN RHÔNE. It is a generally good vintage, although the difference between the best and the worst is wider than it was in 2011. A series of notes on 2012 CÔTES DU RHÔNE WHITES and ROSÉS made by domaines at LIRAC, TAVEL and VACQUEYRAS has also been posted. Look for the LVT (Last Vintage Tasted) tag, either 2012 wh or 2012 rosé.

DOMAINE VISITS: a recent domaine, DOMAINE LA BARRIÈRE of PHILIPPE BRUN, listed under CÔTES DU RHÔNE. The main vineyard is north-east of Vaison-la-Romaine, at a little altitude near PUYMÉRAS. Philippe is married to a Taveloise, and also makes a good TAVEL, all 5,000 bottles of it. From VALRÉAS, MAS DE SAINTE CROIX, Belgian-owned, and making authentic reds and a sound  Roussanne white. A visit also to one of the leading CÔTES DU RHÔNE estates, CHÂTEAU DE MONTFAUCON, which has raised its top red BARON LOUIS to LIRAC status, and is also now the owner of a fantastic pre-1900 CLAIRETTE BLANCHE vineyard in the good white wine zone of SAINT GENIÈS DE COMOLAS, one of the four communes within the Lirac appellation.

Winter Rainfall

JUNE 2013

SERGE FÉRIGOULE of DOMAINE LE SANG DES CAILLOUX at VACQUEYRAS reports the winter rainfall as a whopping 754 mm (30 inches), with 130 mm (5.2 in) in May 2013 alone. Temperatures across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE remain cool, often struggling to exceed 20-22°C, and the vineyards are regarded as being three weeks behind their usual dates. “The Mistral is blowing now,” stated SERGE, there is sun, and at least we are not getting South Winds that would encourage mildew.”

From the NORTHERN RHÔNE, JACQUES GRANGE, Supremo at DELAS, told me a similar story in graphic terms: “well, the vineyard is the same as it was three weeks ago – it has not budged. In last the three weeks of May we have had just 5 cm of growth on the branches, something I have never seen before – it is like a Still Life painting. We have done one tying up (attachage) of the shoots, but need sun and temperatures to improve. We have debudded, have worked the soils, and can’t do anything more for now. It’s been cold, and raining a lot, needless to say,” he concluded.

CORNAS NEWS

MAY 2013

MORE CORNAS (CHEVAL MASCOT) NEWS: the mighty CORNAS returned to Paris in April, the swanky so and so, this time frequenting the classy Western reaches of the city, at AUTEUIL. He contested the Prix Quo Vadis (the French race names have more ring to them, n’est ce pas?), a steeplechase over 3,700 metres against 11 rivals. Cornas led into the home straight, after making the running, and finished an honourable fourth, backed in from 17/1 to 10/1 as French Turfistes appreciate the qualities of the horse they believe comes from the Ardèche and its Noble Wine Village. Connoisseurs, they all are, down at the PMU. ALLEZ CORNAS!

ENTERED RECENTLY: the main focus is on 2011 GIGONDAS REDS – the report is under 2011 SOUTHERN RHÔNE. If buying, I would go for the easy drinkability of some, and tackle them early in their life. Or I would cellar a select few that can develop over time, and give interest and satisfaction past the 10-year mark.

A lot of Notes on 2011 CÔTES DU RHÔNE and VILLAGES have been entered, so a whole range of CO-OPERATIVES and smaller DOMAINES has been added. Here we go: under CÔTES DU RHÔNE: the vast CELLIER DES DAUPHINS at Tulette, LE DEVÈS, the Languedoc-based VIGNOBLES FONCALIEU, the wide range, with some promise, offered by LES VINS PIERRE ROUGON, LA SUZIENNE at SUZE-LA-ROUSSE, TERRES D’AVIGNON, VIGNERONS DE VILLEDIEU-BUISSON.

At CAIRANNE, DOMAINE DE LA GAYÈRE. At GIGONDAS, the good new Merchant business MAISON UGHETTO-AUDOIN. At PLAN DE DIEU, the hearty DOMAINE LE GRAND RETOUR. At SÉGURET, MAISON PLANTEVIN, DOMAINE EYGUESTRE. At SIGNARGUES, DOMAINE MAGALANNE. At VALRÉAS, DOMAINE DES GRANDS DEVERS.

Early May sees the DECANTER WORLD WINE AWARDS, so there is a lot of tasting to be done in search of quality for that. Perhaps May will bring more sustained heat and growing weather for the vineyards, and for those wanting to drink coolly and outdoors. SANTÉ!

CORNAS NEWS

APRIL 2013

THOMAS PONSON is the enterprising owner of several businesses in the RUE LAURENCIN, LYON 2ème -  a restaurant, wine bar, wine store, a café, an Italian café also. He has relations in CORNAS, and is an UNCONDITIONAL AMATEUR of les vins cornasiens, which are spread liberally around his Wine Shop. RESTAURANT THOMAS, 6 RUE LAURENCIN, 69002 LYON, +33472 56 04 76 www.restaurant-thomas.com

CORNAS (CHEVAL MASCOT) NEWS: the mighty CORNAS has been practising his French again. In late March he ran in the accomplished Prix Solitaire at Enghien, north of Paris. A steeplechase over 3,800 metres (2 miles, 3 furlongs), this involved all sorts of different obstacles – banks, hurdles, water jumps, bull finch fences, and CORNAS thoroughly enjoyed himself. He led for much of the way, only to be overtaken close home, finishing third, around 3 lengths behind the winner. His starting price was 14/1. This effort was all the better given that the meeting had been cancelled the week before due to snow, so CORNAS had travelled twice to Paris from the village of George Nympton in North Devon in just a few days. His next run is at swanky AUTEUIL, west ofParis, featured in the works of Ernest Hemingway, in mid-April. ALLEZ CORNAS - you are still better known than the MAYOR of CORNAS.

ENTERED RECENTLY: see GOINGS-ON for the full cast of characters visited or tasted, with an interesting full review of the 2011 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE WHITES. The role of the CLAIRETTE BLANCHE is put under scrutiny.

OUR BOOK TRIUMPH

MID-MARCH 2013

So the GIGONDAS, Its Wines, Its Land, Its People book, in French known as GIGONDAS, ses vins, sa terre, ses hommes has been given First Prize at the Annual Gourmand World Cookery and Wine Book Awards ceremony, held at the Louvre in Paris on Oscars weekend, late February 2013. Our very own Oscar, donc. The book’s title was actually composed by yours truly sitting under the plane trees of La Place de Gigondas with a glass in my hand. So that saved a few thousand €€€/US$$$/£££ for starters, and the wine was really rather good, as well.

Then we had the task of translating it, with my part in English already, the rest in French already. The prize seems to have been awarded for the English version, so my English section was deemed up to scratch, it would appear.

The book will be entered in the Roederer Book Awards this year as well, and some other Awards further afield. For a collective effort, this is most pleasing, and brings the co-operative sense of the project to a most satisfactory level.

The score was Rhône 2 Bordeaux 0, since our book beat, among the other 4 short-listed titles, the Gault & Millau Bordeaux Guide for Hong Kong (presumably in Cantonese) and a French book on Saint-Emilion. Olympique de Marseille (OM) are above Bordeaux, les Girondins, in the French Football League, as well.

CAVES MERGER

On to matters plus sérieux: the economic squeeze is troubling for any wine producer whose image, pricing or brand loyalty is wobbly. The Beaujolais region is facing severe despondency, culling of domaines, bankruptcies, the culmination of a structure that has been uneconomic for many decades. In the early 2000s, the average size of a domaine there was a little under 5 hectares, and there was next to no co-operation between domaines, so each one had a wine press, tractor etc etc.

The Rhône has been spared the worst of the hardships, with the alliance between Co-operatives such as Laudun and Chusclan an actually healthy symptom of the crunch, or the presence of the vast, factory-like Cellier des Dauphins as a shareholder or main owner of Co-operatives a slightly less beneficial turn of events if one wants high quality, even though it keeps viticulteurs in business.

Now news comes of an integration between two of the largest, most high profile Co-operatives of the Rhône Valley– the BALMA VÉNITIA at BEAUMES-DE-VENISE, and the VIGNERONS DE CARACTÈRE at VACQUEYRAS. I have always preferred the wines of the former, to which I have a small emotional attachment. The latter Cave has lost growers such as JEAN-LUC FARAUD, now running a very good small domaine called MAS DES RESTANQUES at GIGONDAS, while the BURLE brothers of DOMAINE FONT SARADE have also quit the VACQUEYRAS CAVE, now sending part of their crop to LE VIEUX CLOCHER. Stories of harvest such as Syrah being picked at over 16° add to an unsatisfactory picture.

When living in Aix-en-Provence as a penniless student/writer in 1973-1975, my regular wine was the CAVE DE BEAUMES-DE-VENISE CÔTES DU VENTOUX, then VDQS or VIN DE QUALITÉ SUPERIEURE, red and rosé. It came in white Litre bottles with stars around the neck and a thin plastic capsule. Cost a Franc or so, bottles refundable when returned to the Cave, delivered in battered red plastic crates, the drinking often aided quite speedily by my old friend TIM JOHNSTON, now Proprietor of JUVENILES WINE BAR, 47 Rue de Richelieu, Paris, near the Palais Royale.

The Cave de Vacqueyras has over-emphasized marketing in my view, and also offered too many different wines, no doubt to satisfy the results of market surveys or focus group studies. Their Chief is ex-IBM and beholden to that world rather more than the world of Agriculteurs or Viticulteurs, in my view. The two Co-operatives will reduce costs in the future, and are working to come up with yet another glitzy joint name or sobriquet. At least Balma Vénitia is a title based on the place, the Latin of it. However, Question: where do you go after the height of generic blandness,  Vignerons de Caractère? Answer: no idea.

From around 2,300 hectares, the joint enterprise will turn out about 8 million bottles.

RECENTLY ENTERED: a full Report on CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2011 REDS. See THE LEADING WINES BY VINTAGE tab, then its side tab 2011 SOUTHERN RHÔNE. Some Domaine visits, also at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE: the promising DOMAINE DE LA BISCARELLE, the seasoned DOMAINE DE LA VIEILLE JULIENNE, where interesting, more terroir-focused changes have occurred since the 2010 vintage, and the peerless, Ne Plus Ultra CHÂTEAU RAYAS, whose 2011s are astounding. Also, the rock steady CLOS DES PAPES, always much sought after, the authentic DOMAINE LUCIEN BARROT & FILS of RÉGIS BARROT, who now he is past 60, spends half the year living on the beach with his new wife in the Philippines, and is set to hand on to his niece CHRISTELLE.

MID-FEBRUARY 2013: Can one have just too much of a good thing? A new James Bond film every month, a football World Cup every year, Glyndebourne Operas every day, champagne and caviar likewise? Well, unease is creeping into some areas of organic winemaking. The main reason I suspect is over supply.

Going organic – “bio” as the French term it – is certainly a passport to respectability, actually a rather devalued currency as there has been a landslide of arrivistes wanting to climb aboard the chic, save the planet wagon. This is no doubt much to the disdain or even disgust of the true pioneers, domaines such as MARCEL LAPIERRE in Morgon, and in the Rhône, GRAMENON near Valréas and DARD & RIBO at Crozes-Hermitage, to say nothing of the CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL and DOMAINE PIERRE ANDRÉ at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, who have been organic for longer than I have been covering the Rhône, but make very little fanfare about it.

The conversion of domaines attached to Co-operatives and those which do not have a tight-knit, assured sales network brings to the fore the trend supplied by the following figures: according to Inter Rhône, the open market price of 100 litres (1 hectolitre) of organic Côtes du Rhône red fell from €239 to €179 during 2012, which is still 55% higher than the conventional Côtes du Rhône price. This has been mirrored in Bordeaux, where the price of a 900 litre barrel has headed towards €1,300 against a level of €1,800 to €2,000 at the start of the current vintage campaign.

Part of the problem comes from the sheer amount of organic wine newly coming on the market. Between 2010 and 2011 the Rhône-Alps region production area rose by 15% to 4,691 hectares. Interestingly, a high profile organic area, Alsace, still lags some way behind the Rhône with production of 2,062 hectares, a rise of 19% over 2010. Languedoc-Roussillon, on the other hand, had 19,907 hectares under organic farming in 2011, a rise of a whopping 21% over 2010. Can I hear pips squeaking?

GILLES FERLANDA, the President of the CAVE DE VISAN, commented: “In 2012, a lot of domaines officially achieved organic status; the result has been that the volume available on sale has increased, without having the outlets for it. Overall, demand for organic wine doesn’t exceed 1-2% if you take all sales channels into account.”

The warning being issued to growers is thus this: make sure you calculate your cost price to avoid having to sell at a loss, and get your wines on the market as soon as you can in any given vintage.

For the Rhône, more recent, high quality names such as DOMAINE ROUGE-BLEU, with its tapping in to the USA market and blog-newsletters in English, will be fine, but one wonders about some of the less savvy, reticent growers who will certainly have to pound some pavements to make it pay in the future.

HERMITAGE

LATE JANUARY 2013

Reviews of HERMITAGE estates have recently been posted, the emphasis on 2011 and 2010, with one or two 2012s tasted at MARC SORREL and CAVE DE TAIN. Other visits to DELAS, BERNARD FAURIE and JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE have been written up, along with the full range of FERRATON and CHAPOUTIER wines. The fullest 2011 NORTHERN RHÔNE REDS come from the area around Tain, including CORNAS, CROZES-HERMITAGE and HERMITAGE, while the southern area of SAINT-JOSEPH around Mauves and Tournon has served very drinkable wines as well. For full reviews of 2011 HERMITAGE RED, HERMITAGE WHITE and CROZES-HERMITAGE RED, see LEADING WINES BY VINTAGE and scroll down to 2011 NORTHERN RHÔNE, then across to THE LEADING WINES.

EARLY JANUARY 2013: the outcome of the Brussels deliberations on allowing unlimited planting rights has been satisfactory for the broad mass of French vignerons and viticulteurs. Europe has now proposed a system of regulation across all countries and across all categories of wine, which has come as a big relief to the Rhône growers, even if details remain to be finalised.

Morale is also up thanks to the current pricing of Rhônes; at the grass roots CÔTES DU RHÔNE level, the current price of €115.90 per hectolitre (100 litres) for the 2012 represents a rise of between €6 and €7 for the third consecutive year. This is testament to the success, not only of the extremely drinkable 2011 vintage, but also the recognition already of the superior quality of 2012, a vintage of greater structure and body than the 2011.

2012 will be an interesting exercise in judging whether the Rhône has started to shake off its junior partner status, behind the heavyweights of BORDEAUX and BURGUNDY, regions that struggled for crop and ripeness in 2012. The tradition is for perception of Rhône quality to slavishly follow judgments coming out of Bordeaux, which in vintages such as 1991, 2007 and 2008 cast excess shadows over the Rhône.

SWEETS FOR MY SWEET, SUGAR FOR MY HONEY (OR NOT)

LATE DECEMBER 2012

The news that Capt’n Bob, aka Robert Parker Jr, is about to cede much of his coverage in The Wine Advocate brings into line an enduring debate about his style of wine. He has stated that he will continue with Bordeaux and the Rhône, which of course includes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. On hearing this news, Jancis Robinson was quoted in The Financial Times, where she is Wine Correspondent, thus: “It’s no surprise he’s retaining Châteauneuf-du-Pape. He’s probably the last person in the world who can take it.”

Vroom, Vroom, JR! The week before she was quoted, Jancis had tasted hundreds of 2011 Châteauneufs, and 2011 is a mild vintage there. Her eye was in, as they say in cricket.

Another interesting exchange occurred at the same time between me and Yves Gras, the owner of Domaine Santa Duc, at Gigondas. Yves for long has been a whole bunch, 6 week ferment, “everybody into the Police Van” winemaker. His wines have been Big, sometimes unremitting, sometimes lucid. Now he is going all out for finesse. “I am destemming and shortening my fermentations. Now we do “infusions” more than macerations. I am suppressing the use of 228-litre oak casks and moving to 36 hl Austrian barrels to respect fruit and freshness,” he told me. “The oak effect of small oak casks with alcohol when wines are at 15.5° to 16° is much greater than, for example, a Burgundy in its cask at 12.5°. I have had a frank exchange with Robert Parker about this, since he still insists that people want big scale, obviously flavoured wines. I don’t anymore.”

I am with JR and YG here, and of course have never deviated. Balance is what makes wine great. I was generously served a 2005 Domaine Giraud Les Gallimardes Châteauneuf-du-Pape red by young François Giraud at dinner the other day, in between wines from Clos du Mont-Olivet and Domaine du Grand Tinel. It was oppressive. At least 15.5°, its thickness of texture and sucrosity on both nose and palate made it hard going, a wine out of step with others at the dinner. You sip a tiny bit, then want something more refreshing. The sucrosity - consciously sought to my certain knowledge by some domaines, and zero to do with factors such as "global warming" or hotter summers, kills easy, pleasant table wine drinking. It is not just a question of degree, I must emphasize. Yves showed me his ROAIX LES CROTTES RED 2010 - a 15°-plus wine, but a tasty, balanced one, good and drinkable.

I am sure that history will look back and conclude that the chase for sweet, deliberately late harvested, high octane wines was an aberration at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, more than anything because they blurred the marvellous elegance and purity of fruit that this appellation produces. Never have I known such an extreme divergence between the palates of the USA, where sugar is mainstreamed into the diet from the earliest age, and the more mineral-appreciative tastes of Europe, and particularly Northern Europe.

FURORE OVER UNRESTRICTED PLANTATION RIGHTS PROPOSAL

EARLY DECEMBER 2012

A gradual crescendo is being reached on a topic that has not had widespread coverage as far as I can tell – the debate about the extension of planting rights in European appellation vineyards. The proposal by the EU in Brussels is that henceforth all land within an appellation zone can be planted with vines, the planting allowed at any time and in any amount. Take Crozes-Hermitage, for instance, where much of the plain of Les Chassis still produces fruit such as apricots, whose harvest in 2012 was a disaster, incidentally. This could be rapidly expanded at the drop of a hat, or a bureaucrat's pen.

Under the present system, planting rights are strictly controlled, with Grower A on the plain allowed a hectare or so, or Grower B up a hill at Côte-Rôtie just one quarter of a hectare. The quarter hectare would take more than 4 times longer to plant from a standing start, by the way, than the single hectare on flat ground: trees to be cleared, walls  to be built, terraces  to be constructed, versus a tractor banging in the new plants 10-4 along the flat lands.

The current system protects the integrity of the appellation, indicating that not all the land is suitable for vines (or it would have been planted in years gone by, before such strict new planting rules), and keeping a lid on supply: even in the Rhône there would be a fear of a €3 or €4 Saint-Joseph dumped into a hypermarket, for instance – a disaster for the image of the appellation. Think Beaujolais Nouveau, the Harvard Business School template for how to ruin a region’s reputation through a marketing stunt.

The opposing view held by some, often larger scale growers, is laissez-faire – let the market decide. The Brussels proposal is motivated by the intention for free competition, stating that the current system is anti-competitive. What it does is exclude anyone who has no planting rights. How do you obtain planting rights now? By having vineyards already.

Hence a fruit tree cultivator cannot switch his or her land from fruit to vine. A newcomer with money has no access, likewise. There is a blockage in the system that favours the incumbents to the detriment of anyone trying to start up. However, the new system would actually favour incumbents who sell brands and have access to capital to buy into hectares of land at one fell swoop. One cannot imagine the owner of a three hectare domaine dancing in the streets at the adoption of the Brussels proposal.

France being France, the body politique is up in arms about this, and December 11, 2012 has been set aside as a Day of Action in the Rhône. The tussle over this plan has been going on for three years now, and the final meeting of the ultimate Committee on this is to be held on 14 December, 2012 in Brussels. Things get tricky with the prospect of some countries wanting a free for all, while others, such as France, favour restriction. The French clearly fear being undercut by floods of mass produced non-French wines.

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of the 2012 harvest, the digging out of dead vines is seriously en route after the 10-20% losses of February, 2012. Trails of smoke indicate the sorry end of these vines, meaning that growers in appellations such as the CÔTES DU RHÔNE, RASTEAU and BEAUMES-DE-VENISE have much more work than they would wish this winter.

Vinification

EARLY NOVEMBER 2012

Growers report that vinifications have been proceeding well, with JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE at HERMITAGE devatting his last wines at the end of October, and SOUTHERN RHÔNE growers also well down the road. Other tasks currently are replanting of dead vines after the widespread loss from the February 2012 frosts and cold winds. Central government and EU aid has been channelled the way of growers to help with this large task. 

On the demand side of the wine trade, the market for the 2011s En Primeur starts to hot up, too. I receive e-mails from readers wondering if they should buy this or that 2011. In other words, they are being offered a wine that is not yet blended into its final form. Some of these wines cost €50 or more. It does amount to taking a bet, and in 2011, quality is not so gloriously widespread as it was in 2010. I will do my best to report back from the front with the latest news after tastings of over 450 NORTHERN RHÔNES this month, to be followed by CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE and GIGONDAS.

Patrick Jasmin’s Syrah

LATE OCTOBER 2012

as an example of what has happened in the Rhône this year, Patrick Jasmin’s Syrah from the Blonde comes in at 12.44°, very satisfactory. Colours are good in both NORTH and SOUTH, and the wines that I have tasted so far, ranging up to 4 weeks old, have had aromatic fruit and better, more profound tannins than 2011. Growers prefer the vintage to 2011, and consider the wines to have the structure to be successful and to live better than 2011. I do not disagree. Acidity levels were low at harvesting, but their fermentations have actually perked them up, with the malolactic fermentation changes still to come. Yields are low, often short by 20-25%. The whites are promising, too.

Harvesting

EARLY OCTOBER 2012

Growers are in the home straight now with their harvesting, the main activity concerning the later ripening, often higher zones such as GIGONDAS and VINSOBRES in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE. MARC PERRIN of CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE gave me the latest news from there: "we have completed 60% of our harvest, and haven’t yet started the Counoise and the Mourvèdre. It’s hot and fine now, so we will take the Mourvèdre ripening as far as we can, something like the 20 October of last year, when we harvested it at 13.5°, nothing excessive thanks to the Indian summer. We have picked our Syrah and 30% of our Grenache at VINSOBRES. We are 30% down on yields at BEAUCASTEL against 2011 – the story this year of having a lot of grapes but not a lot of juice in them.”

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE at CONDRIEU, CHRISTOPHE PICHON is near the end of his harvest season. He has vineyards spread around, and reported as follows: "we ended the harvesting of our domaine vineyards on 1 October, and will finish the crop from our merchant, négociant, vineyards by about the weekend 6 October. I am very agreeably surprised – the crop is belle, and so is the quality, and the grapes’ juice is good to taste. Fermentations are going very quickly, and I would like them to be a bit slower for quality reasons. Our Syrah at SAINT-JOSEPH is 12°-13°, the CONDRIEU Viognier 13.5°-14°, and the Syrah at CÔTE-RÔTIE is 12.5°-13.5°.  Our yields are close to what is allowed.”

DOMINIQUE PERRET of DOMAINE ANDRÉ PERRET at CONDRIEU was relieved that the finishing line was in sight: "we finished harvesting on 2 October with our Vins de Pays vineyards, our last Condrieu Viognier picked the day before. Our yields are 10-20% down, with our Marsanne minus 20-25%. We have also had a very low crop on  the hill of CHÉRY at CONDRIEU – the old vines did not perform well, and we may have to take them out (they date from 1948). Degrees are correct this year.”

Autumn equinox

LATE SEPTEMBER 2012

the autumn equinox has struck with its usual potent force, stretching nerves among the later harvesters across the Rhône. From the NORTHERN RHÔNE, one appellation is relaxed, thanks to its vineyards being tucked in and sheltered, away from the main Rhône corridor - CORNAS. The young and skilled GUILLAUME GILLES told me: “we finished on 22 September after 4 days of harvesting; I had a team of 12 cutters this year, and one of their main tasks was to cut out the burnt grapes from the heat this summer. There were two main moments of high heat – mid-July and the late part of August, when the setting sun on Chaillot was particularly hot. The yield is not enormous – 30 hl/ha. The harvest is healthy, even stunning, very, very ripe, very charged in sugar, and the potential degree is above 13.5°. Even the foot of the slopes and flat areas with less high heat are almost riper than the high slopes this year, since they weren’t sunburnt.”

Another voice, much more experienced, at CORNAS came from PIERRE CLAPE: "the Cornas phenomenon is that we have been riper than our neighbours even at Mauves and across the river at Crozes-Hermitage, where not a lot of people have yet harvested. Cornas vegetation was in advance in the spring, and it has been warmer here, and a lot of growers have now finished. The crop has been superb for most people, and the yield is around 35-36 hl/ha – in 2011 it was 40 hl/ha, a lot too much. The vintage is richer than 2000, perhaps like 2006."

Growers are working away at CÔTE-RÔTIE, with rain and squalls in the atmosphere. STÉPHANE PICHAT, thoughtful and talented, reported: “we started to harvest on Monday 8 September, and finished on 25 September. We have had some rain, but nothing too extreme, and it was followed by a lot of wind which dried the crop quickly. The skins are becoming very, very fine, and won’t last long in the current conditions. September was a healthy month, and my Syrahs are not high in degree – 12.5° about, with Grandes Places 13° or so. The grapes are small and handsome. This year we have had to work hard all the way through, so we are quite tired after all that, and happy to have reached the finishing line. There is a forecast for 85 mm (3.4 in) of rain this weekend."

Elsewhere at CÔTE-RÔTIE, young XAVIER GÉRARD told me: “I finished my Côte-Rôtie harvest on 28 September – the 50 mm (2 in) of rain on 26 September didn’t hurt, although the very ripest plots were slightly affected by that.” From the excellent STGT DOMAINE VIGNOBLES LEVET, NICOLE LEVET remarked: "we finish the 29 September, and it has gone well. We waited to achieve a sound degree which ended at about 12.5°. We had 60 mm (2.4 in) of rain on 26 September, so after that we had to do some triage (sorting, discarding) in the vineyard.”

Further south at Mauves, one of the villages that forms the original cradle of SAINT-JOSEPH, JEAN-CLAUDE MARSANNE a longtime grower with a traditional outlook and interesting wines told me: “the harvest is very joli for the moment. It rains from time to time, we have finished half, and the grapes are in good shape. Our yield is normal, less than 2011, and around 13°, which is good and ripe. Crozes is less ripe than Saint-Joseph, but also in good condition – there is always a delay between here and there.”

Down in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, some appellations such as VACQUEYRAS have almost finished harvesting, while others such as GIGONDAS are still very much on the go. DAMIEN VACHE of DOMAINE LA MONARDIÈRE, a mainstay estate, reported: "we ended on 22 September – we accelerated because rain was forecast, and we don’t regret doing that since we had 65 mm (2.6 in) on Monday 24 September, a violent, early morning storm between 8 and 10 o'clock. We have had small storms passing through since then. The vats are fermenting very well, but the crop is very small, though very pretty – we are very happy with quality. We have been working on containing our alcohol levels and should be about 14°."

Elsewhere at VACQUEYRAS, MONTIRIUS finished harvesting on 20 September, and the STGT DOMAINE LE COUROULU on 19 September, the latter finding the crop down by 15-20%. Later to harvest, MAXIME BERNARD of the very consistent, traditional DOMAINE LA GARRIGUEinformed me: "we have not finished yet, but are at least 15-20% down in yield. The impact of the frost was long-lasting, and interfered with the flowering, I think. The crop we have is very joli, the acidity not bad, and degrees are normal, not high. Choosing the date of harvest was complicated this year – we started on 14 September, and will finish around 3-4 October. We had 40 mm (1.6 in) of rain on the evening of 26 September after 50 mm (2 in) on 24 September, but it is now fine. The crop is still in good shape, and just needs to dry. It is now 21°C, and a North Wind is expected, a turnaround from the recent South Wind.”

Nearby at GIGONDAS, DOMINIQUE AY of the excllent DOMAINE RASPAIL-AY was having some weather problems: “we will finish harvesting on 1 October, but have been set back by the heavy rain on Monday 24 September and then again another 40 mm (1.6 in) on 26 September. We don’t use weedkiller so there are grasses in the vineyard, and it is too wet for the tractor to get in, so harvesting is on hold while it dries out. The weather is magnificent now, so that’s OK. Our Grenache from old vines has been around 14.5°. 2 of my 4 vats have started to ferment, and are going well, with the Syrah nearly finished.”

Up the road in the southern Drôme at VINSOBRES, growers were pretty happy. HUBERT VALAYER who makes wines full of character at the DOMAINE DU DEURRE related: “we have completed 65-70% of the harvest, with just some Grenache and Mourvèdre still to come. 30 mm (1.2 in) of rain at the end of August helped the grapes expand after the drought. We are down 20%  this year, with a very healthy crop. The Syrah didn’t suffer from the drought, and maybe lost 10%. As for the Grenache, the mixture of the February frost and the drought hit it, but what we have picked is very joli. Alcohol degree is not high this year – 13° on the Syrah, 14° on the Grenache. This week, 24 September, we had another 30 mm (1.2 in) and now there is a South Wind and 23°C – it changed from a North Wind then.”

Vinifications are going well nearby at the high quality VINSOBRES DOMAINE CHAUME-ARNAUD: son THIBAUD and his mother VALÉRIE informed me as follows: “there is good acidity, and less alcohol than in previous years. It seems very balanced, with “formidable” acidities. This year we observe fermentations taking off at speed, the yeasts are valiant, with the density in the vats falling fast. Unlike 2011, which was very slow and took forever, the sugars ended quickly. It has been a lot more comfortable working in the cellar this year.”

Summertime

MID SEPTEMBER 2012

it's still summertime in the RHÔNE, and growers are happy. From the NORTHERN RHÔNE at CÔTE-RÔTIE, STÉPHANE OGIER reported that he was content with matters: "Well, things are certainly better than they were in June, when I thought we were heading for a catastrophe. I have never known a year with such blight pressure from June until the middle of July – grass growing everywhere, mildew potential, treatments needed, all very complicated. Since August the weather has been magnificent. It’s now not the vintage of the century but we are well past the point of catastrophe. The next ten days will help the degree, which is not high at present. My samples on 10 and 11 September across my plots at Ampuis (Côte-Rôtie) and Seyssuel (vin de pays, across the river, north of Ampuis) showed Syrah at 11° to 12.5°. I have dropped a lot of grapes this year.

Now that we have had nearly 40 mm (1.6 in) rain on 12 September, the degree will be lower, but good weather is here now, and more of the same is forecast. I want to wait as long as I can, and may start to harvest around 19-20 September. The grape skins are fine, and I can envisage having to chaptalise some vats, since I expect low alcohol this year, The sort of vintage I expect is one of good aromas, a supple and round set of wines, not high in acidity – maybe along the lines of 2000 or 2004. If rot does come, it will be necessary to harvest super fast, unlike 2011 when I harvested over a month. For my Viognier at Condrieu, I will start next week, like Yves Cuilleron. Acidity will be low. They say that Château Grillet (Bordeaux owned) has already finished harvesting."

A few miles south in the SAINT-JOSEPH appellation at Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf, XAVIER NOVIS of DOMAINE NOVIS was in sanguine form: "I will harvest in two weeks," he told me. "The vineyard is very joli, we have decent degree, it’s a good year. We had 10 mm (0.4 in) of rain on 12 September, but it was followed by a healthy North Wind. There have been no blights, no hail, and we are expecting a yield of 35-40 hl/ha. The Syrah skins are still firm and need more time.”

The rain that fell on 12 September dwindles the further south one goes, and from CROZES-HERMITAGE across the river, MAXIME GRAILLOT gave this assessment: "I harvested my white crop on 13-14 September. The white crop is magnificent, very healthy, and the yield is a good 45 hl/ha. There is not a lot of acidity, but I expect the wines to be very fine and beau. The Syrah crop is very handsome, very healthy. I expect to start to harvest it around 19 to 20 September – this year it will be around 40 hl/ha, a lot less than 2011 when it was 46 hl/ha or so.

Our last main rainfall was on three occasions – 25, 28 and 29 August, and amounted to around 55 mm (2.1 inches). Our rain on 12 September was a dribble, really, about 4 mm. The late August rain was a big help, as the vineyard was getting dry. The red grapes are aromatic, the pips are getting firm, but the skins are still thick. I have had to treat quite a lot this year – six times.

Crozes-Hermitage announced the ban des vendanges, the opening  of the harvest, on 10 September, but I look around and do not see a lot of harvesting machines out and about yet. It’s piano for now – people are taking their time given the good forecast. Laurent Combier has cut his white Crozes-Hermitage crop on 13-14 September, and at Cornas I know that Thiérry Allemand and the Clapes are under way on their Syrah.”

The SOUTHERN RHÔNE is also in good shape. From VINSOBRES in the Southern Drôme, PASCAL JAUME of DOMAINE JAUME has started to harvest some white grapes: "the vines are ripening nice and quietly," he stated. "We have Mistral wind, and fresh but warm weather is forecast towards the 20 September, so it looks good. We picked some whites in the first week of September, and they are very aromatic. The Grenache blanc was 13.5°, the Marsanne 13°. This week we harvested Viognier at 14°. They are very healthy, just a little nice golden tone to them.

We are now on a harvesting date from 15 years ago, unlike the recent times; that means we harvested some Grenache noir for our Côtes du Rhône on 12 September, and the Syrah on 14 September. The week starting 17 September we will move on to the Vinsobres Syrah. The Syrah has small berries, but they come with a lot of colour and are well fruited, so a big potential, especially if this good weather continues. We have been having fresh mornings around 12°C, and the days going up to 23-25°C, with Mistral wind.

Yields will between 2010 and 2011 – down 15% on 2011, but ripening has been very inconsistent – berries within a bunch at different stages, and the old vine Grenache has notably been very variable, with some plants not giving a single bunch. On the other hand our 10 year old Grenache gave 50 hl/ha when we harvested it on 12 September."

As a late harvesting appellation, GIGONDAS always benefits from fine weather in September, and this year is no exception. DOMINIQUE AY of DOMAINE RASPAIL-AY sought the lee of his cellar to combat the fierce Mistral wind, and had the following report: "The weather is fine, it’s very dry, there’s no dew, there’s a Mistral blowing and all is good and stable for now. It’s been 26-27°C and people are not in a hurry to harvest at Gigondas – just one or two Co-operateurs have been out picking. There isn’t a lot of crop, especially on the old vines Grenache, which suffered from the cold weather at flowering.

We had 30-35 mm (1.4 in) of rain on the 3 September after about 10 mm (0.4 in) on 25 August, the first rain serving to chase the dust away and to unblock the ripening of some vines. My Grenache is around 14°, 13.5° on the young vines now. The crop is concentrating now after expanding following the rain. Vacqueyras is harvesting, and so is Beaumes-de-Venise. The outlook is good towards the 20 September or later, and I will start harvesting on 20 September as things stand.”

Across the river in the Gard, RODOLPHE DE PINS of CHÂTEAU DE MONTFAUCON, buoyed by the birth of a son, Odon, from his Finnish wife Marie in August had this news to announce: “things are going very well, I am happy. It’s been a very dry year even after the spring rains. We had 15 mm (0.6 in) just before the 14 July landmark, but not a drop of rain during August. I was getting a bit worried, but we had a storm of 30 mm (1.2 in) in early September. There has been some blockage of ripening, with young vines, overcharged vines, some draining soils, but I also find that some of my vines in sand are fresh.

We are in pullovers and long trousers today - it’s dry, with Mistral, and there is a good variation in the temperature – it was 12°-13°C this morning, and a maximum of 23°C today. Temperatures are expected to move up towards 28°C in the third week of September. If that continues, I will have a good sentiment for the vintage.

An unusual observation on the whites is that I normally pick early to avoid high degree; this year I have picked later, and have a lower degree – 12.5° at most - than usual. I have picked all my white crop. For the reds, the acidity is rather low after the heat wave – there is not a lot of juice, so the rain two weeks ago certainly helped the grapes to expand. I am very happy with my Cinsault this year – it is always extraordinary in dry years, in dry soils – with thick skins and fine tannins, a good quality. The Counoise and the Carignan will also help to raise the acidity, as usual.”

EARLY SEPTEMBER 2012

EARLY SEPTEMBER 2012

harvesting is proceeding steadily across the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, but the majority of the main work remains to be done, with the Grenache taking time to ripen its tannins and pips. A high pressure front in the first week of September and hot weather for the season has meant that growers can be pretty sanguine and calm about their harvesting policies. From CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, PATRICK BRUNEL of CHÂTEAU LA GARDINE told me: “the vegetation looks good, we have had no mildew or oïdium, and there was a helpful rainfall of around 40 mm (1.6 in) at the end of August and the first day of September – that helped acidity levels and out things in place. We started picking our Roussanne on 3 September – we have a good crop, but the acidity levels are low - the Roussanne was 14°-14.2°. We have done one very small vat of red grapes, where Grenache and Syrah are 13.8°."

Patrick's wife EVE BRUNEL looks after the CHÂTEAU LA GARDINE vineyards at LIRAC, across the River in the Gard. She commented: "our Roussanne is very healthy – we picked for three days from 3 September, then paused, and will re-commence on 10 September, working on the Viognier. We have to wait for the red crop, since the tannins are a bit green, and you find the grapes still stuck to their stems – these need to time to ripen further. I go into the vineyard and taste the grapes to see where we stand, which I find the best way, so cannot tell you lots of figures on the crop for now. Our Syrah is looking very good, but I have noticed something unusual this year – the red grapes are nearly ahead of the white crop, whereas the whites are normally well ahead of the reds. The Mourvèdre is very variable, with grapes of different colours within the same bunches. Yields will be less than 2011, nearer 2010.”

West of LIRAC, and little to the north of Uzès, American AMY LILLAND runs the expressive LA GRAMIÈRE. Her vineyards are in a CÔTES DU RHÔNE area, but she prefers to make VIN DE TABLE: “we may start on 10 September; our Syrah is around 12°, but the Grenache is backward – bunches on the same vine can have different ripeness levels, and the skins are still very bitter. We had good, steady rain of around 50-60 mm (2-2.4 inches) at the end of August, but it has been very, very dry before that – so dry that the crop will be small this year. The Grenache varies a lot in potential degree at the moment.”

The NORTHERN RHÔNE is also blessed by stable weather for the time being. It, too, experienced very high heat in August, with a brief interruption before good, hot weather resumed once more in the first weekof September. From CONDRIEU, CHRISTINE VERNAY of DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY informed me of her progress: "“we will harvest maybe around 14 or 15 October, starting on Vernon. It was very, very hot at the end of August, which was followed by rain and cool weather, which slowed down ripening. Now we are back to 27°-29°C, although rain is forecast for around 14 September. Analytically, the crop is ripe, and nearly have a Muscat sense about them. Vernon (the majestic hill behind their house, giving the top wine, the COTEAU DE VERNON) will be 13.5° to 14°, not high compared to recent vintages. The grapes skins are firm, and the pips are very ripe.”

CHRISTINE also referred to their CÔTE-RÔTIE: "it has been a complicated season; 80 mm of rain (3.2 inches) in early July got mildew going, a real explosion. We have had to be extremely vigilant – you were in trouble if you missed a window of treatment. The vines now look in good shape, and we may be harvesting around 20 to 25 September. A few young vines in shallow soils have lost their leaves."

Zap! Bang! Wallop!

END OF AUGUST 2012

Zap! Bang! Wallop! The tapes have risen, the Starter's Gun has fired, THEY'RE OFF! Always the first to harvest at CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE is CHÂTEAU LA NERTHE under the management of CHRISTIAN VOEUX. This year is no different, with the early harvest policy applied to all the estates in this group. CHRISTIAN reported as follows: "We started harvesting at La Nerthe and La Renjarde (their Massif d’Uchaux property) on 22 August, for the white crop, on 23 August for Tavel at Prieuré de Montézargues and on 24 August for my Domaine de l’Amauve at Séguret. We are now harvesting the red crop at La Nerthe on 31 August.

Normally La Nerthe is ripe at the same time as the Côtes du Rhônes, but is a bit later this year. The 8 to 10 days before we started harvesting were abnormally hot, registering up to 38-39°C. There has been very good ripening in clay soils, while sand-based vineyards have advanced more quickly. Nights in the ten day spell of hot weather were half fresh – down to 17-18°C, half hot – 25°C. It appears that tannin levels are high this year. The Grenache noir at La Nerthe is around 14.5° now, the Syrah 13.8-14°, and the Mourvèdre is lagging as it should usually do, around 12-12.5°.

Our researches show that the small yields lead to more advance in ripening, while La Nerthe is a precocious, even hot, zone at Châteauneuf. We expect yields long the lines of 2010 this year – not high, due to vines dying in the February freeze and to coulure (flowers failing to transform into fruit) at flowering.” 

Away to the east, SERGE FÉRIGOULE of DOMAINE LE SANG DES CAILLOUX (The Blood of the Stones) at VACQUEYRAS told me his story: "we started to pick the whites - Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne – at around 13.6-13.8° on 29 August, and are harvesting the first Syrah today, 31 August, at 13.5°. We have had 15 mm (0.6 in) of rain on 25 August, 5-6 mm on 28 August and 27 mm (1.09 in) on 30 August, the last fall over a steady three to four hours, a total of nearly 50 mm (2 inches). That has inflated the grapes, but the skins are still in good shape, and there is acidity present. There aren’t many leaves from the drought, which makes harvesting go faster, I have to say. The Mistral is blowing and we are in the mid-20°sC, good working conditions.

Yields will not be large, maybe around 28-30 hl/ha – more than 2010, less than 2011. The main areas to suffer are those where there are gravel soils, some of the zones towards Château des Roques, for instance. We will start on the Grenache around 4 September – it was at 14° last week.”

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE, 2012 is also shaping up well. From CONDRIEU, PAUL AMSELLEM of DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY recounted: “It’s been a complicated  year, needing a lot of action in the vineyard. We have lost a lot of crop on the plateau, for our vins de pays Syrah and Viognier, due to rain during flowering – it will be half the yield of 2011. But the slopes have done well; around 22 August, the Viognier on Coteau de Vernon was at 11°, so we may harvest that on 10-12 September.

Our luck was the high heat in August – regularly 37-38°C, with moments when we were at 39-40°C. Leaves have been turning brown and dropping, notably where the vineyards are on very rocky soils, which have become very dry. The rain over the past three days has been helpful – 14 mm then pockets of 3-4 mm, maybe a bit under 25 mm (1 in). Acidities in the crop have been low, but so far Christine has noted that the Viognier from the vin de pays has re-established its acidity post-fermentation. It’s fresh today – hardly up to 20°C.”

At HERMITAGE, JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE was calm and content on the last day of August: “things are good for now," he told me, "after a fine and hot August, with heat above 37°C some times. We may start to harvest the white crop around 20 September. The heat helped the stems to harden. We had 20 mm (0.8 in) of rain yesterday, which was useful.”

Reports from CORNAS are also encouraging. PIERRE CLAPE of DOMAINE CLAPE summed up matters so far: "as we speak, there has been rain and a tiny bit of hail, but things have been almost very good up until now. It is not necessarily a very balanced year. Our Syrah was at 12°-12.4° on 29 August, before the recent rain of 18 mm (0.75 in), which came in two strong bursts. It’s a good sign that the grapes have inflated after the rains now. Acidity is at 4.7-4.8, which is OK. At Saint-Péray we are on low acidity, though, nearer 3.5, with sugars at 11.7° on 29 August.

I think the vineyard handled the high heat – up to 38-40°C – this year better than last year. We had 4 or 5 nights above 20°C, which grilled a few bunches, but a lot less than in 2009. We are heading for harvesting maybe 14-17 September now, not the 10-12 September that we were anticipating, after this rain. There is no rot, and yields will be average. Our lowest spot is the 90 and 50 year old Syrah on the high part of Renard, which is at 15-17 hl/ha after coulure. It is forecast for the mid-20s°C next week, and our usual team of 15 or 16 people are ready to go.”

A season of two halves

3rd WEEK of AUGUST 2012

as with a game of football, this is becoming a season of two halves. The deluge followed by the drought. The Rhône has enjoyed three-plus weeks of hot and dry weather now, so ripening is occurring steadily, even if fears of stress in the vineyards are circulating due to the lack of meaningful rain since the first ten days of June. This still places the Rhône ahead of much of the rest of France, from Bordeaux to Burgundy to Champagne.  

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE, PIERRE-JEAN VILLA summarised the state of his various vineyards. As he walked through his FONGEANT holding at CÔTE-RÔTIE, he told me: "I am now dropping grapes from the young vines, but I notice that even with the heat, if you press a grape like this - squeezes it - it`s full of water. In a hot and dry year, that would not be normal, and it shows how well the spring rains have served the vineyard. So the Syrah here is ripening, but steadily, and shows that we have actually needed the heat of the last two or three weeks. Most recently we had 5 mm (0.2 in) of rain on 15 August which just refreshed the temperature more than anything else. Today it will be 32-33°C in the afternoon, but for the last two days, the nights have been cool."

His SAINT-JOSEPH vineyard is about 25 miles further south: here his report ran as follows: I lost 40% of my crop south of Sarras through hail on 17 July - Eric Rocher at Domaine de Champal had 20 hectares hit by the same hail. September will be more than decisive this year - we can make sympa wines if our summer - that is to say, the last two weeks - continues well. Bunches are quite loose and well aired. Rain is the fear now - one or two rain setbacks would hurt - rain over one or two days would be manageable, but anything longer would be grave. Good rain would be a 20-30 mm fall in the next two or three weeks."

The SOUTHERN RHÔNE is perhaps in even better shape. From CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, ANDRÉ BRUNEL, the wise and seasoned owner of LES CAILLOUX, noted: "things are looking rather good after our three months of fine weather. South of the village there is some drought, around Les Serres, but it is not yet dramatic. The grapes are well expanded, and have turned colour well, with ripening speeding along. We could start on our Grenache blanc before September. We seem to be one of the only French regions to have had this good weather. Yields will be correct, not excessive - we had coulure on the Grenache, while the Syrah is pretty, a bit in advance as would be expected in a hot year. We are looking at 30 hl/ha.

Our last rain was in early June, we have had 1-2 mm here and there, but nothing to speak of. It is 34°C today, and it`s certain that our spring rain until into May helped the vineyard a lot. My fear is for the young vines if this hot and dry weather continues, but at least recent nights have been fresh, with 17°C this morning, nor has there been any dew yet. So far, it is a year for clay sectors over gravel and sand zones. One concern is low acidity, but when I look back to my father`s vintages in the 1950s, there were cases of burnt acidity and high pHs then as well. The main difference, of course, is that now we make wines ready to drink soon, and to live a lot less long, unlike the 1960s vintages. I found some cuvée Prestige 2000s from colleagues here drinking at their best the other day, for instance. That doesn`t indicate a life much beyond twenty years in that case.

Our white vines are OK - we irrigated twice in early and late July, otherwise we would have no acidity and a degree of 16-17°, instead of 14°. You can irrigate drop by drop, by sprinkler or by cannon; drop by drop is the most efficient; we aim to put down 25-50 mm (1-2 in) each time. This year my Roussanne didn`t grow more vegetation after the irrigation - the benefit went into the ground and the vine wood - even though the leaves are turning yellow now."

From VACQUEYRAS, another early ripening vineyard to the east, BERNARD BURLE of DOMAINE FONT SARADE informed me: " it`s very dry. But we are not suffering on La Ponche thanks to the profound soils there. The crop is very small. Our Syrah is precocious and will be harvested around 5-10 September, while the Grenache ripening is very up and down - some bunches are ripe, others not. We are now cutting out the pink bunches, especially on the younger vines. Today, August 19, it is due to go up to 35°C, but this morning at 7 it was 14°C, which is helpful. What would be ideal would be 50 mm (2 in) of rain soon, otherwise we risk low acidity wines such as we had in 2006."

Across the river in LIRAC, the biodynamic DOMAINE DUSEIGNEUR gave the following assessment: "we are ripening very quickly, and have drought here now - water stress is our main fear. We need to avoid the grape skins withering, and want to pick before that. Our phenolic (meaning tannins, colour) ripening is not yet ready, and there is a gap between them and the sugars, which are further ahead. Loss of acidity is a risk. We could start picking around 25 August, on the white grapes Clairette and Bourboulenc. Syrah has suffered in the high slopes this year. Yields are likely to be 34 hl/ha, against 32 hl/ha in 2011 and 28 hl/ha in 2010."

VINEYARD REPORTS

early AUGUST 2012

If France is to have a viticultural champion in 2012, then it could well be the Rhône on current evidence. July was uniformly hot and dry, and the vineyards are in verdant, blooming shape. Yields are middling, not abundant, and the outlook until mid-August is for continued dry weather in the SOUTHERN RHÔNE.

On holiday from his CÔTES DU RHÔNE vineyard on the right bank Gard département, RÉMY KLEIN of DOMAINE LA REMEJEANNE told me: "we certainly cannot complain vis-à-vis the North of France - for us, of course, the North means anywhere north of Montélimar!" We have now had no rain for about six weeks, and the vineyards are in good shape. This year has given us more vineyard work than previous vintages. A few young vines are suffering from the drought. Yields will be lower than 2011, which is very good, but higher than 2009 and 2010. If the drought were to continue, there could be a delay in ripening, so rain, say 20 mm (0.8 in) on 15 August would be ideal. Otherwise we may face tannins that are too prominent and too dry. The white vines are in good condition, with the Roussanne as usual needing the greatest vigilance for oïdium and rot. We should harvest around 8 to 15 September, which is normal."

At RASTEAU, DIDIER CHARAVIN reported: "it will be a small crop, but there are no blights. There will be less harvest than in 2011, but it will be more concentrated. We had 20mm (0.8 in) of rain right at the start of July, and now a drop of rain would suit - mid-August, ideally. Today, Monday 6 August, we have lost 10°C over yesterday, which was 35°C, and there are some drops of rain, but it is forecast to be hot again by the end of the week. My harvest date at present would be around 10 September."

Across the River in the northern Vaucluse, VINCENT ROCHETTE of DOMAINE ROCHE-AUDRAN at VISAN, was in good form: "it`s been very, very beau for six weeks, which has saved, yes saved, the crop. Mildew was breaking out after all the spring rain. It`s been 35°C with a lot of sun, and we are edging towards drought, with a possible blockage of ripening that would delay matters. I could have a fear that it could become dry as in the years 2006, and also 2009. Young vines and those in gravel soils have been most susceptible, with a few yellow leaves visible. Conditions are there for a very good vintage. After some very hot nights, mornings have been a little cooler recently. Our veraison, when the grapes turn colour, is now at 80% completed for the Syrah, 50% for the Grenache noir. The vineyards look a bright green still, and we could harvest around mid-September, not precocious."

From the NORTHERN RHÔNE, JEAN GONON of the yardstick STGT DOMAINE GONON at SAINT-JOSEPH, was breathing a sigh of relief: "well, life was a bit complicated until the start of July, but now it`s been good weather for a month. We have had temperatures of 28-33°C, with nights and early mornings varying between 16-17°C and 23-24°C. Our veraison is half way completed, with Cornas a little ahead of that. The vines have certainly perked up, and I am a lot more content than I was in June. Mildew has been a very close thing this year, and we also had to contain oïdium, so it`s been a lot of hard work. The white crop is a bit larger than the Syrah, which was hurt by lack of quantity at flowering - the first week went well, but the second week weather was poor, which hit the later ripening vines. We should be harvesting around 20 September."

In the northern area at CÔTE-RÔTIE, BERNARD BURGAUD pointed to the amount of work required this year: "yields resemble 2010, which is acceptable, not high. The climate has been a bit chaotic, with rain, but no storms. Flowering was capricious, so budding was variable. We then had a fight against the usual illnesses, but now it has been dry for three weeks, the last rain in later June thanks to a good, steady 50-60 mm (2-2.4 in). We actually now need rain because our soils are not deep, and the main challenge is oïdium. Temperatures have gone up to 33-34°C, with nights hovering around 20°C. We now have a North Wind, and conditions are favourable for ripening - we could end up with a super vintage. The most precocious zones are half way through their veraison, so we are perhaps in advance of a classic year from 20 years ago, and could be harvesting around 21 September."

Growers report

LATE JUNE 2012

growers tell me that they are satisfied with the state of the vineyard so far this year, but there is no doubt that the threat of mildew lurks in the back of their minds. "It has been a battle this year," said ALAIN GRAILLOT, the supreme vigneron at CROZES-HERMITAGE: "as we are organic, we can treat with sulphur and copper only, and you have to have done at least one treatment this year to be in the clear. It demands being in the vineyard to spot any telltale signs, so it requires people and wits to keep on top of the situation.

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, JEAN-PIERRE MEFFRE of the excellent DOMAINE SAINT GAYAN remarked on a feature of the year so far across the Rhône - the spotty nature of the flowering: "in 2011 flowering happened in one week; this year it has run over three to four weeks. There was a lot of rain at flowering, and it was essential to treat the vines - if not, you have mildew. What we need now is heat, and some Mistral wind wouldn`t hurt if we are to knock any possible midlew on the head."

Sales of the 2010 have been excellent according to merchants who import Rhône wines to Britain, Scandinavia and the USA. The main problem is the lack of wine given the low yields of 2010. I am enthusiastic about the generous drinking qualities of the 2011s, both in red and white, and view this current vintage as ideal for the Restaurant and bar trade. Their southern ripeness comes in a well-fashioned style this year, looser and freer than any recent vintage. As an example, the 2011 CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE CHAR A VIN RED of DOMAINE DES COTEAUX DES TRAVERS at RASTEAU serves as an excellent, genuine version - very drinkable now, with local feel in the wine. I suggest subscribers use the Search engine for 2011 notes - start at **(*) and upwards.

Growing Season

EARLY JUNE 2012

the growing season is taking off now, with flowering on the go in the Southern Rhône. Temperatures have been creeping up, but rain has come in handy bursts in the second half of May, helping the lacklustre reserves of the vineyards. However, drama has struck in Provence - in late May the central Var departement, based around Brignoles and the Issole river, was ravaged by a ferocious hail storm, which left banks of snow along the Autoroute to Nice, and, worse still, thousands of hectares of vineyards devastated. Growers spoke of hail stones the size of apples. The 2012 vintage is severely reduced as a result, and because of the force of the stones on the vine woods and next year`s shoots, it is likely that 2013 has also been cut back. The line between "good rain" and "bad rain" can be a very fine one. The area is seeking government aid after this catastrophe.

In Britain, events are lively with widespread celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II`s 60 years on the throne. She stood in cold rain for over 4 hours on Sunday 3 June admiring the flotilla of boats including friends of mine who were rowing down the Thames in London, and showed her great stamina in the process (she is 86 now). As a link to the Rhône, I think the GUIGAL family should be pleased at her naming of her steeplechaser HARVEST SONG (she always takes enormous trouble over the naming of her racehorses, the art being to link both sides of the pedigree). Harvest Song`s sire was Sadler`s Wells, and his dam La Mouline. Yo, Marcel!

February Frosts

MID MAY 2012

now that buds are coming out, the sombre black shadows in the vineyards show the damage wrought by the frost of early February, 2012. Julien Mus, owner of the promising DOMAINE DE LA GRAVEIRETTE, which has vineyards at CÔTES DU RHÔNE and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, told me: "It is very mixed between one plant and the next; I have some plots where I have 15-20% dead Grenache of 60 to 80 years`old. My average is a loss of around 10%, I think."

Growers at Rasteau, Beaumes-de-Venise and the Northern Rhône tell a similar story. Temperatures were around -11°C on Monday 6 February, accompanied by a Mistral wind of 110 km, which brought in a severe wind chill factor. Old vines have been worst hit, perhaps simply because they were old. But contrary to the big freeze of 1956, olive trees have surivived. However, an 80-year old at Rasteau recounted that in all his life he had never seen a frozen pine tree - until this year.

Linking 1956 and 2012 was a warm period before the big freeze, with the sap high up in the vines. Pruning was on hold - for the sensible. Apparently some foolhardy folk tried to carry on pruning, but the branches would just snap, even before the cutters were rendered insane by the wind and the cold. The DOMAINE DE FENOUILLET at BEAUMES-DE-VENISE lost old Muscat in some quantity: "our Muscat was hardest hit by the frosts," Patrick Soard told me; "One plot has 20% of its vines dead, and 60% are just budding now, way behind the others, in mid-May. Our worst hit vines had not even yet been pruned". So the frost took out pruned and non-pruned vines alike. Total losses of around 10% mean that a low crop may be in prospect, since the weather has been very mixed during April and May - 2 days of 32-34°C at the end of the first week of May were followed by a drop of at least 10°C, and mid-May has been marked by sun, cool nights, and days not exceeding 24°C, with rain on the weekend of Ascension.

Cool April

EARLY MAY 2012

a cool April, when the vines stagnated according to some growers, has ended. The main benefit was the rainfall, after an exceedingly dry March. At Condrieu André Perret recounted that at Chavanay they had received 130 mm (5.2 in) in April, while Anthony Vallet at Saint-Joseph told me that the Viognier was advancing ahead of the Syrah. The rain has , of course, been very popular in the Southern Rhône, where early May temperatures are around 20°C.

The DECANTER World Wine Awards week saw bling hit the Rhône in London. Usually the Panel of which I am Chairman gives 2 or 3 Gold Medals, after a few early years with none at all(2012 was the 9th year). This year, in the last week of April, we went haywire, and awarded 9 Gold Medals, and numerous Silvers. Most encouragingly, most of these wines were inexpensive, and featured, with no surprise, the fantastic 2010 vintage for all the reds, and the lovely 2011 vintage for the two white Gold Medals. The wines were all tasted blind, and their ID is not yet known, but I have a put a list of them under GOINGS-ON. ALLEZ RHÔNE!

ALLEZ CORNAS! The life and times of our Cheval Mascot have been at the bottom of the slope, metaphorically, recently, on the less noble terroir. He had an expedition to Auteuil Racecourse in the west of Paris, where Ernest Hemingway used to spend time, but unfortunately misjudged the Water Jump (different obstacle to the ones in Britain), and fell. He returned to England and a week later ran at Sandown Park, a track he likes, and finished last of 8 runners in a top 2 mile chase. Un peu fatigué, the Noble Beast. He may have a small holiday now. Hats off to CORNAS, none the less. His fan mail continues to grow.

News

MID-APRIL 2012

news that the good Séguret DOMAINE DE CABASSE, which has run a restaurant and rooms for over 30 years, has been sold. The Swiss family Haeni and their fellow Swiss investors have withdrawn, and the estate has been bought by Monsieur Benoit Baudry from the Loire, a man who previously worked in Insurance. The tender style of their wines has been a pleasure to drink, and Nicolas Haeni will continue with 4 hectares at Séguret, high up behind the Domaine de Mourchon. The hotel will have a few changes, and is due to re-open in June, 2012.

ENTERED RECENTLY: a full review of 2010 CROZES-HERMITAGE REDS and WHITES, both very successful. Click on the 2010 NORTHERN RHÔNE tab, then the subtab THE LEADING WINES. 

A good collection of 2010 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE WHITES has been entered, while around 25 2009 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE WHITES have been posted, with a definite upgrade after their bottling. The 2009s are rich and well-installed wines that are food-friendly; the 2010s are fresher. Look for the LVT 2009 wh or LVT 2010 wh tag for The Last Vintage of white tasted under the Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaines. The best 2010 VILLAGES and CÔTES DU RHÔNE REDS from these Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers have also been put up, following a February 2012 tasting.

Hot Weather

APRIL 2012

a surge of hot, stable weather has propelled the vineyards forward, and growers face the prospect of a dry year as well. Water reserve levels are low, as they are all along the eastern side of France and England; there are widespread parts of England that start hosepipe bans in the first week of April, 2012. for instance. Yes, England. Forage costs are rising, as they did last summer as well.

The charade known as Bordeaux 2011 primeur is about to kick off, with bitchy comments abounding about who has or has not got prior access to the wines. I fight hard to preserve the sanity of the Rhône in the British market, where magazines want immediate reviews that in turn only serve to give interest-free cash flow to wine merchants as punters buy their offerings up to 15-18 months ahead of delivery. I would signal two recent offers of 2010 Rhône, NOT 2011, from Haynes Hanson & Clark http://www.hhandc.co.uk/and Vine Trail http://www.vinetrail.co.uk/ The former - more a Burgundy, Bordeaux house, but good men of the Turf - have picked up the highly promising ROAIX estate of DOMAINE PIQUE-BASSE, while the latter remain a benchmark maison for hand-made, often organic wines of true character. Note their CAIRANNE ORATOIRE SAINT MARTIN, for instance.

Cornas

APRIL 2012

ENTERED RECENTLY: see RECENT TASTINGS, and once logged in, click on 2011 ORGANIC RHÔNES for a tasting held in late March 2012 in Paris involving the longtime organic estates DARD & RIBO at CROZES-HERMITAGE, DOMAINE GRAMENON in the CÔTES DU RHÔNE and the more recent DOMAINE ROMANEAUX-DESTEZET at SAINT-JOSEPH. Also, more entries of 2010 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE REDS and 2010 GIGONDAS wines.

CORNAS (Cheval Mascot) ALERT: VineTrail pay a fair amount of the feed and keep of CORNAS, our Cheval Mascot, so we must report that he ran 8th in a field of 21 over 2 miles at Cheltenham in March. He travelled in the first four for much of the race, but younger legs got away from him on the downhill run towards the stands. His next mission will be in France. He ran at Cheltenham mainly because his trainer, Nick Williams, was busy saddling 4 horses at Cheltenham, and had no stable staff who spoke French available to take him to France. Next time I will ask for volunteers from readers who would enjoy a little sortie avec le Bon Cheval, plus some bistrot grub near Enghien. CORNAS being saddled pre-race at Cheltenham, March 2012, below: ALLEZ CORNAS!!

British WIne Trade

MID-MARCH 2012

the British wine trade has been shaken up by further consolidation, this time in the form of BERRY BROS & RUDD, Berry Brothers to most of us, buying RICHARDS & WALFORD, agents based in the potato growing area of Lincolnshire. Roy Richards and Mark Walford were the first British merchants to take an interest in the Rhône after Gerald Asher and Robin Yapp, going back to the early 1970s. They have an impressive number of estates on their books. Berrys have really taken a big view on the potential of the Rhône, even though it is still tiny compared to their Bordeaux trade. They assembled about 25 growers in London at the end of February for their tasting of 2010s.

CORNAS (Cheval Mascot) ALERT: the famous horse, who receives fan mail e-mails here from around the world, runs at Cheltenham in the mighty meeting of the whole year, on Friday 16 March, in the 2 mile handicap chase, the Grand Annual. He will have a young rider taking 5 lbs off his back. He has had a winter break, and we hope he can run well. His odds are around 25/1 at the moment. I recently opened a bottle of 1990 CORNAS A.CLAPE for the VERNAYS and YVES GANGLOFF of CONDRIEU, for JEAN-MICHEL GÉRIN of CÔTE-RÔTIE, and for PIERRE-JEAN VILLA, who makes SAINT-JOSEPH as well. They all found it stunning. ALLEZ CORNAS (VIN et CHEVAL)!!

Round up

MID-MARCH 2012

ENTERED RECENTLY, a round-up of over 165 2010 CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE REDS that rate 3 stars or higher. See 2010 SOUTHERN RHÔNE in the left-hand column - click the subtag The Leading Wines. The main tranche is starting to be bottled now, and these are usually high quality, complex, delightful wines; the early bottled wines - within 11 months of the harvest - can be agreeable, but simple. I prefer 2010 to 2009 across the board - it has much better balance and freedom.

Vinisud

MARCH 2012

VINISUD at MONTPELLIER, celebrating its 10th edition, was a very busy show for me, but for the exhibitors Day 3 was light; the first day, Monday, was full of Cavistes, French wine store owners. The halls became hot on the afternoons of Day 2 and day 3, and on the communal tables where domaines put 1 or 2 bottles of their wines to taste, their stand being elsewhere, about 1 in 25 bothered to provide ice and cold water to keep their whites and rosés in shape: simple rules of the game that people are incredibly lax about.

My star moment was on Day 1, when I arrived before the start. I was happily tasting 2010 RED VENTOUX (a very good vintage there) at 09.20 when approached by a silver-haired man in a blue blazer. What ho, I thought - a cordial welcome in prospect. From a distance, I thought I heard him say that it was not good for the palate to taste before 10.00 in the morning. I replied that I was used to it, so don`t worry about me. But no, he didn`t want me to taste at all. As I was in the Palais de la Mediterranée, it turned out that he was telling me that I could not taste in the Palais - his Palace - (but palais also = palate) before 10.00 o`clock. The wines were all laid out, open, ready. Is this how the French CONTINUE to do business, I ask you?? Lots of people attend from far-flung continents, and are still met with this sort of pedantry. INCROYABLE. I continued to taste and note, nevertheless, insisting that I had come a long way to meet him, and the wines. So there. I tell you, it`s not easy, this tasting lark.

YOU CAN`T CALL IT VIN ON AIR: Another "Only in France" vignette was the Télématin broadcast on 30 January, 2011. On the France 2 channel, this is a very popular programme anchored by the charming, urbane William Leymergie, who in this case was dealing with the show`s food reporter Isabelle Martinet. Her item was on bread, and three types of bread including Speciality Bread, namely one made in Lyon with Beaujolais wine in it. Amid giggles as if they were discussing someone else`s illicit affair, neither person, paid by the State to do the job, could bring themselves to utter the word Vin, Wine. We had "the product of the local vineyard", the "red-coloured liquid" and so on. William tried to say that it was not their fault that they were speaking this way, but it is a deplorable state of affairs all round. Growers I have met in New York in the past have actually said to me how much they enjoy their overseas visits, since "at least there we are not regarded as peddlers of drugs."

I find this INCROYABLE (bis), and I am not alone; the growers of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are thoroughly fed up as well, as should be all vignerons. I have subsequently spoken to sources close to the seat of power, literally, and was told that there is the No Alcohol Advertising edict on French TV, but this really takes a large Hovis biscuit, especially since the Boulanger happily spoke about Le Vin de Beaujolais when filmed making the bread.

For this piece of nonsense, see http://telematin.france2.fr/?page=chronique&id_article=34781

2010 VINTAGE: Further confirmation came of the star quality of the 2010 vintage, both North and South, although my main focus was on the Southern Rhône. Notes will be posted on some lovely wines, with STGT qualities, such as the CÔTES DU RHÔNE CLAVIN red from DOMAINE DE LA VIEILLE JULIENNE, a vineyard bang next to the Daumens` CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE. The cool nights and fresh, even ripening, has really allowed the land to speak in this vintage.

2011 VINTAGE: a first proper look at some 2011s, mostly whites and rosés, shows that this is an easy drinking, restaurant-related year, the wines coming out nicely sunny and supple. Off we go, indeed. The challenge may well be for the top domaines to achieve a proper tannic structure to make the wines interesting and capable of a purposeful second stage of life. The other total pre-requisite was to sort out the vast crop. There will be w.o.w. wines in 2011, and that is helpful, given the big structures of the 2010 and 2009.

Asimov

MID-FEBRUARY 2012

ERIC ASIMOV, who is the best New York Times wine correspondent in my memory, has written a wistful, attractive piece on CÔTE-RÔTIE in early February, 2012. Eric is a writer who likes to think outside the usual areas when describing wine and the issues surrounding it, and he also like to go into the wide context behind vineyards, wines and their winemakers. In this way, he resembles to some extent the Proven maestro, the Doyen, as I call him, namely Gerald Asher, for long the man at the vinous helm of the good ship Gourmet Magazine.

Eric contacted me prior to writing the piece whose link is posted below, and some of the answers I gave him are reproduced below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/reviews/cote-rotie-and-its-various-styles-the-pour.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hpw 

The discourse is really on what one terms traditional. I can think of Levet (Neal Rosenthal imports it, as you know) and that is traditional, gamey, fungal, wild, has flaws but emerges the right side. It may have Brett for the white coat police. Barge is also more traditional. Louis Clerc`s family is also trad, also Gallet (but flaws here and there), also Domaine Bernard (good wines, but not funky). Jasmin was traditional (I drank my last personally bottled magnum of 1971 just before Christmas, made by Georges Jasmin, and it was in very good, drinkable shape, a super level, too, the fruit delicate and typical. One careful, conscientious owner, few kilometres on the clock). Nowadays the Domaine Jasmin is not traditional, but the fruit is clearer, has more cutting edge. Ah ha. The fruit is clearer. Does that mean pristine?

If you look at the fruit profile of many Côte-Rôties today, the fruit for me correctly resembles northern climes, even Pinot Noir. I expect greater liaison between Côte-Rôtie and Burgundy than I do between Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. Maybe I have changed, but I think that link was always a feature, but was clouded by indifferent winemaking, dodgy harvesting dates and so on in the past, especially when I set out in 1973. In this clear fruit camp I would place Jamet (ie v clean trad), Duclaux, Garon, Clusel Roch (wonderful, organic, detailed, precise, terroir = trad or modern? Answer: in between, with modern meaning good vineyard and cellar practices), Billon, Joel Champet. Modern modern would be J-M Gérin, Vins de Vienne (although they have been throttling back on oak), Bonserine, Bonnefond. Stéphane Ogier is de-modernizing, as I bet him in my book in 2005, ie his wine is less extracted and less oaked up. Stéphane Pichat is modern, but his fruit is darned good, including on his vin de pays.

Note that I have left René Rostaing out: fruit precision, Burgundian = what? Modern? Rostaing is not trad but it is fruit and terroir-expressive. And of course Guigal, who makes Guigal.

For me, modern is some way towards better winemaking, and yes, it involves obvious oak, in the Burgundian vein, but the wines draw together and sparkle over time, so we come back to the word precise. They are also made from destemmed crop, of course, as opposed to the whole bunch methods of my youth.

So I see genuine Côte-Rôtie as alive and well, capable of expressing the crystal-clear Syrah fruit that is not found at most of Hermitage, the latter being rounder and plumper. This precision is helped by Côte-Rôtie`s northern placing in the Valley.

Recent additions

MID-FEBRUARY 2012

ENTERED RECENTLY a review of the glorious 2010 HERMITAGE WHITES placed under 2010 NORTHERN RHÔNE in the left-hand column - click the subtag The Leading Wines and scroll down past 2010 HERMITAGE RED.

Recent additions

EARLY FEBRUARY 2012

ENTERED RECENTLY visits and talk with LOUIS BARRUOL of CHÂTEAU DE SAINT COSME at GIGONDAS, especially his vins de table and cheaper merchant wines.

Also, both at RASTEAU, GEORGES PERROT of DOMAINE LA COLLIÈRE as well as the newly entered DOMAINE GOURT DE MAUTENS. 

New entries also: the respectable CHÂTEAU SAINT LOUIS PERDRIX at COSTIÈRES DE NIMES, and the above-average VENTOUX Co-operative CAVE TERRAVENTOUX which combines Villes-sur-Auzon and Mormoiron. Look at DOMAINE DE LA RENJARDE at MASSIF D`UCHAUX and DOMAINE DE L`AMAUVE at SÉGURET for the latest vintages there - both very good names in their Appellations.

The Wine Society

LATE JANUARY 2012

the last week of January heralds the issue of proper 2010 Rhône offers from two highly respected sources in Britain, The Wine Society (which is a Members Society on http://www.thewinesociety.com/ and Berry Brothers of London, http://www.bbr.com/ The Wine Society offer, for example, features 180 wines from North and South. These are correctly timed offers, allowing the importers main men to have assesed the wines recently, when they are closer to their final nature than they are back in October and November.

2012

JANUARY 2012 NEWS

a Happy 2012 to all readers and subscribers. The year beckons the release of the exceptional 2010s, and an emerging picture of the 2011 vintage, which is undoubtedly uneven in quality, implying careful selection on a domaine by domaine basis.

JEAN-JACQUES SABON: The extremely sad news just before Christmas was of the death of Jean-Jacques Sabon, the owner of Domaine Roger Sabon at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Jean-Jacques was an ebullient, witty man with whom I was lucky enough to be a good friend; he attended my 50th birthday party lunch at La Mère Germaine, and was in great form then, as he was at any social event. He was a man of different interests, ranging beyond wine.

After his first bout of cancer a few years ago, Jean-Jacques fought back and developed a skill that he felt he had possessed for some time, without previously giving it full attention: this was his ability to use his hands to magnetise people, to cure them of aches and muscle ailments. Magnetiseur is the term in French, I believe. This was a fascinating ability, and while he had been suffering severely himself, he selflessly took to helping others in pain or distress.

The most extraordinary and compelling Rhône white wine that I have ever drunk was the Roger Sabon 1934 white which I drank with Jean-Jacques and the well-known merchant and ex-vineyard owner Robert Dahm of Domaine de Terre Ferme in the mid-1990s. We lunched at the Sommellerie on the route to Roquemaure, and found the wine oxidised, flat and severe, when we opened it at the start of lunch. After the main course, Jean-Jaques suggested we re-try the wine. What an experience! It was as if the clouds had been chased away, the sun had come out, and all was well with our young and fresh world. Made mainly from Grenache blanc and Clairette, the malo of course completed, this was spectacular - rich and lasting, a storming bottle. Jean-Jacques was delighted, since 1934 had been the year of  a family wedding, and several bottles remained in his cellar - we had chosen one with a good high level in the bottle.

Didier Negron, Jean-Jacques` son-in-law, has been running the estate in the past few years, and I send my condolences to Jean-Jacques` widow and to him. Jean-Jacques illuminated my life, and the lives of many others.

MORE ON GIGONDAS BOOK: an early, complete and whimsical review of the book has been posted up on http://www.les5duvin.com/article-les-40-ans-de-gig-et-le-livre-qui-va-avec-95367051.html by Frenchman Michel Smith (despite his surname) who is one of 5 bloggers  including Jim Budd, famous for his wine scandal sleuthing (think Campogate) and his knowledge of the Loire Valley. Michel knows the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon well (has published a good book on the latter). It is in French, for those who comprend la situation, and Michel is very enthusiastic. 

GIGONDAS, Its Wines, Its Land, Its People was published in mid-December, 2011. I am pleased. This has been a project that lasted over three years, with several contributors. It is a true close-up of a wine village and community, with sections on the History of Gigondas, on its Geology, on its Domaines and on its Wines. I rate it as the most intimate and detailed portrait of a wine village ever produced, with sumptuous photographs. 500 pages, 1.9 kilos. Like a baby. Click on Gigondas Book in the Left Hand column to order.

MY SECTION: I have written the last named section, covering the vintages from 1959 to 2009. I have been back to my tasting notes from 1973-1974, and been able to compare those impressions with current impressions of the wines nearly 40 years later. It is a genuine archive with the odd personal story thrown in, nothing too stiff in the prose. The book is available in France from the Growers website http://www.gigondas-vin.com/ and for outside France it can be bought through drinkrhone - click on the left-hand tab Gigondas Book. I send the orders on to Gigondas for despatch from there. The book is in both French and English. The price is £35, pounds sterling, inc postage.

CORNAS (Cheval Mascot) alert: the game, gallant Cornas ran in the best 2-mile steeplechase before Christmas at Sandown Park on Saturday 3 December, yes, the best one. He finished an admirable third behind the Irish champion, perhaps his best ever run. His attitude is wonderfully Cornasien - whatever the challenge, he has a go. I know he is applauded by readers, and his recognition continues to exceed that of the Mayor of Cornas. Fittingly, he ran on the middle day of the Marché aux Vins de Cornas, which perhaps aided his propulsion - so many gathered under the one roof, in the one Syrah of the Ardèche cause. Allez Cornas! He will now have a holiday before running in Paris in the spring, early summer. Very fancy.

2010 Northern Rhône notes have been loaded on a wide selection of Cornas, Hermitage red and Côte-Rôtie. See the left-hand tab 2010 Northern Rhône, and once logged in, click on the subtab The Leading Wines. Domaine visits to Marc Sorrel and Bernard Faurie are also featured, under Hermitage. Under Vin de Pays, I suggest a look at the most promising Domaine Les Alexandrins, a Northern sector venture co-run by Marc Sorrel`s son Guillaume. From 2011 they will be offering a Crozes-Hermitage red, but for now their red from 85% Gamay and their Viognier are very good in 2010.

mid November 2011: well, 2010 Northern Rhône is indeed a beauty, as I can testify having tasted 350+ wines recently, with Côte-Rôtie up in the stars, and Cornas (the wine for once, not our noble Cheval Mascot, who came second the other day in a top race at Exeter) delivering superb fruit and quality. A supreme Cornas vintage, so it is, yer honour. The whole area is well off, and the whites from the Marsanne and the Roussanne are superb, rich and food-friendly. Notes to be posted under different domaines. Look for the LVT (last Vintage Tasted) 2010 tag.

In the Southern Rhône, visits to three domaines at Châteauneuf-du-Pape to taste 2010s and some 2009s in bottle: Font de Michelle (which includes their very promising Gonnet Selection range, eg Ventoux and Gigondas), Vieux Télégraphe (which includes their Gigondas Les Pallières) and the Bruniers other Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine La Roquète, and the Château de Beaucastel, where the estate wines were tasted, along with the wider range, whose name has changed from Perrin & Fils to Famille Perrin (I note on the internet that there is a silk manufacturer in France called Perrin & Fils, but I bet their silk wasn`t as good as that in the Gigondas Vieilles Vignes 2010).  

News

early November 2011

the campaign to sell the 2010s is speeding up, as merchants have dollar signs in their eyes, recognising the quality of the vintage. For once, the facts support this. I looked through some 2008 claims for en primeur wines the other day, and one has to say, REALLY! En primeur can be good if you want a good wine in short supply from a stable, good quality vintage, but for easy drinking wines from lesser vintages, paying early and up front when the wine has not even been assembled is a nonsense.  Look at 2010 Northern Rhône, then click its sub tab The Leading Wines, for some summaries on each appellation in this sainted vintage. A big drive on the 2010s will occur this month - many tastings are planned.

Cellar news

mid-October 2011

the cellar news is good from the Valley. At Gigondas, Louis Barruol of  Château Saint Cosmelikens 2011 to 2000 in terms of quality. "I finished harvesting on 1 October, with potentially high degrees bugging me, so it was two weeks early this year," he related. "The physiological maturity was similar to 2001, not bad at all, and the wines have good colour and tannin levels." Louis has been running hither and thither even more than usual, since our collaboration on a book entitled GIGONDAS Its Wines, Its Land, Its People is about to see the light of day next month. This will also appear in French, which has been a lot of hard work for yours truly, vous savez. Close-up details to follow next month.

At Saint-Joseph, Jean Gonon of Domaine Gonon, whose father Pierre has recently died (see Goings-On), told me that they were satisfied, having been worried in early September that, while the grapes seemed ripe, they weren`t actually ripe. "We had 1 mm of rain on 3 September and 4 mm on 5 September, which was decisive, and we picked the white crop from 6-9 September, then paused and did the rest on 21-22 September. The Syrahs were harvested from 12 September. The only Syrah destemming was on the young vines` crop. The whites are 14° -14.2°, and the Syrah is 12.9° -13.9°. Papa died the day after our last vat had been pressed, the next day, which was somehow appropriate after his illness."

Horse News

early October 2011

CORNAS, our Cheval Mascot, finished a highly distinguished second in his race at Enghien, chasing home the local star mare (he is a gelding, so please cast aside any thoughts in that direction). He raced prominently, and just tired after the last fence. It was a typically Cornasien effort, gritty and plucky, and in unknown territory among the Gauls and their fiery punters he held the drapeau high. BIEN FAIT, CORNAS!

Previously: CORNAS emerges from his summer holidays in Devon, the South-West of England, on a bold cross-Channel venture. He races on Friday 7 October, at Enghien, near Paris, in a 2 mile, 3 furlong or 3,800 metres steeplechase worth €100,000. There is a field of nine, and the jumps involve obstacles such as an Earth Wall, a hurdle, an Oxer, an Open Ditch and a sinister-sounding Talus Breton. He was 41/1 a few hours before the race. ALLEZ CORNAS! BONNE CHANCE, CORNAS! You remain better known internationally than the Mayor of Cornas.

Vinifications have been proceeding smoothly, with the last week of September and the first week of October providing a wonderful Indian summer - early mornings at around 10°, then days moving to 27°-29°C at Côte-Rôtie, for instance. From there, Nicole Levet from Domaine Levet told me that they were about to finish the last pressings on 6 October, their fermentations and macerations lasting about three weeks all told. "We harvested in four days between 12 and 16 September," she related; "I noticed that some growers started too soon this year; we had a lost week from 20 to 28 August, when the degree didn`t move at all, while in the two weeks up until 12 September, the gain was 2°. I told our daughter Agnès to be steady, to be patient. It`s also true that domaines are often larger than they were 10 years ago, and feel the need to get the crop in quickly. We can harvest our whole vineyard in around four and a half days, using a regular team of 12 people that include a policeman, a fireman, retired friends and young people not in work." Madame Levet is the daughter of Marius Chambeyron, one of the pillars of Ampuis back in the 1960s and 1970s, and her experience reaches a long way.

News

late September 2011

the later regions are swinging into action, content with affairs. From Beaumes-de-Venise where they have vineyards at 400 to 500 metres, Etienne de Menthon of Château Redortier, told me: we started on 17 September, as the high heat started to ease, which meant that we were bringing in grapes at 17°-18°C instead of 27°-28°C, so our fermentations started better. A storm of 11 mm (0.45 in) on the night of 17-18 September was also useful. We have had coulure (flowers but no fruit) high up this year, whereas the Grenache has been plentiful down on the plain. We will harvest over 20 days with a team of 14, and expect to finish about 8-10 October."

Good Year

mid-September 2011

Adrien Fabre, who runs two family estates, the Domaine La Florane at the Village of Visan, and the Domaine de l`Echevin at improving Village Saint-Maurice, speaks well of his prospects for 2011. "There are unusual patterns this year, but I am very happy. Our usually late ripening zones at Saint-Maurice and Visan are two weeks earlier than normal, indeed are the first to ripen. Since I have been with my wife Marie-Claire Michel [of Le Vieux Donjon at Châteauneuf-du-Pape], it is the first time that I have a lot of vineyards in advance of her - we are normally two weeks behind, but have had at least half their amount of rain. Draw a line at Tulette, and the vineyards north of that part of the Eygues Valley have had much lower rainfall in June, July and August this year. It is a beau vintage, grosso modo. The Syrah is not very productive after its busy 2010, and was also hit by Mistral at flowering. Tannins are ripe, there are low acidities, and the mix of hot days and cool nights have helped us. I will harvest my Grenache from 20 September - its stems are starting to turn colour and ripen. The Syrah is running at around 13.5°, while it will be another year for high degree Grenache - 14.5°-15°, at least."

Good news from the northern sector of the Southern Rhône, notably at Vinsobres, always a later ripening region. Philippe Chaume of the benchmark Domaine Chaume-Arnaud told me: "it is better than we expected - this is down to the last three weeks of fine weather that has allowed the Grenache to ripen. The Grenache has unusually lagged the other varieties this year, but it has got going thanks to the heat, including I reckon the warm nights, since around 20 August. The cool July meant that ripening has been uneven this year, unlike 2009 and 2010. It is close to 30°C today (15 Sept), and the Mistral has dropped since yesterday. It may be a bit cloudy this weekend, the 17-18 September, but the outlook is good. I will start on my Grenache next week, and my chums are doing roughly the same. So far, the style is well-fruited, and colour extraction in the Syrah and Cinsault I`ve picked so far has been quickly achieved."

Disaster

second week of September 2011

the bad news of Monday 12 September is that of a morning fire at the nuclear plant of Marcoule in the Gard département, next to the River Cèze and the Rhône Village of Chusclan. One man is missing, another is seriously injured after the fire in a furness burning waste materials including clothing and gloves. The better news is that there has been no leakage of any nuclear or radioactive material. Marcoule is a subsidiary of the French electricity company EDF. The news was released by firemen at the scene. Local growers and families are understandably jittery, but the nature of the accident indicates an industrial problem at the plant rather than anything more widespread.Before 12 September, there has been more evidence that the Rhône will be one of the favoured regions of France's tricky 2011 vintage. From the Northern part of the Valley, the vintage has turned out to be precocious after all at Côte-Rôtie, and the crop is ample. Alice Barge, the wife of Gilles Barge, related that they had started their Condrieu on Monday 5 September, and had picked half of it, but were waiting until next week, commencing 12 September, for the other half. There are signs that the Viognier has ripened in a stop-go manner this year if the siting of the vines has not been full south on noble terroir. "We have harvested our Côte-Rôtie Syrah on the Côtes Brune and Blonde, at good degrees, and we don't think there is much to gain by waiting further," she told me, adding that on Friday 9 September, they were working on their 1990 Syrah at Chavanay, destination their Saint-Joseph Clos des Martinets.

A few days here and there in the date of harvesting will count this year, since ripening has not been uniform. Those growers with a strong will should emerge in good shape, especially given the stable forecast for the period towards the third week of September. Louis Drevon of Domaine de Rosiers at Côte-Rôtie has 27 plots to harvest, all in the northern sector, over his 7.4 hectares. He told me: "I am starting on Saturday 10 September, on the Côte Baudin. [Baudin is a lower slope, on the Brune side, just to the north of Ampuis]. It is quite a big crop, that is attractive and sympathique. I will be picking the Côte Rozier [higher, more schist] three or four days later, which is normal. The potential degree is 12.4° to 12.6°. The ripening is well balanced between the mid and high slopes, also the plateau. 30 people will complete the harvest in six days. Looking ahead for the coming week, the only risk is a storm on Sunday 11 September. A lot of people are harvesting now."

From Condrieu, Paul Amsellem of Domaine Georges Vernay reported that the first weekend of September storm had brought around 50 mm (2 in) of rain, but an accompanying phenomenon. "After the rain a few days before, the grapes did not expand," he recounted; "after the second rain of 4 September, they did. The moon changed from waning to waxing in the period between the two rainfalls, so the grapes took on the water under the waxing moon, and the degree fell as a result. We have therefore stopped harvesting, and because there has been a good 10-day forecast, we are waiting on all fronts, both for the half of our Condrieu not yet harvested, and for all our Syrah, including the vin de pays. It has risen from 23-24°C earlier this week to 28°C today, the 9 September, and there is a light southern breeze that is bringing heat to permit ripening. The week ahead is stable, with temperatures around the 25-26°C mark."

In the Southern Rhône, hrvesting is in full swing at Châteauneuf-du-Pape under stable weather conditions. At Le Vieux Donjon, the high quality 15 hectare domaine, Marie-Josée Michel gave me this realistic rundown: "we harvested our Roussanne last week, and today, 9 September, we picked a little of our Syrah and Cinsault. The rest of the white crop, the Clairette, won't be picked for another ten days, as goes for our main vineyard on Les Pialons, which we would probably harvest the week starting 19 September. We work with 20 people, including 15 cutters, while our permanent staff do the sorting, and we have emptiers (videurs) of the buckets as well keeping an eye on quality. 2011 will be very difficult - the crop is large, and we had hail in May on Les Pialons [N-E of the village] which may turn out to have been helpful by reducing crop. I see enormous fat grapes everywhere this year, and the young vines have a lot of crop - so this year will boil down to a question of management - how you deal with such a harvest. We are in effect on a razor's edge vis-a-vis rain this year - any more and we will be in trouble. What we need is 15-20 days of really super fine weather, but at least we have had a good week of Mistral just now."

Gigondas as usual is later, which helps when the area receives early September rains - less ripe skins are more resistant to degradation. At the Domaine de Pesquier, father Guy and son Mathieu Boutière spoke highly of the year: "there is a lot of Grenache this year, but that issue is arranged if you sort it," remarked Guy. "We have been picking our vin de pays crop at Sablet. We had some Mistral in the last week, with temperatures around 28-30°C, and it looks magnificent." Mathieu added: "the Grenache has been slow ripening this year, prompted I reckon by its large yield. In the last week of August I went round with three colleagues dropping grapes over 10 days, spotting any bunches that were still pink. Houses that do well will be those that have taken the trouble to discard crop. The yield is full, and we have been allowed an increase to 38 hl/ha for 2011. We have no rot fears, and it is very dry now. The early September rains helped to free up the plants after the high heat of August. I expect to start on my most precocious Gigondas at Pallieroudas [low area near the Ouvèze River] next week, the 12 September, especially on the Syrah whose skins are cracking a bit here and there. Vacqueyras will be harvested next week, and Gigondas - the main Grenache - will be the week around 20 September. The old Grenache crop [1930s on Pesquier] has done well - it is homogenous, and will only need a last-minute sorting at harvest time."

Rainfall Troubles

early September 2011

slight unease in the camp now, with rain in the Southern Rhône across the weekend of 3-4 September. From Gigondas, Stéphanie Fumoso, maker of fine wines at Domaine du Gour de Chaulé, voiced a reality in saying, "it is not a simple vintage to vinify this year - it seems to me that fermentations should not last long; we have degrees around 13.8-14.2°, which is OK, but stalks are still green. We had a hard fall of 20 mm (0.8 in) in 90 minutes at tea time yesterday, and it is raining today, Sunday 4 September. We need Mistral to blow behind this. The Syrah is close in maturity to the Grenache this year. No-one has started to harvest at Gigondas, although growers have been picking their white crop at Sablet and Vacqueyrasjust now."

Nearby at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the talented, young Julien Barrot of Domaine La Barroche was in relaxed mode: "we had just 6 mm (0.25 in) on Saturday 3 September, yesterday, and it is raining now. A maximum of 50 mm (2 in) rain will be OK. I will probably attack my ripe Syrah and Cinsault on 7-8 September. The total key this year has been to drop grapes or green harvest, to get rid of a lot of crop - 2011 is a bit like 2000 and 2001 in its volume of grapes. People who have dropped crop will make the best wines this year. After three small crops, you had to keep your head and not go for too much this year. I will be on to my Grenache around mid-September. I note that the Mourvèdre is early this year, not far off ready now."

Across the river from Avignon, the leading Côtes-du-Rhône Château de Montfaucon`s owner Rodolphe de Pins, gave me the following rundown: "I harvested my Viognier early this year - on 19 August, at 13°, which was very good, and then my Marsanne four days later at 12.2° to 12.8°. I have harvested a lot of my red crop, perhaps 60%. There is a lot of fragility in the grapes this year because of the large volume. It`s a fruit year. I observed that a two-speed ripening happened after the very abundant start: the really laden vines lagged behind those that were less charged, the latter around 25-35 hl/ha. There are potentially a few vast yields around - some Co-operatives talk of 100 hl/ha. Mid-August was when I was really worried: we had had humid summer heat, and the Grenache was starting to show signs of rot, but the small wave of high heat around 33-35°C in late August headed that off, and saved the foliage from degradation. We had 4-5 mm (0.2 in) of rain yesterday on 3 September, and 25 mm (1 in) today after a big storm. The outlook is for 26-28°C this week, with an agreeable, not too strong, Mistral wind behind. I will probably resume picking on 6 September, and have been using twice as many people as usual this year, given the conditions."

From the Northern Rhône, Fabrice Gripa was busy in his cellar decanting his white juice from Saint-Joseph and Saint-Péray, and told me: "I started on 1 September on my most precocious plots, including the lieu-dit Saint-Joseph. The Roussanne and the Marsanne are being harvested at Saint-Péray as I speak. As for the Syrah, it has needed a massive amount of dropping crop this year. I will start on it around 8 September - there is the risk of skins being spoilt and degrees rising if I do nothing, even if there could be a gain in concentration. There may have to be some saignée (bleeding juice off the skins) to help density in the vinification."

From Condrieu, Paul Amsellem of Domaine Georges Vernay, reported that their harvest was under way: "our Coteau de Vernon is always very precocious thanks to its due south exposure, and we harvested it at around 14°, very ripe, on Wednesday 31 August. That night we had a big storm, which varied between 40 mm (1.6 in) and 60 mm (2.4 in) across our different vineyards and brought two power cuts, lots of thunder, but no hail here, although there was some at Sarras in the middle of Saint-Joseph. Around us, others have started but stopped for lack of degree, although I know that Château-Grillet have finished their harvest (Grillet changed to Bordeaux owners this year). Our worry as we speak today, 4 September, is storms and possible hail, but the coming week is expected to be very fine. One unusual aspect is how far in advance the Viognier is of the Syrah this year - when our Viognier was at 14°, our Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph Syrah has been at 10-10.5°. One phenomenon is that the Syrah is doing what has happened for the past two years - despite flowering going very well, there are bunches with green grapes in them, that have to be hand picked out on the sorting table."

No Worries

late August 2011

as much of France struggles under rain, notably Burgundy, from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a report from Vincent Avril of top estate the Clos des Papes: "it is very healthy, with no advance on normal dates now. It is a year of the viticulteur so far - a lot of work has been necessary in the vineyards, especially when you work organically. We have even had to control the grasses between the rows this year. There was danger of mildew before the veraison (grapes changing colour), which took a lot longer than usual this year - three weeks - and also started very early, around 5 July. Debudding and dropping grapes this year have been vital tasks. We reached 37°C in the third week of August, and that rendered a gain in degree between 0.5° and 1° in the grapes. I should think I will start to harvest my Grenache noir at a minimum of 10-15 September. The wines could be powerful if we want a complete ripeness and a good balance. I rate conditions across the whole appellation as very similar."

From the highly popular, top tier Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Daniel Brunier informed me from the work site of his entirely redone vinification cellar: "if we get Mistral wind (north wind), we can make a very grand vintage; if not, we may lack structure, personality. A month of Mistral would be optimal, in the line of 2007 - one wants a late concentration of the juice. It is quite abundant at around 35 hl/ha, and the crop is healthy. We may pick a bit of Roussanne and Grenache blanc before 5 September, and the Syrah and Grenache noir on that Monday. At Gigondas, for our Pallières, there has been a bit less rain than at Châteauneuf; here at Télégraphe, I reckon we had two falls of 30mm (1.2 in) and 45 mm (1.8 in) in July and one of 15 mm (0.6 in) in early August, the last falling on already wet soils. At Gigondas we have had about 30 mm (1.2 in) less overall. Draining soils have performed well this year owing to those summer rains." Meantime at Domaine de la Janasse, the Sabon family started harvesting their white Côtes-du-Rhône crop on Thursday 25 August.

Laurent Charvin of Domaine Charvin in the northern area of Châteauneuf-du-Pape related that his worries of early August had subsided: "well, we received 30 mm (1.2 in) of rain in early August, on the heels of a cool and quite wet July. But now the harvest is handsome, and very well aired after we did a lot of work in the vineyard. Tests say there is a good level of polyphenols, indicating a healthy level of tannin, helped by the cool nights this year. We had a tiny drop of 1.5 mm yesterday. I would expect to start my Côtes-du-Rhône between 5 and 10 September, and my Châteauneuf between 15 and 20 September. Today (Sat Aug 27) here outside the house, there is Mistral blowing a little, blue sky, lightly white clouds, 32°C in the sun, 27°C in the shade, boom, boom."

Across the river at Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, part of the Lirac appellation, Bernard Duseigneur, who works biodynamically, and is a leading name there and at Laudun, gave me a good rundown on events. "It`s been an unusual year - what with the early start, then a rare fresh and humid July, despite which we were still two weeks in advance. The 50 mm (2 in) rain we got on 6 August was also not usual - normally we get storms, but this lasted for 12 hours, so really sank into the soil. I am content with the health of the vineyard, and we are now 7 to 10 days ahead. The grapes are expanded, and the vineyards a sea of green. The varieties are ripening in similar cycles - again, it is unusual to have the Mourvèdre being harvested before the Grenache this year, whereas it is usually 2 to 3 weeks behind. The heat of last week was not more than 34°C, but seemed more because of the South wind. We will start on our whites this Monday 29 August, and the Cinsault and Syrah from around 5 September."

At Vacqueyras, Maxime Bernard of Domaine La Garrigue, maker of traditional, oak-free Vacqueyras and Gigondas, told me: "it is very joli for now, plus we have a normal size crop, around 36 hl/ha. Our last rain was at the end of the first week of August, and Vacqueyras as usual is around 8 to 10 days ahead of Gigondas. Last week we got up to 38°C, but the important thing was that the nights were fresh. Our test on the whites on August 25 showed the Grenache blanc ripening well at 12.5° and the Clairette at 12°. We just need this good weather to continue."

In the Northern Rhône, Michel Chapoutier at Hermitage was full of beans: "it is exceeeptional," he enthused. "We have a larger than usual crop, and will be harvesting the Marsanne on Le Méal about 31 August, the south facing vineyard. We have magnificent rain falling now."

The rain of Friday 26 August amounted to about 40 mm (1.6 in), and came with hail across Crozes-Hermitage, but not enough to seriously worry growers. Laurent Habrard stated: "the rain fell rapidly, all mainly over in 15 minutes. The Chassis also received the rain and some hail. I was really worried, as the sky went so dark around 4 in the afternoon that the village lights came on, as if it was 9 or 10 at night. Now we need sun, and north wind. My Hermitage blanc crop is as pretty as it could be - both from quantity and quality. I have received a comparison of 2011 against the previous ten vintages, and it looks very good. The result is that the Syrah has more tannin and less colour than those other vintages. Clearing the vegetation has been vital this year: the last week of July and first week of August, 10 of us did that to reduce the risk of mildew and oidium. But of course the catch for us working organically is that when hail comes you don`t have the protection from the leaves - not ideal. Today, after the rain, it is around 24°C, and there is a North wind coming up. There is a fine week ahead, with perhaps one day of rain or storm weather in mid-week."

Also at Crozes-Hermitage, Alain Graillot told me that after the hail, he is moving to harvest his white crop earlier than he had planned - "we have had to speed up on that after the hail we received on Les Chassis," he said. He added: "I am reducing my aim for a Grand Vintage to a Good Vintage for the Syrah."

Final Preparations

mid-August 2011

into the home straight now. The next two to three weeks will decide the final style of many of the wines after what has been an irregular ripening season. The topsy turvy nature of the year - all early heat, then little heat, now final heat, will lead to wines that are possibly going to be loose in composition, and fresh rather than intense. We will see, though. Everywhere growers report a large crop.

From the Northern Rhône, a variety of reports, mid-August. Jean-Pierre Monier, biodynamic grower in the middle zone of Saint-Joseph above Saint-Désirat, told me: "the vineyard is very healthy, also very abundant, and we have had to drop grapes. Even the young vines` foliage is green, and still active. I may start to pick the Syrah around 10-12 September, which is 12 days ahead of 2010, and the Viognier in very early September. We had 25-30 mm (1 inch) of rain in July, but August has been dry. We are heading for very handsome skins and pulps, and extractions will be belles if that maintains. We hope it will be dry before the harvest."

At Côte-Rôtie, in the northern schist zone, Brigitte Roch of Clusel-Roch was content: "the vineyard looks well, the vines are healthy. We are still in advance by some way. Our Condrieu Viognier is at 12°, and our Syrah on La Viallière is at 10°. The quantity is normal. In August, we had rain every three days or so, which had been the pattern since the middle of July. Since then we have had around 100 mm (4 inches) of rain, and it hasn`t been very hot. Today, 16 August, though, it is HOT, and sunny. Don`t ask me to tell you the exact temperature!" Madame Duclaux, mother of David Duclaux who is on holiday, reported from the southern, gore-granite zone of Côte-Rôtie that they would harvest around 7 to 12 September, and that the grapes had completed their veraison, or changing of colour.

A few kilometres further south, the talented Francois Merlin, who makes both Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie, stated: "ripening is going well, and the crop will be ready in early September. Yields are good. We had quite a bit of rain in July and August, but that helped, since we were so much ahead of the usual date - now we will end up 8 to 10 days ahead. We have had a bit less rain at Côte-Rôtie than at Saint-Michel, where I have my Condrieu vineyards."

Robert Niéro, whose domaine is on the up, with son Rémi providing impetus, sees matters "getting better. We have cut back on the three weeks advance of the end of May, and now it is the three weeks to come that can sort things out well after the fresh and damp July. We need sun now, we`ve had enough rain. The volume may well be around 40 hl/ha, a good amount, because the individual grapes are very puffed up. We may start on 5 September. Our last big rain was 50 mm (2 inches) around 25-28 July, but what has been good about August has been the fresh nights, down to 10-12°C. On our Châtillon vineyard last Friday afternoon the 12 August, our Viognier was 10°."

From Cornas and Saint-Péray, Jacques Leminicier was as cheerful and breezy as usual. "You may recall I had hail at Cornas in June, when the grapes were still green, but the budding was large, so that was not too bad. I have a lot of crop at Saint-Péray, and have been dropping grapes at Cornas. We have had a bit too much rain in August, maybe 80 mm (3.2 inches) so far. On 14 August we had a big storm, 30 mm (1.2 inches), that was all over in 10 minutes. Now it is super beau. Saint-Péray is ripening well, and I may even harvest the crop for my Cuvée de l`Elegance wine at the end of August."

Down in the Southern Rhône, there has been more rain than in the North this year. At Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Daniel Chaussy of Mas de Boislauzon, a robust, genuine northern sector estate, stated: "it`s not too bad. The summer hasn`t been very hot, we have had two or three rainfalls, but now we need no more rain. On 7 August, there was a fall of 45 mm (1.8 inches) spread across the appellation - that was our last drop. July hasn`t been very hot - 25-28°C against the more usual 30-35°C of recent summers, but now, the 16 August, it is 30°C, and the weather forecasters are announcing fine and hot days for the coming week, going up to 38°C. Until now, the nights have been fresh, around 15-16°C. My Grenache blanc this morning was at 13.2° when I went round the vineyard, so I will pick that soon. The key this year? Drop grapes. In a lot of places, I have cut my crop by half, and even on the old vines I have cut back by 20-25%. It is the first time since I started in 1990 that I have seen so much crop."

Walking around his southern vineyards at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Thiérry Usseglio gave a realistic appraisal: "it`s 35°C today, and now we want good weather, Mistral wind and heat, which is what is expected for the next two weeks. There are lots of bunches on the Grenache, but we have done a lot of debudding and dropping of bunches this year. If we have rain, then rot will become a problem. For now, the vines are good and green, and you can eat the grapes OK, though I have not checked on sucrosity and acidity. This southern area of Châteauneuf-du-Pape has completed its veraison, the colour change of the grapes, whereas it`s only three-quarters done in the northern area. I am confident, but one must be prudent." 

Near Sainte-Cécile, Jean-Marc Espinasse has an interesting organic Côtes-du-Rhône estate, the Domaine Rouge Bleu, whose wines are cool and precise. He reported as follows: "it`s been a strange season this year. We had a cool and wet July, with four falls of around 20-30 mm each (about 1 inch), but that was welcome after the very warm, dry spring. I would say that July was 4-5°C lower than recent years. August has been similar so far, with below regular temperatures, but now it is sunny and hot. We are now only 2 to 3 days ahead of the usual harvest date."

Optimistic

early August 2011

neatly, 1 August signalled a cut-off from the fresh, cool weather that prevailed for much of July in the Rhône. Temperatures have hit 30°C, and the heat is noticeable as much as anything because of its previous absence. The advance, the precocity of the ripening, has been whittled down. This is beneficial, placing acidity levels in better shape, and not allowing an over concentration of the crop. Quantities are better than 2010 and 2009, and for now growers are sanguine about the state of things. When looking at the weather map of France during July, it has been noticeable that the South-East has frequently experienced the warmest, best weather, which is encouraging for the Rhône in national terms.

In the Northern Rhône, Jean-Paul Jamet at Côte-Rôtie stated: "for the moment, things are truly good. The rains that in July amounted to over 100 mm (4 inches) have not hit the health of the vines, and our advance of ripening has come down to 7-10 days from the three weeks previously. The rains have been stormy, but very localised - so Condrieu has had rain, but we not. The falls have often been between 10 mm (0.4 inch) and 20 mm (0.8 inch), which has been very profitable for the soils. I am now maybe looking at harvesting around 18-20 September, as the ripening is now taking its time."

At Saint-Péray, Sandrine Robert of Domaine du Tunnel was in chirpy form: "we are happy; July was not very hot, but we did need the rain that came in several falls. Two or three plots had hail in June, but when the grapes were green, not ripe. The quantity is good, so good that Stéphane is now out dropping grapes. We will start the whites for Saint-Péray in late August, maybe the 28 August, and Cornas is on target for 5-6 September, against the normal 15 September."

At Crozes-Hermitage, Laurent Gomez of Domaine Michelas St Jemms, echoed the previous views when chatting on 2 August: "we are now only 7 to 10 days ahead of 2009, which was such a solar year. July was fresh, so we may now harvest around 10 September. Our last rain was 15 mm (0.6 inch) last week."

Similar satisfaction is apparent in the Southern Rhône. At the Mas de Libian, in the southern Ardèche, Hélène Thibon told me about her Côtes-du-Rhône vineyard: "it is magnificent - we actually have a crop this year, unlike the last three years, when we lost around 30% each vintage. It is handsome, dry, and providing you have worked the soils and not used weedkillers, you will be in good shape. We had good rain in mid-July, and the veraison, when the grapes change colour, was done with days up to 30°C, and nights down to 16-18°C, so quality is very homogenous. The North of the Ardèche will start ahead of us, we are targeting 25 August this year." Her 2010 Khayyam has just been released, a wine I recommend.

Talking about his Lirac Château Boucarut and his Laudun Château Saint-Maurice, Christophe Valat told me: "2011 is pretty, no illnesses, and we are now just one week ahead. The rain in July was really good - we had around 75 mm (3 inches) in two falls in mid-July, and the fear of drought that we had in May has now passed. The Grenache suffered less from coulure (flowers failing to convert into fruit) than in 2010, which is good, but there is less Syrah this year for some reason. The veraison has just ended. I don`t expect to pick my Lirac before the end of the first week of September."

Across the river at Vinsobres, Pascal Jaume of Domaine Jaume commented: "our July rain was around 70 mm (2.8 inches), but it has been spread irregularly. Last week, for instance, the village of Vinsobres received 20 mm (0.8 inch), but the plateau towards Valréas got only 3 mm, and Saint-Maurice just to the west here in the Eygues Valley saw only 5 mm. It was a soft, London-style rain. Grenache is good this year, but Syrah is uneven. We have had to be vigilant about oidium, but mildew has not been a factor. We will have a higher yield than 2009 and 2010."

West of Vinsobres in the full Eygues Valley, alonmg which the Tour de France passed this year amidst much local excitement, Philippe Viret of Domaine Viret at the Village of Saint-Maurice had experienced similar variations with his Grenache and Syrah. On 2 August, he observed that "the Grenache has very fat grapes this year, with a lot of juice in them. The Carignan and the Mourvèdre are very beau, but the Syrah is mixed - yields differ from plot to plot, from soil to soil. We had around 90 mm (3.6 inches) of rain in July, which was also a month of much Mistral wind - not good for the tourists. Although it`s hot today, above 30°C, the light is not bright, there are clouds around. We will start harvesting in early September, which is nearly a normal date."

Relief

mid-July 2011

the fears of drought this year are dwindling, much to the relief and happiness of growers. The rain that started to revive in early June has continued into the first half of July. Côte-Rôtie received 35 mm (1.4 inches) on 13 July after a trickle of rain the week before. Gilles Barge reported: "I am looking at early September harvesting - it`s been the same for a month now. We have had to take out excess crop here and there, and the grapes are looking quite full already. They started to turn colour a week ago." Also in the North, Pierre Clape at Cornashad this angle: "we have had 53 mm (2.12 inches) of rain in two falls; one of them, on Sunday 10 July, came with some hail that maybe lost some growers around 5%. The temperature has been very up and down. We had 32-33°C in the first week of July, then it dipped down to 26°C, and the same happened in the second week - a high of 32°C which then fell to a fresh 23°C today, 15 July. - which is good for me to work in, even if not good for holidaymakers. The result is that the vineyard is now well nourished in water."

At Gigondas, Jean-Pierre Meffre of Domaine Saint Gayan, told me: "we had a formidable fall of 42 mm (1.8 inches), a benediction, on the night of 12-13 July. It came exactly when we were waiting for it, especially given the charge of grapes we have this year. It will also accelerate ripening, and there is a good Mistral blowing today (15 July)."

Blessing

early July 2011

reporting en direct from the Rhône, the growers are content after what for many was a modest month of June. Despite pretty ordinary temperatures, the vineyard has benefited from extrememy helpful rainfall. In the Northern Rhône, around 60 to 70 mm (2.2-2.8 in) has been recorded, with growers such as Louis Drevon and Bernard Burgaud at Côte-Rôtie stating that the quantity is good and the vines healthy, with no hydric stress. "We are still in sight of an early harvest," said Louis Drevon at his Domaine de Rosiers, "perhaps two weeks ahead." His team have been busily doing attachage - tying the vines as they grow higher - with some strong winds rolling down the Valley.

The blip in the June profile came in the last week, with a sudden surge on 27-28 June to 35°C, even 38°C, an intense heat indeed. This was followed by temperatures down in the mid-20s°C, and north winds. By early July the weather is stable - sunny and breezy, the wind too strong at times for outdoor dining, the temperatures not passing 30°C. 

At Gigondas in the Southern Rhône, Louis Barruol of Château Saint Cosme set the scene for his area: "I have never seen such a beautiful flowering as this year. I also do not think the soils are especially dry. At Gigondas our June rainfall reached around 26 mm (1 in), in rather wasteful amounts of about 3 to 5 mm at a time, which does not make much difference. Elsewhere, nearer the Rhône river, they have had more rain, around 60 to 80 mm. We are only about one week ahead, I would estimate."

Wasteful Water

mid June 2011

here have been pockets of rain here and there in the Rhône in the first two weeks of June; Cornas had 50 mm (2 in) in a storm, which, according to Anne Colombo was "a bit wasteful", since a lot of the water rushed away. "We are at least two weeks ahead of usual," she added, saying that "it is still extremely dry in the subsoil, and I have noted growth slowing recently." At Crozes-Hermitage, however, the same rainfall only produced 6 mm (0.2 in) at Gervans and Mercurol in the northern zone there. In the South, there has been hail in the Northern sector of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, on the route to Orange.  "We had some hail at Château Rayas," Emmanuel Reynaud told me, "but the leaves are still hard and green, which helped. The vineyard is very pretty for now, with long, magnificent bunches. Remember that Gobelet (stand-alone vines) also protects the vines more than wire-training."

For a series of new postings, including 2009 Gigondas and a series of domaines across Cairanne, Rasteau, Plan de Dieu and Côtes-du-Rhône, please go to Goings-On in the left-hand column. It is a mixture of known and below the radar domaines.

Delightment

early June 2011

the theme of an early harvest continues, although growers were delighted by a fall of around one inch of rain (25-28 mm) around Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the third week of May. Crop sizes are large for now, so a balanced, copious vintage now depends on when the rain falls - mid-July and mid-August, with a smattering in June will be ideal - and how much of it falls - not too much at a time. Flowering has gone extremely well this year, both in North and South, and the threat of late frost has passed. Powdery mildew, the curse of the very damp 2008, is not on the scene.

I have just returned from an extraordinary week of dinners with Marcel Guigal and Pierre Perrin of Château de Beaucastel on two atolls on the Maldives, the beautiful low-lying islands south-west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. The tasting notes on the Beaucastel wines have been loaded, and a report on those Beaucastel tastings and dinners has been posted under the subtitle Indian Ocean Beaucastel under Recent Tastings. The wines tasted: Roussanne VV 2009, 2008, Hommage Jacques Perrin 2007, 2001, 2000, Cru de Coudoulet 2003 red, and Beaucastel red 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 1998, 1990.

Precoce

mid May 2011

they`re all talking about it: precocity - precoce, precoce, precoce. A bit like the Spanish romantic ballad Quizás, Quizás, Quizás, that the airline played as I was taking off from Bogotá one stormy day. The vineyards are three weeks ahead of normal dates in their ripening. Marcel Guigal told me in mid-May 2011: "I am a bit anxious, we are so very much in advance. The flowering has already ended at Condrieu, which is earlier than 2003, something I have never seen before. It rained the weekend of 14-15 May, which was helpful. We have more crop than 2003, though, and my Côte-Rôtie vineyards are very belle, very healthy. Our Hermitagevineyards do not look as good, though - they are showing more signs of stress from the drought."

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is also three weeks ahead. Pierre Perrin of Château de Beaucastel remarked that the absence of wind this year had been a boon, in not accelerating the effects of the drought. "We are three weeks early. Flowering has started on the Grenache at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as it did around now in 2003, but has not yet got going at the later ripening soils of Vinsobres. I am not worried for now - there is no blight or illness in the vineyard, so we do not face pressure from that. The budding was good, so yields are normal for now."

At Gigondas, Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme commented in mid-May 2011 that his vines look good, with a 2 to 3 week advance. He added: "it`s quite dry. I think the rains will definitely be a key point this year, because we already know it will be an early ripening vintage. If this combines with dry and hot conditions, we will be in a kind of 2003 trouble. If we have a good spread of rain and mild temperatures through the summer, we`ll be OK."

France is suffering from the drought, with the middle area, notably the Charente, north-east of Bordeaux, affected. A Committee of Drought has been set up, with increasing worry about high food prices. Cattle breeders have had to send part of their prize herds to the abbatoir: in one case, a farmer-breeder said he had just one-quarter of his usual feed supply, and that his fields had no grass. He could not afford the cattle. The State has also allowed the use of Set-Aside land for active agricultural use.

In Sussex, we have had under 15 mm (half an inch, max) of rain in the past 6 weeks. The north and west of England has fared better. But basking sharks first appeared off the west coast of Scotland in March this year, around 6 weeks early, and the Rhône pattern is repeated even at this higher latitude. Prayer mats for rain are in order.

Newcomers

mid May 2011

engine room Southern Rhône entries recently, with the emphasis on some new and exciting domaines. There is much to like about the approach of young growers who are often highly motivated, and I would signal some of these to readers. At Roaix, the most promising Domaine Pique-Basse deserves speacial attention for its Villages wines. At Cairanne, the Clos des Mourres likewise, while under Côtes-du-Rhône, have a look at Domaine Nicolas Croze - not a start-up, but good nonetheless. Under Brézème, see Domaine Helfenbein Charles, a singular journey for this young man who is working the most southerly Northern Côtes-du-Rhône vineyards at Brézème, but also vineyards from the Ardèche across the river.

At Cairanne, prime Domaines Oratoire Saint Martin and Domaine Alary have been visited - also see Denis Alary`s interesting comments about his whites under the latter. From Rasteau, Elodie Balme`s wines of finesse have been tasted, which now include a Roaix. At Vinsobres, the 2009s have been tasted from a range of domaines, led by Domaine de Deurre (STGT qualities), Jaume and Chaume-Arnaud. For the full range, use the Search engine under 2009 Vinsobres.

At Signargues, the quite recent Rhône Village in the west bank Gard département, the accomplished maker of fine wines, the Château Haut-Musiel has been entered, while nearby at Saint-Gervais, the regular leader of the pack, Domaine de Saint-Anne, has been visited. Under Côtes-du-Rhône, I would also point out the regular quality of the Château La Borie, a wine popular in Britain.

From the Northern Rhône, Yves Cuilleron`s range has been updated, from Condrieu on to the reds and the Vins de Pays as well.

Quality tasting

end April 2011

a series of entries that centre on 2009, several from Gigondas, whose freshness contributed importantly to the quality of the 2009s. The authentic Domaine La Roubine, including their good Vacqueyras and Sablet, Pierre Amadieu, Saint-Damien, the extremely regular, STGT leaning Domaine du Pesquier, the always stimulating Château de Saint-Cosme, and the steady Château du Trignon. Added are one established Gigondas Domaine du Pourra, owned by the good doctor Jean-Christian Mayordome, and at Vacqueyras, a bright new grower and his Domaine d`Ouréa - making both Vacqueyras and Gigondas, starting out with the very promising 2010 vintage. Likewise, a recent young merchant based at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Romain Duvernay, has been included. His Northern Rhône selection, notably Hermitage red, has been successful in 2009.

From the Northern Rhône, have a look at François Villard at Condrieu - I note improvement in some of his whites since July 2010, with the malo in some cases taking until the middle of last summer to complete. Also at Hermitage, Maison Nicolas Perrin, the joint-venture between Nicolas Jaboulet and the Perrin family of Beaucastel, and at Côte-Rôtie, the Vins de Vienne - emphasis on their Vins de Pays.

Under the left-hand tab 2009 Northern Rhône, please read about the 2009s in an often overlooked category, that of Côtes-du-Rhône and Vin de Pays reds and whites. These wines have a lot of personality, and frequently represent genuine value for money. In 2009 they are as rich as I have ever known them - a good vintage to buy at prices starting around £11 in GB and rising to dizzier heights when considering the accomplished Seyssuel Syrahs and Viogniers - the likes of Sotanum and Taburnum from Les Vins de Vienne.

mid-April 2011 News: heat, drought are the words so far this year. Precocious conditions in the vineyards. Fear of a late frost builds up as a result. The Decanter World Wine Awards week in London showed that 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Papes have entered a somewhat closed period, not surprisingly. The accessible wines for the moment are the best 2008s from across the Rhône, the simple 2009s and the 2010 red, white and rosés from the Côtes du Rhône and areas such as Ventoux.

CORNAS (cheval) alert: Cornas ran a game and impressive 3rd in his hot race at Sandown Park on April 23, a 2 mile steeplechase. He challenged upsides two fences from home as five of the field jumped in line, but could not quite bridge the gap up the finishing hill. A hardy effort from our Champion, who now departs on his summer holidays. Bonnes vacances, CORNAS!!! Have a dusty roll on us, your international following (I receive encouraging emails from around the world in support of Cornas).

Decisive

April 2011

I detect a certain fever about 2010 Bordeaux as that ridiculous sales campaign gets set to kick off this month, with the infant "wines" being probably offered at similar dizzy prices to the 2009s. I would certainly never buy a car with just one seat or three wheels, but people do.

I am pushed by editors and "the trade" to publish instant, and big, reviews in a similar way, but will not do that, offering a few judgments here and there. Luckily, many Rhône growers are not yet stampeding to show their wines at these early dates, and pick pocket large sums of cash flow off drinkers (actually it is the merchants who are most to blame, rather than the growers). I note that the Chinese government has bought a Château in Bordeaux, but the fox is in with the chickens after the announcement that they intend to sell the wine en direct - cutting out the middle men layers; they claim that this also guarantees provenance of the wine, which is very true as it happens. Meanwhile my old friend Jancis Robinson is talking or writing about how wrong it is for Châteaux to wait until after the publication of critics` scores (yes, numbers) before issuing their prices. Either the world is now permanently off its rocker, or we are heading for the bursting of a bubble here. 

Looking at the global health of the wine industry, a report by the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV, a helpful acronym), shows that world wine consumption stabilised in 2010 after two years of falls. What particularly caught my eye was the fact that in France households now drink less and better, with an average of half a glass per person - which is three times less than in the 1960s. Three times less: think about that as a cultural turning point. I have long sensed that the generation born around the late 1970s in France went missing on wine - preferring beer and spirits, alcopops, anything other than "boring" wine. The French government with its blanket anti-alcohol approach which most often featured a bottle of wine rather than a bottle of vodka also took an active hand in this fall. Now France leads world consumption with around 29.4 million hectolitres, followed by the USA with 27 million hectolitres.

I have been drinking fine wine recently, but this time I really mean very fine wine - over 200 years` worth of Hermitage La Chapelle, including a Second World War vintage, the 1961, 1978 and 1990, plus other interesting vintages. The venue was Northamptonshire in England, with a story behind nearly every bottle. Reflections on these wines will be posted up later. For now, work continues on writing up 2009s - mainly Saint-Josephs and Southern Rhônes, with 2010 Côtes du Rhônes - red, white and rosé also featured.

Europcar Warning: I am sure that many of you fly to Lyon or Marseille and hire a car if visiting the vineyards. The natural Easyjet partner is Europcar. Well, I use Europcar a lot, but I would have to suggest that the following story will make you hesitate. On my last Rhône visit, my Europcar broke down after a series of small problems with the engine cooling system. It had just 3,500 km on the clock. I was en route to Marseille airport to return home, 45 minutes short of my target.

I missed the flight, waited 7 hours at the airport, paid €165 for a new ticket, and then filled in the box of complaint (or comment) on the Europcar website. The only response from them has been for the English office to send me a Customer Satisfaction Survey! Dig that. Big company versus small consumer - a "let`s just ignore them" policy. The most slippery part of this story is this: the Europcar staff in Marseille have taken a consistent line: this is an affair between me and .. wait for it, FIAT, the car manufacturer, and nothing to do with Europcar. Draw your own conclusions. My next booking has been made - with Avis.

Tastings

mid-April 2011

visits and tastings have been entered on the following domaines, all seen in March 2011: at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Clos Saint Jean (lot of sugar in the 2009, so delayed bottling), Domaines Pierre André (longtime organic, very Grenache), Bosquet des Papes (Tradition v good value), Cristia (just bottled now), Marcoux, Pegau, Saint-Préfert, Pierre Usseglio, Raymond Usseglio. Mostly 2009 reds, some 2010 whites have been tasted. At Gigondas, the very accomplished Domaine La Bouissière- focus on 2009 also.

April 2011: recent domaines that have been brought up to date include the interesting Gigondas Mas des Restanques, where the style is refined and subtle. Two good Côtes du Rhône domaines are on the score sheet as well - the Domaine Coulange, which is making w.o.w. wines and the long-term classic Domaine La Remejeanne, which I have known since the late 1970s. These are both in the Gard département west of Avignon. 2010 Tavel rosés are also being entered - a fresh and agreeable vintage.

Strong Assets

mid-March 2011

the 2010 vintage is an exciting one for the Rhône. The freshness of the wines in both parts of the Valley comes as an extremely handy asset, but the fruit is also complete, so bringing forward the critical word "balance". Recent tasting of hundreds of 2009s and 2010s shows that two vintages of high quality are storming into view, perhaps reminiscent of the 1990-1991 duo in the North. The quality of 2010 in the South, particularly the shining fruit, is well superior to the dilute 1991, however. Rub your hands, batten down the hatches, and prepare to spend and to enjoy. Notes will be posted on these wines in the coming weeks.

Word reaches my ears that Château-Grillet has been sold to Francois Pinault of Château Latour. Given the Grillet connection with Bordeaux-based Denis Dubourdieu, who has been advising on vinification for a little while, this may have some credence. The property and its roughly 3 hectare vineyard have been discreetly on the market for some time as well. One can only hope that the march of Bordeaux advisors does not result in further neutering of white Rhône varieties, as has been witnessed at Paul Jaboulet with the Marsanne (also DD).

In Britain, the economy remains sluggish. The latest poor news is the voluntary receivership of Oddbins, where valiant attempts to revive the quality of the remaining stores has been made by the new management team. Merchants tell me that restaurants are taking longer to pay, as well. Private buyer enthusiasm for 2009s is very strong, though, with one leading London wine merchant selling £1 million of 2009s en primeur. Their sales of 2008 and small appellations remains unsteady. Everyone wants to buy a shiny winner, which results in congestion on the Vinous Superhighway. Hence, a few very small Côtes du Rhône domaines will be entered in the future - there is plenty on offer if you are prepared to look.

Red And White

mid-March 2011

following early March 2011 visits, two eminent domaines at Châteauneuf-du-Pape have been brought up to date: Domaine Monpertuis, where the red wine has STGT tendencies and the white wine is from the school of long-lived white Châteauneuf - the whites tasted back to 1998 and 1992. Also, I had a quick look in at the Château de Beaucastel, where tasting included the 2009 Hommage a Jacques Perrin and some villages 2009s that included Cairanne, along with 2010 grass roots whites. From Côte-Rôtie, 2009 and 2010 René Rostaing. My views on the excellence of the Northern Rhône 2010s have been stated before, and my enthusiasm continues unabated. I also had an agreeable check-up on René`s thickly set, excellent 2005 Côte Blonde.  

March 2011: a couple of organic Côtes du Rhône domaines who sell their wine rather cheaply through Monoprix in France, and might be worth a look, particularly the first-named, Domaine Notre Dame de Cousignac and Château des Coccinnelles (ladybirds). Also, from the Côtes du Vivarais, the Vignerons Ardechois, who have been around for a long time, and whose quality can be on the mark, especially in generous vintages such as 2009. About 18 red Hermitage 2009s have been entered as well, under each domaine. Use the Search engine to see their rating, starting at 3 stars and up, I suggest.

Spring

March 2011

spring is in the air, daffodils and crocuses in my garden, growers enthusing about the last two vintages. It is a great time to be a fan of the Rhône. I highlight the exceptional vintage at Crozes-Hermitage in 2009, so there are wines to knock back with pleasure, or to wait for as they evolve towards complexity appearing on the shelves and on merchants` lists now. This month`s agenda includes visits to small organic domaines in the Rhône, and further extensive tasting of Gigondas and other Southern appellations.

Cheap And Cheerful

March 2011

a couple of organic Côtes du Rhône domaines who sell their wine rather cheaply through Monoprix in France, and might be worth a look, particularly the first-named, Domaine Notre Dame de Cousignac and Château des Coccinnelles (ladybirds). Also, from the Côtes du Vivarais, the Vignerons Ardechois, who have been around for a long time, and whose quality can be on the mark, especially in generous vintages such as 2009. About 18 red Hermitage 2009s have been entered as well, under each domaine. Use the Search engine to see their rating, starting at 3 stars and up, I suggest.

News

Mid-February 2011

joining Côte-Rôtie in a full 2009 Northern Rhône review is Cornas 2009 - click THE LEADING WINES tab under 2009 Northern Rhône in the Left-Hand column. More Crozes-Hermitage 2009 reds have been reviewed under their specific domaine names - see the LVT 2009 r category. This includes visits to father and son Domaines of Alain and Max Graillot, the latter also known as Domaine des Lises.

A trio of wines from Château Val Joanis in the Lubéron have also been entered. As is often the case, my preference is for the simple wines that are less tarted up with new oak etc.

Upwards Prices

February 2011

the 2009 Rhône primeur campaign is under way in Britain, with prices creeping upwards. The 2009 Burgundy campaign is in full swing as well, so drinkers are being asked to spend, spend, spend. I am buying some Bourgogne rouge 2009 from eminent stables such as Barthod and Jean Grivot, and for £140-150 a case of 12 (pre-duty, in bond), I regard them as good value, with sure-fire enjoyable drinking.

Prices from The Wine Society Rhône offer make interesting reading: I would regard the vin de pays La Rosine from Stéphane Ogier, already highlighted from OW Loeb, at £60 for 6 (in bond) as fair, as are the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine La Boutinière at £63 for 6, or the Coudoulet Côtes du Rhône from Beaucastel at £55 for 6. The Saint-Joseph 2009s start at £60-75 for 6, which is just about OK, but the vin de pays Sotanum from the young vineyard of Seyssuel, however promising it is, exceeds reality at £143 for 6 bottles in bond.

It is one thing to sustain a region`s existence as a source of enjoyable wines that sometimes aspire to excellence, but value has to be held as well, or at the very least, perceived value. Otherwise it is a fleeting asset. The Rhône has known such bubbles and dips before - the first being in the early 1970s, so it needs to be careful. With restaurant mark-ups of often 3 times, people will not buy Côtes du Rhône at £30, nor will restaurant owners list such wines, and suddenly the region starts to become invisible in the company of any amount of New World wines, or Southern European wines.

I am sure these trends will be discussed at the bi-annual Rhône Découvertes event in the Valley in the first week of March. This year, the format has reverted to being mobile rather than based solely in Avignon, and there will be the added surprise of a gathering of all the clans of Châteauneuf-du-Pape for their tasting day, rather than the dreary usual reality of several competing Syndicats who are essentially sworn opponents. It is all to do with politics and egos, rather than who makes the better wine, en plus. Découvertes remains a very useful touchstone for the trade and for the press.

Wide Variety

February 2011

the full, in-depth, super-duper 4,000 word report on 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds is documented under the 2009 Southern Rhône tab. It is a complete explanation of the vintage starting in the spring and draws on many questions and investigations by yours truly. By the way, once you have clicked on that 2009 Southern Rhône tab, please go down one line and click on the Leading Winestitle underneath it; there is no need to re-log in.

Leading Northern Rhône 2009s have been entered from Cornas, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph - wines around the ***(*) or higher category. Look out for the LVT 2009 tab against the domaine name.

I also urge you to catch up with the Vidal-Fleury range of wines, listed under their home appellation of Côte-Rôtie. Owned for decades by Etienne and Marcel Guigal, this largely merchant business is now receiving due investment and attention now that is established in a brand new cellar in the south of the Côte-Rôtie appellation. I have been impressed by both southern and northern Rhônes from them.

As I have been working on a large contribution to a book on Gigondas organised by the Syndicat of Growers, there are some fascinating tasting notes appearing. I am covering the vintages from 1959 to the present day, year by year. Many old bottles have been tracked down, and they frequently surprise through their stability and freshness after thirty-plus years, particularly in the lesser, higher acidity vintages. Readers can use the Search option for vintage notes, or focus on a few domaines whose wines have been found for this exercise - for example, Domaines Moulin de la Gardette, Pesquier, Raspail-Ay, Saint Gayan and Teyssonières. 

See Veterans Corner for a comparison of two wines from the sainted vintage of 1985, the Gigondas Domaine Raspail-Ay and the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. A new domaine at Saint-Joseph, Domaine Christophe Blanc, has been entered, offering a sound 2009 from that excellent vintage, while an overdue listing for the accomplished Domaine Les Aphillantes at Plan de Dieu has been made.

Under Laudun, the Dauvergne-Ranvier merchant business features their very respectable, modern 2009s from Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph. The Côtes du Rhône Domaine de l`Olivier has been posted, as have two suppliers at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the young team at Domaine de la Biscarelle in the north of the appellation, and the established merchant based in the southern area, Les Grandes Serres, which has produced a good, limited quantity 2009 red Châteauneuf.

Report

mid-January 2011

a full report on 2009 Côte-Rôtie has been posted under the Left Hand tab 2009 Northern Rhône. It is a vintage worthy of great respect. 

Fine Additions

early January 2011

a variety of domaines has been added, catching up on admin, as it were. Notably: Domaine La Cabotte at Massif d`Uchaux, always a strong source of good wine. The incomparable Domaine de Sainte-Anne, the only real address at Saint-Gervais in the Gard, right bank area; the traditional and very worthy Domaine Saint-Pierre in the Côtes du Rhône, an estate I have known since the early 1970s, also makers of good Plan de Dieu Villages and Vacqueyras. Other names worth a brief look include, at Vacqueyras, the Domaine de la Brunély, at Sablet, the Domaine de Verquière, at Gigondas, the Domaine de la Tourade, at Lirac the biodynamic Domaine de Mayran and at Saint-Gervais the Domaine Clavel.

From the Northern Rhône, please look at Marc Sorrel from Hermitage for some wonderful 2009 and 2010, as well as at Condrieu, the skilled Francois Merlin with his 2009 and 2010.

Looking Forward

early January 2011

we have lots to look forward to this year, with the issue of the 2009s, some of them showing great flamboyance, and the 2010s taking excellent shape. The 2008 whites are really motoring well, and it would be no crime if some of the Condrieu 2008 were drunk this year as well. 2008 for the reds is certainly not a lost cause, but one notes the reticence of importers to offer these vintage-scarred wines. Vacqueyras 2008, yo! I am also thinking of investigating some of the previously backward 1995s, and drinking more of the 1990s that are just perhaps near the summit from southern Rhône vineyards. Happy New Year, tout le monde, including our cheval mascot Cornas, who goes up 1 year to 9 years old on 1st January, 2011.

Vintages & Racing

late-December 2010

Vacqueyras is under the spotlight, with recent vintages 2007, 2008 and 2009 being entered. Look for the LVT 2009, 2008 symbols next to the domaines. Two recently established domaines, the offbeat Roucas Toumba of Eric Bouletin and Domaine Les Ondines of Jérémy Onde, have been entered. Also at Vacqueyras, a traditional domaine, the Domaine Cabassole, and a long-established property where I did the harvest in the early 1970s, Le Clos de Caveau. There are also domaines not based in Vacqueyras who are making good wines: these include, from Gigondas, the Château du Trignon (newly acquired 10 hectare vineyard), Domaine La Bouïssière, Pierre Amadieu and the organic Clos du Joncuas, while from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Domaine de la Charbonnière regularly makes successful Vacqueyras.

Cornas (cheval mascot) alert: Cornas ran fourth in a 13 runner, very competitive handicap steeplechase over 2 miles at Cheltenham on Saturday 11 December, 2010. After his hoof soreness last time out, he ran a very good race, creeping quietly into contention running down the hill to the last two fences, then getting tired (he had a high weight). He is obviously manful enough to handle an 11.40 race start (unlike yours truly). Now we have the Big Freeze, his next outing may be on hold for a while. I hope his trainers, Nick and Jane Williams, who love him dearly, will give him some sort of Christmas treat from their snowbound stables. ALLEZ CORNAS!!

Talking of horse racing, I have been recently running a campaign against a bad idea to impose a new, supposedly Super Duper, whizzo day on English racing, and have set up my second website, http://www.horseracingdeservesbetter.org/. If any of you read the issues and News posted there, and care about horse racing, whose integrity and programme have parallels with the long traditions of wine making, please sign up, and save the sport from a spectacular own-goal. The deadline on this is the second week of January 2011.

Good Deals

mid December 2010

The 2009 Rhône en primeur campaign is up and running in Britain, with offers ranging from the 2009 vin de pays La Rosine of Stéphane Ogier at £115 per dozen from OW Loeb http://www.owloeb.com/  - decent value - to the 2009 Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape at £249 from Yapp Brothers http://www.yapp.co.uk/ Please keep watching the LVT tag against domaine names for the Last Vintage Tasted notes on 2009s as they appear.

Cold Weather

early December 2010

I cannot start without mention of the snow that has swept Northern and Central Europe. Having been in extreme cold of -15°C in Finland in the last week of November, wandering the streets of Helsinki looking for a wonderful restaurant called Juuri (to be reviewed), I thought that I had had enough of the inclement. Nay, my liege. Now we have 25 cm (10 inches) in Sussex, so we are temporarily jumelé (twinned) with Ampuis, the seat of Côte-Rôtie, which also received a snowfall of 25 cm on the night of November 30-December 1. The growers are busying themselves indoors - Patrick Jasmin wrapping and preparing Christmas present despatches (quite an image), and Pierre Clape trying to get his car in the garage at Cornas. The Southern Rhônehas also been hit, with snow as far south as the nougat capital of Montélimar.

There have been some early launches of the Rhône 2009s in London, with merchants seeking to replicate their gigantic success with the Bordeaux 2009s, whose campaign starts every year at the stitch-up, ridiculous date of April following the harvest. The Burgundy 2009 campaign starts in Britain in January 2011. I have reservations about these campaigns, and always have. Merchants cajole growers into presenting the wines earlier and earlier - and so less and less finished. The pay-off is the merchants` bank balances, as people pay up front for a good that is incomplete and certainly changes (would you buy a car with 3 seats and 1 indicator light?). The other debris from this is the fuelling of superstar vintages that "everyone" wants, and the complete overlooking of any vintage of lesser status.

I made enquiries about a fine 2009 Côte-Rôtie, a case of which was selling for £600-700. I was asked to also purchase 2 cases of the regular cuvée - if I had done that, my bill would have more than doubled to a total £1,500. It was also interesting to hear the comments of a leading Northern Rhône grower, who had been visited by several British wine merchants in November. "All they talk about is China," he told me; "I receive them here to discuss and sell to the British market." The implication is that the faithful buyer in Britain will be ignored as allocations are diverted to the Klondyke market of China - whether that is in the trade agreement between merchant and grower is another matter. 

Enthusiasm

mid November 2010

I like to be cautious about vintage pronouncements, but I have been struck by enthusiasm for 2010 from two fine and discreet stables, that of Georges Vernay at Condrieu, and Jean-Louis Chave at Hermitage. If I add in Domaine Jamet at Côte-Rôtie and Clape at Cornas, Bernard Faurie at Hermitage, you can see that 1) I have been keeping pretty good company and 2) the tom tom drums augur well for 2010. In the meantime, notes on the 2009s will be gradually fed in, so look out for the LVT (Last Vintage Tasted) 2009 signal against the domaine name. But make sure you don`t spend all the dosh on the 2009s - go steady, you with the waving wallet!

Fine and Mature

mid-November 2010

please see Recent Tastings, and click on the Cornas in London sub tab for a report on a dinner involving 13 wines of Cornas stretching from 2006 back to 1983. A veritable glimpse back in time to some fine, mature wines. Visits to leading Côte-Rôtie Domaine Jamet and leading Saint-Joseph Domaine Gonon have been entered, including a look at their 2010 Syrah. A start-up Vin de Pays domaine run by the son of Marc Sorrel at Hermitage, has been added - Les Alexandrins.

There is often good value from the Côtes du Rhône reds made by Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaines. See a fine collection of 2009 Côtes du Rhônes from Domaine de la Janasse, Domaine du Grand Tinel, and a fascinating Côtes du Rhône white from Clos du Caillou, made from Clairette rose rather than the usual Clairette blanche. Also an STGT Villages red 2009 from La Bastide Saint-Dominique.

There has been action at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with a host of new names with usually small plots starting to make and bottle their own wine. These are Domaines Julien Masquin, La Celestière (8 hectares in the west of the appellation, a big investment), Mouriesse Vinum, La Consonnière, Saint-Pierre and Château Capucine. A lot of 2009 red Châteauneufs have been written up. The 2009 red and whites at Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château Rayas and Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette have also been assessed. Recent visits to the organic Domaine Romaneaux-Déstézet of Hervé Souhaut at Saint-Joseph and Domaine Georges Vernay at Condrieu, makers of the supreme Coteau de Vernon, have also been included.

Returning from Russia, where I found wine prices as dizzy as usual. The comfortable new Hotel Lotte near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a Pierre Gagnaire franchise restaurant that offers Les Menus de PG. The Rhône interest on the list was represented by 2008 Condrieu Georges Vernay Les Terrasses de l`Empire at €233; this represents a 10 times mark-up - 100% is only for wimps; also 2004 Chapoutier white Hermitage Chante Alouette at €219, the 2006 Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne  red at €271, the 2005 Côte-Rôtie from René Rostaing at €237, the classic 2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de la Gardine at €174, and to top it all, the 1990 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de la Gardine Cuvée des Génerations red at . . . €678. I sat at breakfast one morning, asked for the Wine List, as one does, and, well, didn`t buy, not even the humble Ventoux Château de Pesquié Quintessence, a serious wine it is, at €62, which really almost represents the dot on the card. Of course, the 2000 Château Margaux trades at €4,405 and the 2005 Cheval Blanc at €4,640.

CORNAS cheval mascot alert: talking of big money, Cornas ran at Exeter on Tuesday 2 November, 2010, in a Grade 2, hot handicap for the top 2 mile steeplechasers, worth £40,000 to the winner. Alas, poor Cornas tried his best, but his hoof was hurting, and he ran a lacklustre race, finishing sixth. He is as game as any wine from Cornas, and kept going, despite having what turned out to be an abcess. He will now take time off. Thank goodness the ground was soft. I hope at least that the Irish maestro Barry Geraghty thought he did well in the circumstances. ALLEZ, CORNAS!!

McLAREN VALE BUILDING NIGHTMARE: a 77 hectare suburban zone is due to be built on cereal land next to the McLaren Vale vineyards. The plan is for commercial centres, 1200 dwellings and 2500 residents in the ominously named "Phase 1." Growers are desolate at this prospect, so if you, unlike the Ministers, can take the long view - destruction of heritage, just as we had at Cornas a while back - please fire off an email to Mr Holloway, whose email address is minister.holloway@sa.gov.au More on this debacle features on the McLaren Vale sidebar. Please emphasize the country you are writing from, so the bureaucrats can realise that this is not just a little local fling. Thank you very much.

Bright And New

mid-November 2010

please see Recent Tastings, and click on the Cornas in London sub tab for a report on a dinner involving 13 wines of Cornas stretching from 2006 back to 1983. A veritable glimpse back in time to some fine, mature wines. Visits to leading Côte-Rôtie Domaine Jamet and leading Saint-Joseph Domaine Gonon have been entered, including a look at their 2010 Syrah. A start-up Vin de Pays domaine run by the son of Marc Sorrel at Hermitage, has been added - Les Alexandrins.

There is often good value from the Côtes du Rhône reds made by Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaines. See a fine collection of 2009 Côtes du Rhônes from Domaine de la Janasse, Domaine du Grand Tinel, and a fascinating Côtes du Rhône white from Clos du Caillou, made from Clairette rose rather than the usual Clairette blanche. Also an STGT Villages red 2009 from La Bastide Saint-Dominique.

There has been action at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with a host of new names with usually small plots starting to make and bottle their own wine. These are Domaines Julien Masquin, La Celestière (8 hectares in the west of the appellation, a big investment), Mouriesse Vinum, La Consonnière, Saint-Pierre and Château Capucine. A lot of 2009 red Châteauneufs have been written up. The 2009 red and whites at Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château Rayas and Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette have also been assessed. Recent visits to the organic Domaine Romaneaux-Déstézet of Hervé Souhaut at Saint-Joseph and Domaine Georges Vernay at Condrieu, makers of the supreme Coteau de Vernon, have also been included.

Returning from Russia, where I found wine prices as dizzy as usual. The comfortable new Hotel Lotte near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a Pierre Gagnaire franchise restaurant that offers Les Menus de PG. The Rhône interest on the list was represented by 2008 Condrieu Georges Vernay Les Terrasses de l`Empire at €233; this represents a 10 times mark-up - 100% is only for wimps; also 2004 Chapoutier white Hermitage Chante Alouette at €219, the 2006 Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne  red at €271, the 2005 Côte-Rôtie from René Rostaing at €237, the classic 2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de la Gardine at €174, and to top it all, the 1990 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de la Gardine Cuvée des Génerations red at . . . €678. I sat at breakfast one morning, asked for the Wine List, as one does, and, well, didn`t buy, not even the humble Ventoux Château de Pesquié Quintessence, a serious wine it is, at €62, which really almost represents the dot on the card. Of course, the 2000 Château Margaux trades at €4,405 and the 2005 Cheval Blanc at €4,640.

CORNAS cheval mascot alert: talking of big money, Cornas ran at Exeter on Tuesday 2 November, 2010, in a Grade 2, hot handicap for the top 2 mile steeplechasers, worth £40,000 to the winner. Alas, poor Cornas tried his best, but his hoof was hurting, and he ran a lacklustre race, finishing sixth. He is as game as any wine from Cornas, and kept going, despite having what turned out to be an abcess. He will now take time off. Thank goodness the ground was soft. I hope at least that the Irish maestro Barry Geraghty thought he did well in the circumstances. ALLEZ, CORNAS!!

McLAREN VALE BUILDING NIGHTMARE: a 77 hectare suburban zone is due to be built on cereal land next to the McLaren Vale vineyards. The plan is for commercial centres, 1200 dwellings and 2500 residents in the ominously named "Phase 1." Growers are desolate at this prospect, so if you, unlike the Ministers, can take the long view - destruction of heritage, just as we had at Cornas a while back - please fire off an email to Mr Holloway, whose email address is minister.holloway@sa.gov.au More on this debacle features on the McLaren Vale sidebar. Please emphasize the country you are writing from, so the bureaucrats can realise that this is not just a little local fling. Thank you very much.

Harvest And Vintification

mid-October 2010

creased faces, a few yawns here and there, knocking over the odd glass of water when eating - yes it`s harvest and vinification time, the growers at full stretch. 2010`s crop is reduced, but people are happy with the quality. In the Southern Rhône, Gigondas is still harvesting under stable weather in the week of October 11, while Châteauneuf-du-Pape has largely finished, except for strong waiters like Château Rayas, whose bunches are magnificent on their south-west, sun-setting vineyard near the cellars. Vacqueyras has finished as well. Fermentations have gone well, too. Later areas like Ventoux and Lubéron are still harvesting. For detailed comments, see Goings-On.

In the Northern Rhône, it is near the end of the harvest at Côte-Rôtie, with Cornas and Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and Saint-Joseph also mostly completed. Colours are good, quantity is off 2009 levels by a small amount, and growers are content.  For detailed comments, see Goings-On.

CORNAS, WINE et CHEVAL ALERT: Willi`s Wine Bar celebrated an extraordinary 30 years of not existence, but extreme life and fleuraison (sounds better in French, flowering) on 9 October, 2010. This trend-setting wine bar owned and run by my old friend Mark Williamson, 13 rue des Petits Champs, 75001 Paris, +33(0)142 61 05 09, did away with the old custom that all Paris wine bars served junk merchant wines and put the Rhône of small growers to the fore when started in 1980. The second edition of my book The Wines of the Rhône was launched there in 1982, when one of the pouring wines for the drinks was the red Hermitage J-L Chave 1978. We knew how to live! Thus it was that the red for this celebration was magnums (magna) of Cornas 2000, Domaine Clape; in spiffing form it was, too. Stephen Browett of Farr Vintners affirmed that it was "the best Cornas he had ever drunk."

The following day, in Ireland, at Limerick racecourse, the mighty cheval mascot of http://www.drinkrhone.com// CORNAS, won his €30,000 2 mile steeplechase by 3 lengths, skipping away from his field after being held up. Much porter was drunk in Dublin later that day. The Mayor of Cornas continues to be eclipsed by his 4-legged rival, and we should entertain serious thoughts of putting up CORNAS for the next round of mayoral elections at Cornas. Ecology and the preservation of the vineyards in the face of housing threats would be central to his policies, of course. Allez CORNAS!

Traditional Veterans

mid-October 2010

please go to Veterans Corner, The Wines, to read about suggestions of what to drink with a bottle of 1996 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château Rayas white, in response to an enquiry about that from a Norwegian subscriber. Under Recent Tastings, Les Vins Naturels, some organic wines from domaines such as Romaneaux-Déstézet at Saint-Joseph and Dard & Ribo at Crozes-Hermitage have been tried, along with a 1998 Château de Fonsalette red.

2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds are being gradually entered on a domaine by domaine basis, starting with the more affordable Tradition category (the Prestige wines can wait their turn). LVT 2009 r (Last Vintage Tasted 2009 red) is the clue, or use the Search engine under vintage 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, please.

Also updated recently have been the red wines of the Cave de Tain at Hermitage, where the Top Grade reds, notably the striking Epsilon, are bounding forward, and the pricelessly traditional Domaine La Garrigue at Vacqueyras, whose 90-100 year Grenache red Canterelle is a winner. Remember that the Garrigue wines are available at the Hotel Les Florets in the foothills of the Dentelles Mountains at Gigondas, a venue that is run by the Bernard family as well.

Strong Crop

3rd-4th week of September 2010

harvesting is well under way, and the crop is in good shape. Quantity is reduced according to Marcel Richaud in Cairanne, and according to Emmanuel Reynaud at Château Rayas at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Emmanuel will start his harvesting on Monday 27 September, and reports that, while there is not a lot of Grenache because of the dreaded coulure (like my 2010 runner beans, flowers fail to convert into fruit), it is attractive. The sugars are ready, but not the polyphenols, while the whites are in good shape. At the Clos des Papes, Vincent Avril paused on Friday 24 September with rain forecast, and will resume on Monday 27 September, having completed around half his harvesting.

Succusful Merchantry

mid-October 2010

please check out the very successful merchant range from Louis Barruol at Château Saint Cosme at Gigondas - these wines trade with the name Saint Cosme on the label, are mainly Northern Rhône, and are very good. There is a delightful 2009 w.o.w. red as well, a wine to get on and enjoy now. One-off wines to look up include the 2009 white Laudun from Domaine Pelaquié - always great value, great drinking - the white Vin de Table from Matthieu Dumarcher whom I regard as very talented under Côtes du Rhône, and a vin de pays red of great character from Château des Tours at Vacqueyras.

Having tasted their 2009 Côtes du Rhône Villages reds, the Château Courac at Laudun, Domaine La Cabotte at Massif d`Uchaux and the Domaine Montmartel at Visan have been added. The first two have been exporters and providers of good quality wines for some time, while the last-named`s wines are pretty authentic.

No Rain No Pain

mid-September 2010

for Swedish readers, I tried two recent arrivals from the System Bolaget, one good value, the other less so. See the Louis Chèze Vin de Pays Syrah 2009 note (SEK89 or £8), and the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine de Villeneuve Vieilles Vignes red 2007 (SEK339 or £30), a wine that raises some debate. 2009 Northern Rhône whites have been added to, in the shape of Saint-Péray and Saint-Joseph white. I prefer the former to the latter, and would include its 2008 vintage as well - both indicate a risurgimento as a wider group of growers - Cuilleron and friends, Chapoutier - take an interest, even a young debutant called Rémy Nodin.

2010 continued: in the NORTHERN RHÔNE, a few reports follow: at Côte-Rôtie, René Rostaing said: "it is very, very good for the moment. We are 8 days behind the usual date - this delay has lasted since the cold weather during flowering in early June. July and August were very fine, with hot days and fresh nights - excellent for the polyphenols (tannic acidities)."

"The 2010 vintage looks so far like being one from 20 years ago - a structured year marked by dark fruit and tannins - the crop is very healthy. Degree is not important for the moment - 10.5° to 11.5°. Today it is a bit over 20°C, with a dry and very fine North Wind. I will start 22-23 September, with my vines on the Côte Blonde."

Philippe Guigal commented to me: "we had 65mm (2.5 inches) on 6-7 September - if anything, we are content, since a deluge was forecast. Hence the rain is not irreparable. There have been some very dry spots at Côte-Rôtie this year - old vines on rock face hillsides, for instance - where their leaves have been turning yellow already. The hillside vineyards should have a normal yield this year - they flowered in the sun, but the plateau areas have lost crop since they flowered in the rain. The ban des vendanges will probably be announced for 15 September this year." Philippe added that at Hermitage "we have a normal size crop, but a strange situation where the Syrahs are ripening ahead of the whites - this is unusual, and is something we cannot explain technically." As for his Condrieu, Philippe said: "the degree on the best Viognier has fallen from 14° before the early September rain of 65mm (2.5 inches) to 13.6° to 13.7°. The crop will be large."

At Saint-Joseph, from the heart of Mauves in the southern zone, Jean Gonon saw things as follows: "we had 78mm (3 inches) of rain across the day of 7 September, and the night of 7-8 September. It was a soft, continuous rain, not the violent fall that had been announced, so there was no damage in the vineyards, always a good start. 30mm would have been better, but we have observed a strange phenomenon that maturity has accelerated rapidly after the rain. My white grapes have become golden, the Syrah has advanced, and in my garden so have my tomatoes [faster than mine, Jean, faster than mine! Ed.]. A lot of colleagues find the same thing after the rain, even though the degree has fallen a little."

"We have fine but not very fine weather for now - the North Wind is not frank, but all we need now is dry conditions. The forecast is for 10 days of fine weather. The crop is healthy, attractive. After the rain during flowering, people thought the crop would be small, but that has not been the case, and we actually dropped grapes last week. Yield will be normal, around 35 hl/ha. I will start the whites on 20 September, the Syrah on 25 September. Some people have started to pick, but if you taste the Syrah now, the skin is still tough, the grapes are tart and there is still tartaric acid in them."

François Merlin reported that his Saint-Joseph Syrah was not especially advanced: "flowering was under rain this year, so I am aiming to harvest late September or early October, at least a week behind my Côte-Rôtie. We had 63mm (2.5 inches) on 6-7 September, but by 10 September the weather was fine, with a North Wind that is not too strong helping to clean the vineyards. I will be harvesting my Condrieu Viognier from 20 September. The influence of the wind this year has led to small berries on the Viognier bunches. As a result, I expect quantity around 30-35 hl/ha, a bit below the average. After the rain, I sense that degree and acidity have been concentrated., and the grapes have become riper. Strangely this year my Côte-Rôtie Syrah is riper at this stage than my Condrieu Viognier - normally it is the other way around."

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, a few reports also follow: at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Daniel Brunier of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe and La Roquète told me: "we had 140mm (5.6 inches) of rain from late on 6 September until the night of 7-8 September. Overall the rain has been about half positive, half negative. The later-ripening and dry zones gained, and of course the Mourvèdre was suited by the rain to finish its ripening, whereas the Syrah was largely ripe already, and the white crop has not been helped by the rain. The rain has been well spread across the appellation this time. The previous fall was 30mm (1.2 inches) around Orange, Beaucastel and Coudoulet in late August, while the south and centre around the village of Châteauneuf only had 5mm (0.2 inch) at the same time."

"Mistral wind followed on 8 September, and we were back harvesting by 9 September. At present we have harvested 80% of our white Vieux Télégraphe crop with a yield around 30-31 hl/ha, and will start on Roquète next week - from 13 September. We have also picked a bit of Syrah from Roquète and Grenache for Télégramme. There has already been Grenache on La Crau at 15° and 15°2, so we will really get going on Monday 13 September."

Referring to his Gigondas estate, the beautiful Les Pallières, Daniel continued: "we had 80mm (3.2 inches) of rain on 6-8 September, after 30mm (1.2 inches) at the end of August. The rain was less stormy than at Châteauneuf - it was a finer, slower rain, so there was less trauma for the vines. On 6 September before the rain, the Grenache at Pallières was 14.4° - now we will probably delay our harvesting for at least a week; the soil has clay there, and doesn`t drain as well as at Châteauneuf. The Mistral today is strong, around 60km an hour, and it is about 24°C."

The west bank Gard département and the Southern Ardèche received a lot of rain, but mainly in the far western areas away from the Rhône corridor, and prime vineyards. At Laudun, the accomplished Domaine Pelaquié started to harvest on 10 September, under fine weather. The first rain on 6-7 September there was 150mm (6 inches), then 100mm (4 inches) the following night.

A bit further north, in the southern Ardèche, Hélène Thibon-Macagno of Mas de Libian told me: "we have a small crop because of the Grenache coulure. We started to harvest last week, although a lot of people have started this week, after the rain. We were spared the worst of the local rain - we had 30mm (1.2 in) on the night of 6 September, then 40mm (1.6 in) on the night of 7-8 September, whereas places right in the Cevennes hills corridor in the far west of the Gard département - St Hippolyte du Fort, for instance, north-west of Nîmes - had 300mm (12 in). We have picked about one-third of our crop. The Syrah berries are not big, but are OK, and the Mourvèdre is in good condition. We have strong Mistral today, the temperature is 25°C, set to rise to 28°C on 12 September, and the forecast is good for the next week."

Vineyards Survive

2nd week of September 2010

the rains fell, the vineyards survived well. Everywhere in the Rhône received at least 2 inches (50mm) between 6 and 8 September, and the forecast into mid-September is for fine weather. Throughout the Valley, a helpful North Wind - the Bise (Kiss) in the North, the Mistral in the South - has been blowing, cleaning up the foliage and cutting down the risk of rot.

Wild Weather

early September 2010

the night of Monday 6-7 September is forecast to deliver plenty of rain all over the Rhône, so there is a certain amount of holding of breath across all regions. The one let-out is the lack of rain so far, and the fact that fine weather is also forecast to come in around 9-10 September, with Mistral wind in the south.

In the NORTHERN RHÔNE, a few reports follow: at Côte-Rôtie, Brigitte Roch of Domaine Clusel-Roch, while preparing 200 kg of chips to go with steak at La Vogue, the party in Ampuis for 18 year old conscripts, where pastis and beer are the order of the evening: "we are told there will be 50-100 mm of rain (2-4 inches) tomorrow, 7 September, but for now we are content, and expect to harvest 20-25 September, with a fair-sized crop of 35 hl/ha. The first week of September has been very beau, hot and dry for now." Côte-Rôtie has been dry this year, and not received the rain that has fallen locally at Chavanay to the south.

At Cornas, Pierre-Marie Clape: "today the vineyard is truly excellent, but around 100mm (4 inches) of rain is announced for tonight, 6 September. We had 20mm (0.8 inch) of rain on 15 August, and 5mm (0.2 inch) on 19-20 August, which has helped the vineyard in the face of the dry conditions.

We have also been helped by hot days followed by cold nights - around 25-26 August the days were 34-35°C, but the nights 13°C, meaning good levels of acidity. Even today, 6 September, it has been 30°C, with 12°C in the morning - very good for colour and polyphenol (tannin) levels. Our Syrah is now at 13°+, with total acidity of over 5 gm. On La Côte (central site), the Syrah is at 13.25° and 5.7 gm acidity - the acidity is mainly tartaric, not malic, indicating that it will remain. As things stand, we expect to harvest around 20 September. The bunches look pretty good, and we may be at yields of around 38 hl/ha."

At Crozes-Hermitage, Maxime Graillot of Domaine des Lises: "things are nickel for now, with rain announced for tomorrow; we have had no rain in August, although 20mm (0.8 inch) just before the véraison (grapes turning colour) at the end of July was helpful. Bunches can be small, but are healthy. The yield looks like being a bit less than our high figure of 50 hl/ha in 2009 - around 40 hl/ha. We had a very little oïdium at Hermitage in mid-August, but our little vineyard there is at the foot of the slopes with heavier soils than the most noble sites such as Le Méal. I expect to harvest my Crozes crop on 22-22 September, and my Cornas on 20 September - my vines are on very precocious spots -  Sabarotte, for instance."

At Condrieu and Saint-Joseph, Philippe Faury of Domaine Faury: "we have had a very good September so far, up to 6 September, with rain announced for tomorrow, but good weather again from 9-10 September. The Viognier is set to give a good yield, helped by the fact that it flowered before the cold weather of early June - we expect around 35 hl/ha for it. We had a few helpful storms, but no hail, here at Chavanay in August."

At Saint-Péray, Pierre-Marie Clape: on 3 September, our degree was at 12.2°, with total acidity of 4.35 gm - we will probably pick around 15 September, with a correct yield. Some growers have already harvested crop for their méthode champenoise wines."

In the SOUTHERN RHÔNE, a few reports also follow: at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vincent Avril of Clos des Papes: "40mm to 50mm of rain would be perfect (1.6 to 2 inches), along with the 3 days of Mistral wind after the rain that have also been announced for 6-7 September. There are quartiers where the tannic ripening lags behind the sugars, and I find the south of Châteauneuf a bit more ripe than the northern area. It`s not bad at all, and similar to the last few very good years we have had - 2005 though to 2009, missing out 2008. We have had a lot of coulure on the Grenache this year (failure of flowers to convert into fruit), which meant we did less green harvesting than usual, and we found millerandage on the bunches - bunches that lacked grapes. That means yields will be around 22 hl/ha for me as things stand, against under 20 hl/ha in 2009, and only 16.8 hl/ha in 2008. The Mourvèdre is ripening close to the Syrah this year."

"When I look back through my records, I see that the current cycle is one of a dry summer, but with rain of some quantity in September. In 2005, we had 92mm (3.7 inches) of rain from 5-8 September, plus 11 mm on 11 September; in 2006, it was 165mm (6.6 inches) from 13-16 September, and so on, so rain at this stage is OK. In fact, the old adage of mid-July and mid-August rain being the saviour of the vintage seems to have gone by the board. I will probably start about mid-September," Vincent concluded.

In the first week of September, the Maison des Vignerons at Châteauneuf found Syrah at 13.1° and Mourvèdre at 12.7°. Colour, tannin and acidity levels are all good.

At Gigondas, Jean-Pierre Meffre of Domaine Saint-Gayan is happy with events so far, up until 6 September: "the crop is pretty, there is no trace of rot - it is very healthy. We were helped at Gigondas by our rainfall of 28-30mm (1.2 inches) on 15 August - the grapes would have been in trouble but for that. Acidity levels are also very good - a result of the hot days but cool to cold nights this year. The second half of August, we were having days at 28-30°C, but mornings at 10-11°C - these levels of acidity will also help us to resist rot.

Yields are down, around 28 hl/ha, because of the worst Grenache coulure (flowers, but no fruit after that, thanks to cold wind and weather in early June) we have had here for some years. The Syrah is very good this year, but needs picking. I expect to harvest my Côtes du Rhône grapes on 15 September, against 5 September last year."

At Rasteau, there was more rain in mid-August - 40mm (1.8 inches) - but there the growers are finding little juice in their white crop because of the dry summer.

The most rain in mid-August was in the southern Drôme, and Richerenches (ex-Tricastin, now Grignan-Adhémar) received around 100mm (4 inches).

At Tavel, Fabrice Delorme of Domaine de la Mordorée: "we started on the whites on 2 September, and will be moving on to the red crop around 9-10 September. The only red picked so far has been some very ripe Grenache for our red vin de pays. We are happy for the moment. We had only a little rain in mid-August - 5mm (0.2 inch) at Tavel, and 15 mm (0.6 inch) at Lirac. Our vineyard at Châteauneuf - on La Crau, and Cabrières, for instance - is in good shape."

Star Whites

late August 2010

2009 Northern Rhône whites were pretty successful, but I would highlight Crozes-Hermitage white 2009 as a real star this year - wines of consummate appeal, very drinkable, and fuller than in all recent years. Yum yum. Condrieu 2009 is also reviewed - a robust set of wines, no surprise, given the extreme heat in August. See 2009 Northern Rhônein the Left Hand column.

Crozes-Hermitage 2008 reds are less glorious, but have been reviewed under the 2008 Northern Rhône tab. Recent domaine visits include at Côte-Rôtie, Guigal, Gilles Barge and Stéphane Ogier. The Guigal top 2006 reds of Château d`Ampuis, Mouline, Turque and Landonne have all been tasted now they are in bottle. At Condrieu, André Perret`s range has been tasted during a July 2010 visit.

Name change: at the end of June, the Coteaux du Tricastin was no more. After all the bad publicity attached to the Tricastin name due to the Tricastin nuclear power plant leaks, growers were desparate to disassociate themselves from that unfortunate monikor. Appeals to be called Côtes du Rhône were rightly rejected, so the solution, a truly Frrrench solution, messieurs et madames, c`est de call eet somezing completely difficile for the silly foreigners. Yes - I bring you - trumpets, please - Grignan les Adhémar. Note the acute accent, you in the back row of the class.

From a heritage standpoint, Grignan is a fabulous fortified castle village, while La Garde Adhémar is a most attractive small hilltop village just visible from the A7 autoroute, where there are the ruins of a sixteenth century castle, and a Romanesque church. In my youth, there was an acclaimed Michelin one star small hotel-restaurant there. Both sides of this equation have a first-class historical pedigree, donc (thus). But - selling the wine around the world, having people remember it, pronounce it without risking feeling silly . . ? Ah well.

Hot and Dry

late August 2010

August has been hot and dry, but the daytime heat running into the low 30s°C has been offset by cool nights which allow the vines to switch off and preserve acidity. In the South there has been some coulure on the Grenache - flowers not converting into fruit, just as I have experienced with my Painted Lady and Scarlet Emperor Runner Beans in Sussex, on the English south coast. Harvest dates look like being around 10 days behind 2009, when the extreme heat in late August made things happen very quickly.

Throughout this summer, the warm day, cool night pattern has been helpful, and bodes well for freshness in the wines. Earlier in August, temperatures moved back towards 25-28°C, cool enough for Christian Vache of Domaine de la Monardière at Vacqueyras to lunch indoors rather than outside under the shade. The nights in both Northern and Southern Rhône have been helpfully fresh - in the South, the mornings start at about 16-18°C, so the vines rest at night, and acidity levels are still good. In the Northern Rhône, around Condrieu and Saint-Joseph, the days commence at 14-17°C.

The vineyards are in good shape, the South being marked by a lot of healthy Mistral wind. However, the young vines have felt the effect of very little rain - after around 30mm (1.2 inches) in late June, there was just 4mm in July around Vacqueyras and Gigondas, with temperatures well into the mid-30s°C. The Grenache was just starting to turn colour - the véraison - in the first week of August. The old vines are in good shape, and reserves of water from the spring rains have played an important role this year in defending the plants from the drought.

The Northern Rhône experienced rain on 2 August, but it was variable across the region: around 10mm (0.4 inch) at Ampuis, home of Côte-Rôtie, nearer 45mm (1.8 inches) at Chavanay, home of Condrieu and Saint-Joseph. The Viognier is reported as having had a very good flowering this year. In this sector, the full hillside vines have fared better with the dry weather than those growing in the plateau areas, and richer soils. Young vines are also suffering from the July heat and drought.

The picture building up is of a harvest around 2 weeks later than 2009`s extremely precocious date - "this will make the vinification more interesting due to probably cooler weather," Christian Vache remarked. In the South, 10-15 September as a start date, in the North around 20 September as a start date.

Leading Wines

late July 2010

a first look at two leading 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Papes: Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe - including the 2009 red, and the 2008 bottled wine across the range, that includes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine La Roquète. Also the 2009 and 2008 at the Bruniers` Domaine Les Pallières at Gigondas, where the Les Racinescuvée is starting to make a name for itself.

A look at the 5 main grape varieties involved in the red Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de Beaucastel 2009 has also been included after a mid-summer visit.

Meantime, the hot weather that started in the last week of June - temperatures into the 30s°C - has given the vineyards some impetus to their ripening, after setbacks in June from cold weather and high winds aggravating that effect. Already the enemy of yields, coulure, has hit the later ripening Grenache - the failure of the flowers to convert into fruit. There is enough moisture in the vineyards after the snowfalls and rain of winter, so unless there is hardly a drop of rain between now and September, drought should not be an issue this year.

In the Northern Rhône, flowering has occurred in tune with some of the late June heat, and at Condrieu the Viognier is set for a mid-September or early third week harvesting, according to André Perret.

New Arrivals

July 2010

well, Rasteau is now a fully fledged appellation in its own right - for its red wine. The process that started in 2002 came to fruition in early June, with the approval of the INAO, the appellation body. However, the clincher will be the further approval that this promotion above Côtes du Rhône Villages status can start from the acclaimed 2009 vintage - and that depends on "The Minister" agreeing to it before the 2010 harvest. The clock ticks on. We have Countdown! See Goings On for more of the facts, figures, thrills and spills behind this.

Bottled And Ready

July 2010

two serious domaines, worthy of full attention - note the contrast in scale: the 42 hectare Côtes du Rhône Château de Montfaucon beside the Rhône near Hannibal`s point of crossing at Roquemaure and the more than double that size Château de Beaucastel at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Montfaucon is improving all the while, while at Beaucastel the 2008s, 2007s and the 2006 red were checked in June 2010. The excellent Perrin & Fils range has also been reviewed, taking in the 2007s that are now all bottled, and some of the 2008s. See Perrin & Fils under Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Summers Arrival

June 2010

at last, summer has arrived in the Rhône. But the real heat delayed until 23 June, with the flowering affected by cold winds and cool nights. The fourth week of June saw temperatures rise to the high 20°sC in the South, and growers started to smile again. At present, the harvest is running 10 to 14 days behind recent dates. 

May delivered a big, initial catch-up after the tardy start to the cycle. Memories of the cold winter and the very late bout of snow on March 7 receded, and the first week of June saw flowering at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a normal date for it.

It is a curious year. When I was in Moscow in late May, the vegetation was 7 to 10 days ahead of the south of England, with high 20°s Centigrade temperatures already experienced. The Northern Rhône is further behind the South, too, with shivery temperatures in May. The gap between the two areas remains as distinct as ever.

2009 continues to look good for both red and whites - the latter low in acidity, but plumptious enough to be very good food wines. On the subject of white Rhône, I have added another noble wine, the Beaucastel 1993 Vieilles Vignes, to Veterans Corner. Yes, 1993: the year of mucho rain. The fruit from 1914 Roussanne is one of life`s eminent joys, so far off the Superhighway in an age of homogenisation. Worth an outlay at auction if you can track it down.

Champion

June 2010

at last, after a seemly interval, I have put up a report on McLaren Vale, South Australia, a region I visited as the International Judge last October. I cover what this vineyard zone south of Adelaide is doing with its Rhône variety grapes, which hold a big say in the area`s future. McLaren Vale is reminiscent of parts of California in being coastal, breezy, and its food and wine scene is moving towards a more organic, more enterprising approach - a far cry from the old "lager only after 5 pm, mate", mentality that existed in the past. See the left-hand tab McLaren Vale.

Look up Veterans Corner for a duo of shapely 1980s Côte-Rôties - the 1985 Gilbert Clusel La Viallière and the 1988 Bernard Burgaud. Drunk in Oslo with my old friend the importer extraordinaire to Norway and Sweden, Christopher Moestue. One sole, careful owner, and a healthy Nordic climate brought out the best in these two old stagers.

Also a trio of old white Rhônes - the rain-sodden 1993 vintage features - and also for a magnum of 1979 red Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Les Cailloux. This was my contribution to a Wine Trade luncheon held in the august, historic surroundings of the Directors Dining Room at Berry Brothers in St James`s Street, London, with original William Morris wallpaper lining the top of the wood-panelled walls, and no doubt turning a blind eye as stories moved towards the ribald.

STGT: note the Ermitage Le Pavillon red 2001 from M.Chapoutier. Also a pair of Beaumes-de-Venise reds from two family domaines, Chiniard and Grangeneuve - an encouraging sign for this still young red wine appellation.

w.o.w. note the Vieille Ferme 2009 Ventoux from Perrin & Fils - a real winner this year.

Across-The-Appelation

May 2010

look up Veterans Corner for a brace of mature white Rhônes - the subject of my eternal pet hobby, to get the world to appreciate them more. Also check the STGT Cornas 2005 La Geynale from now retired Robert Michel. Further STGT from the biodynamic Saint-Joseph Domaine Monier-Perréol, also.

The first across-the-appellation review has been done on Gigondas 2008, and also Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008, both red and white. It is a cherry picking vintage, not buy anything that moves, so please read the grower comments as well to get an idea of the sort of challenges faced in its making, and, importantly, its assembly before bottling. Click on the L-H tab 2008 Southern Rhône. 

2008 Northern Rhône features a review of the leading wines at Cornas. where it pays to be selective, and a charming vintage at Condrieu, from the roughly 35 wines tasted so far.

Cherry Picking

May 2010

the first across-the-appellation review has been done on Gigondas 2008, with the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008 to follow. It is a cherry picking vintage, not buy anything that moves, so please read the grower comments as well to get an idea of the sort of challenges faced in its making, and, importantly, its assembly before bottling. Click on the L-H tab 2008 Southern Rhône.

Small Companies

May 2010

the Decanter Wine Awards tasting week took place in the last week of April 2010 in London. The Rhône received a broad cross-section of wines, without the cream of the small estates who can sell their wines almost by allocation, so such events pass them by. Some of the smaller appellation 2007s were starting to show the dry textures of that wind-borne year, while the traditional cuvée Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds were in good form, at good prices, too. When tasting at this event, one knows the appellation and the year, but not the producer.

2008s had a dark extract when the grower was careful with the crop, but a bit anxious in the cellar - leanings towards extraction in some. But the best are agreeable, and I continue to suggest them as very good drinking wines, accessible ahead of the big surrounding vintages, at also affordable prices. 2008 remains a very good white vintage as well.

Of the 2009s presented, it was interesting to note that the better performers in the Southern Rhône were the Villages, rather than the straight Côtes du Rhônes. The former will be a very good category from the genuine domaines who know how to make unforced wines: a lot of immediate pleasure awaits with them, the length along the palate often notable.

Racing Bets

April 2010

Cornas ran above his station, but was effectively very Cornasien in that he finished an extremely honourable 5th in the Irish Champion Chase, beaten under 10 lengths. When the tempo stoked up at the fourth last fence, he just got a bit puffed.  Cornas - always near the top table, but never quite in the host`s chair - such has been the Ardèche wine village`s destiny over time. He now goes on his summer holidays in the west country of England, much more eco-warrior than going abroad, until he re-appears in September. Bonnes vacances, CORNAS.

Previously: Cornas gets above his station by running in the Romanée Conti Stakes, er no the Irish Champion Chase, at Punchestown, the 18.05 race on Tuesday April 20. This is for the cream of 2 mile steeplechasers, worth €87,000 to the winner. His odds are 50/1. Our country boy with 10 swells, rather, a head to head between Auguste Clape and Aubert de Villaine. He goes in good form, will try to be placed, while one of his owners is in Champagne visiting small growers rather than grande marque houses, a TRAIN ticket tucked in his pocket, the sensible fellow. ALLEZ CORNAS, allez VineTrail!!

Wine Accumulation

April 2010

wise wine merchants are starting to accumulate a few 2008s, while finding the 2009s challenging in their youth. Meanwhile, there is plenty of debate about 2007 at Châteauneuf-du-Pape: some USA wine forums are buzzing about the Decanter Magazine tasting of 201 wines late last year, where a Day 2 panel of 9 had mixed views on the style of some of the wines, finding them overdone, especially some of the very expensive Prestige wines. In particular, the modest showing of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphecaught the attention of people, who contrasted my strong view on its quality with the Decanter result.

To fill in some of the gaps here, tasting over 100 Châteauneuf-du-Papes in half a day would be beyond anyone I know - many of them weighing in at 15 to 16 degrees. Thus 3 people each tasted 35 wines. If the trio in question liked the wine, it moved to a final taste-off by all 9 tasters. All the wines were tasted blind, I should add, in contrast to most forum commentators and the Great American critics. I did not taste the VT 2007 on this occasion, and remain with my view that it is extremely good - I have even bought some myself.

Beautiful Quality

April 2010

a full review of 2007 Gigondas reds has been posted under 2007 Southern Rhône Leading Wines. Click on 2007 Southern Rhône, then on the tab underneath Leading Wines. Many of these Gigondas have been tasted twice, in cask and latterly in bottle, which is of course a much more reliable indicator. I am utterly suspicious of Grand Pronouncements on the wines of a vintage before bottling - cask samples can give an idea, but before the wine has been finally assembled, they can be misleading. Generally the trend I found between late 2008 and late 2009 was favourable - a majority of the wines had made progress. 2008 Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Papewill follow - a vintage which will gain over time, but one that is likely to receive less oaking.

Unfortunately due to illness I have not done my usual early New Year visits to the Valley, and these will resume in late spring/early summer.

At Vacqueyras, the Domaine La Fourmone has been entered: Roger Combe made a firm impression on me when I first met him in the early 1970s - here was a man who spoke (and wrote) fluent Provençal, so, like papa Frédéric Alary at Cairanne - the boys now run Oratoire St Martin and Domaine Alary, he was both a man of letters and of the soil. His daughters Marie-Thérèse and Aline were his successors on the domaine, which in 1973-74 was most unusual in an almost 100% male-dominated activity. Marie-Thérèse is now also an accomplished painter. Fourmone produces both Vacqueyras and Gigondas, and has a small merchant business that takes in some Northern Rhônes as well.

At Beaumes-de-Venise, a small, quite recent start-up, the Domaine Chiniard. A pretty good example of newcomers to wine, who work the vineyards naturally, and make their wine without artifice. In the local vein, the wines are robust, but honest, not Superhighway, and the 2007 is STGT. For Eurostar travellers who find they have a thirst on near the Gare du Nord in Paris, it is on sale at the Caves Bardou, the nearest wine shop, at 124 rue Faubourg St Denis off the gloriously named Boulevard de Magenta (salut, je m`appelle Magenta, what an intro), for €14.50. 

At Gigondas new domaines posted include the very well-established Domaine Les Goubert, where Jean-Pierre Cartier prodcues an array of different cuvées across Gigondas, Sablet and Beaumes-de-Venise. His Cuvée Florence caused consternation when introduced in 1985, since it was raised for 9 months in new Vosges oak casks. Tasting of this goes back many years, so the oak effect over time can be gauged. Also the small scale Domaine La Bouscatière, with STGT tendencies, and the promising STGT, whole bunch Domaine Les Chênes Blancs, the reliable Cave de Gigondas and Bertrand Stehelin.

A trio of very sound domaines, as well: at Rasteau, Domaine des Coteaux des Travers, and its robust wines. At Beaumes-de-Venise, the Domaine Saint Amant, pioneers in high altitude Viognier in the Rhône, their red wines making recent progress, with the astute Camille Wallut at the helm. And at the much blighted Tricastin, having dropped the cumbersome Coteaux du and after nuclear mishaps having also applied unsuccessfully to change the name to Côtes du Rhône, the leading property Domaine de Grangeneuve.

A note of interest for lovers of Hermitage: a vertical of Domaine du Colombier 2002,2003, 2004 and 2005 from late last year: the striking point was that, despite the vineyards not being on the most nbole west end of the hill, each one faithfully reflected its vintage. Colombier is listed under the Crozes-Hermitage appellation.

Well Run

mid-March

our mascot horse performed exceptionally in the 2 mile handicap at Cheltenham, the Grand Annual. Quietly ridden, he crept fom midfield of the 21 runners in steady rain that had softened the ground. By the top of the hill, with 3 fences left, he had moved forward to 6th. As they approached the last fence there was a group of 4 horses in contention, with Cornas carrying the most weight of those in the running. Just in the last 50 yards, on the soft ground, did our mascot horse`s stamina peter out, and he finished fourth, beaten about 5 lengths at odds of 16/1. Those who backed him each way will have made a profit. Quite a run. It was a tough assignment, but he did not shirk it. ALLEZ CORNAS!!

New Season Fever

March 2010

steady, boys and girls. I feel 2009 fever is mounting, before we have even had the chance to sup or savour some of the 2008s. Do not write off 2008 - just be extremely careful about what you buy. It is not a vintage where en primeur should really play any role: wines offered from November 2009 were in no way fully completed, and 2008 is a year where the grower`s judgment about what to discard - grapes and wine - and what to blend was paramount. That blend - or assemblage - is the last crucial step in the process of eking out quality in a weather-affected vintage such as 2008, and until it has been performed, and the wine tucked away in bottle, we are effectively in the dark. This comment applies just as much to a Côtes du Rhône Villages name as it does to Jean-Louis Chave and his red and white Hermitage 2008, by the way. 

That is why I have tried to post up simple wines which are finished, and which do reflect authentic local styles. The whites can be great, and the unfussy reds delightful. Areas that have done well include Gigondas in the South, Cornas in the North. Gigondas as a later ripening region particulalry is favoured in a vintage such as 2008, as it was in 2002, when the rains fell and fell in early September. Keep looking for the LVT 2008 tag against domaines, indicating the tasting of their 2008s already.

This month sees the start of more tastings and dinners, as wine merchants emerge from their igloos, and the singing of the birds portends warmer days. It is also the month of the super-charged Cheltenham horse racing festival, which may feature our Cheval Mascot, the mighty Cornas, running in the last race of the 26, the Grand Annual Chase handicap over 2 miles. News on him will be posted for his aficionados. Meanwhile, I have to fend off greedy French growers, all of whom will claim that I had an annual bet against France in the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament - so far France have won all 3 of their matches. Fortunately, I backed them so to do before it started, so have wriggled out of a tight corner and can continue to sup the odd good bottle.

Young And Fresh

early March 2010

a report on Les Vins Naturels has been added under Recent Tastings. It focuses on the domaines of Dard & Ribo at Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine Gramenon in the southern Côtes du Rhône, and Jean-Michel Stéphan at Côte-Rôtie.These are low intervention growers, who work purely organically, down to little or no use of sulphur dioxide during fermentation and raising.

A few Southern Rhône domaines recently added: in the Côtes du Rhône, two prime organic estates, mother and son: Domaine Gramenon, and the new domaine of Michèle Aubéry-Laurent`s son, Maxime, under the title Maxime-François Laurent. At Rasteau, the Domaine de Beaurenard - the Rasteau offshoot of the Coulons` accomplished Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate, and at Ventoux, a promising, well above average quality property, the Domaine Champ Long, who are cousins of the Bernard family who run the Domaine La Garrigue at Vacqueyras and the delightful Hotel Les Florets at Gigondas. 

During February a lot of 2007 and 2008 tasting notes on Gigondas have been added - the 2007s now mostly in bottle, and the 2008s out of the vat. Domaines now present at Gigondas are Notre Dame des Pallières, where quality is rising, the Mas des Flauzières, where quality is also on the rise after excessive extraction in the early 2000s, the also improved Domaine de la Mavette - more body in the wines than 10 years ago - and the small start-up the Mas des Restanques, whose owners are ex-Co-operateurs. Good marks for the class of Gigondas!

At Châteauneuf-du-Pape, two recent newcomers have also been put up: Albin Jacumin and Domaine La Destinée. Albin is part of the soap opera saga - think the 1980s TV programme Dallas, perhaps - surrounding the Château de Cabrières, where lawsuits are flying over inheritance after the divorce of the Arnaud parents. His old 10 hectare Domaine was called La Bégude des Papes. He will become a grower of importance by 2011, with over 20 hectares in total due to come his way - providing the lawyers do not slow the whole thing down. More simply, but interestingly, Domaine La Destinée`s owner Jean-Pierre Folliet came to wine via being a Professor of Tasting, and has a wine shop as well. His wine is good and traditional.

Around the Côtes du Rhône Villages, there are some new names. Set on the Plan de Dieu, the Château La Courançonne has always been good supplier of white and red Séguret, with the Villages wine of Plan de Dieu now stated on the label. Under Côtes du Rhône, in the lower part of the Drôme département, a new domaine, the Clos des Cîmes, first vintage 2007, has been entered - two young people, both oenologues, but one with viticulture in her family, an ex-Co-operatrice. Also under Côtes du Rhône, very near Avignon, the Domaine Saint-Pierre d`Escarvaillac, owned by the Requin family since 1889, has been posted.

Across the river, at Laudun, the Château de Marjolet is a recent name for Laudun red, while the Château de Montfaucon is a very good source of Côtes du Rhône, especially the more full-bodied wine. Also in the Gard, in the accomplished village of Domazan, the Domaine des Romarins has been added, with authentic, robust wines as their trademark. Another start-up in the right bank Gard département is La Gramière, makers of Vin de Table from Côtes du Rhône vineyards, with a US involvement. In the southern Ardèche, the high quality Vin de Pays estate Domaine du Grangeon has been added, with good value wines.

All on its own, for the eclectic, the well-off, the curious: the 2005 Château-Grillet was solemnly tasted over 2 days, to assess  and enjoy and appraise this little piece of history, whose style is changing.

Snow Hits Hard

February 2010

snow hit the Rhône in January 2010, with a foot or more at Gigondas (40 cm) and falls all over the Valley. Good news for the water table, although pruning was a little held up in difficult to access places. In the cellars. growers are working on their 2008s, a vintage in which throwing away any suspect crop was obligatory, but also one where the blender`s art comes to the fore, and fine judgment is needed to provide wines that are reasonably balanced and good to drink without any stiff or jagged notes. I continue to be interested by simple, hand-made 2008s from Côtes du Rhône and also the small wines from successful estates - which can include vins de pays as well.

Beside 2008, 2009 is a boastful, glitzy vintage, with immediate impact fruit and a lot of content. Show biz hits town! All I would advise is to go carefully in buying at an early stage - vinification was not always straightforward - there are some enormous degrees on the Southern Grenache - and growers may have that pecuniary glint in their eyes - a low yield this year, coupled with a frothing media, means prices will rise, nae doubt about that. Only if Greece really hits the buffers may importers see some relief on the € Euro front.

This month, more 2008s will be entered, and the picture of a vintage that follows a known Rhône pattern - a lesser red year equals a good white year - will also be further unfurled.

Cornas (cheval mascot) news: it is slightly back to the drawing board for our steed. He finished 5th, about 25 lengths behind the top-class winnee, the ex-French Twist Magic in his big race at Ascot. Ex-French, eh. Restez chez vous, svp. He tried to mix it with the two best horses and got tired, and was thereafter allowed to come home gently. Plans are now under discussion, since he is not quite in the top league, but is good in the second grade. Having said that, he would still feature in the best 12 steeplechasers over 2 miles in Britain - not at all bad. But the analogy with Cornas - gallant and honest - remains true. Allez Cornas!

Book Released

late-January 2010

2008 vintage entries: keep using the Search vintage 2008, or look out for the LVT 2008 (Last Vintage Tasted) acronym alongside domaines. Some of the preferred ones have been entered recently. Few wines achieve 4 to 5 star ratings in 2008, but there are plenty around the 3 star mark, which can be good value from regions such as the Côtes du Rhône and Gigondas.

At Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a few high-class estates have been brought up to date: Domaine de Beaurenard, Domaine de Cristia, Château Rayas, while the Gigondas-owned Château St Jean of Christian Meffre has been added. Over 30 white 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Papes have also been entered - look out for LVT 2008 wh under the domaines.

A couple of right bank Côtes du Rhône domaines have been entered, both at the village of St Marcel de l`Ardèche, and both run by talented women - the Mas de Libian of Hélène and Catherine Thibon, and the Domaine Coulange of Christelle Coulange, the latter taking the brave and realistic decision to sell off all her 2008 in bulk. 

At Cairanne, a quartet of domaines, two very established, the others new to quite new: the racy fruit and fun of Marcel Richaud, the Belgian-owned debutant Domaine de la Tête Noire - both offer w.o.w. wines - and the Domaine Armand, with sound Rasteau as well as Cairanne. Also the Domaine Catherine Le Goueil, now making just one wine, called simply Cairanne - a robust wine.

At Sablet, the Jean-Marc Autran Domaine de Piaugier, an innovator 20-plus years ago with oak use and a cleaned-up vinification - Sablet (inc good white) and Gigondas on offer from a wide range of cuvées. Also at Sablet, the Domaine de Boissan of Christian Bonfils, a go-go contemporary of Autran: good Sablet, also good, elegant Gigondas, with some very old vintages reviewed.

At Gigondas, the recently started Domaine des Florets of Jérome Boudier, up past the great hostelry of Les Florets - so in the lee of the Dentelles - has been entered, along with the definitely promising Domaine du Grand Bourjassot - very sound wines from Gigondas and Sablet, with at Vinsobres, the steady Domaine Autrand.

In the Côtes du Rhône, the exotic younger brother of Château Rayas, the Château de Fonsalette, had had its 2008s and 2007s reviewed. Also added are two modest domaines - Domaine du Bois des Mèges at Violès, and the keen start-up of Domaine Gris des Bauries at Taulignan, in the southern Drôme. Likewise at the Côtes du Rhône, the easy drinking wines of Domaine de la Berthèthe near the Plan de Dieu. In the Villages at Laudun, the reliable Co-operative the Quatre Chemins de Laudun has been added - good, fruity wines.

On its own, the appellation of Brézème south of Valence, has been included, the home of good Syrah: this I placed in my book The Wines of the Northern Rhône as it is out on a limb, near the mouth of the River Drôme as it nears the mighty Rhône, having passed through what is some spectacular country east of Crest ("Crey"). Jean-Marie Lombard is the main grower, although Eric Texier, the merchant, is also active and productive there.

Also just brought up to date at Hermitage, has been the STGT grower and near-veteran, Bernard Faurie; he also makes Saint-Joseph, and his 2008s and 2009s have been inspected. The complete line-up of wines from Delas - their 2007s in bottle, and some of their leadings 2008s have been fully reviewed: this remains a house with a very high quality given the number of wines they produce. At Crozes-Hermitage, the offbeat duo of René-Jean Dard and François Ribo (Dard & Ribo) have been visited, with their w.o.w. and STGT wines including Crozes, Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Plenty of 2009 cask samples were also tasted chez eux. The 2008s and 2007s of Yann Chave, much more mainstream, have also been reported on, as have the 2009s, 2008s and 2007s of Luc Tardy at Domaine du Murinais - also a modern, clean as a whistle fruit operator. At Cornas, the full range of wines from Jean-Luc Colombo - his Cornas 10 hectares, Saint Péray 2 hectares and the négociant wines from north and south - have been tasted and entered, including some interesting whites. At Saint-Joseph, the modest local domaine near Chavanay, Domaine Richard, has been revised, while at Côte-Rôtie, some impressive 2006s, 2007s and 2008s have been tasted at the Guigal-owned Domaine de Bonserine.

Happy New Year

January 2010

 a very Happy 2010 to readers and subscribers. We can look forward to some fun drinking in the next two or three years. From the Northern Rhône, there are the free-flowing 2007s, some fine, interesting 2008s from selected domaines, and an excellent bunch of 2009s, jam packed with fruit, that are likely to show well early. The Southern Rhône offers the imposing, bountiful 2007s, some very drinkable 2008s - although these are lower level wines that often fit into the w.o.w. (what one wants) category - and a strong collection of muscled 2009s. Lovers of easy drinking wines, and hoarders and sippers of big beasts are all catered for.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the style of some Southern Rhônes over the next few years. There has always been a gulf between what one might loosely term the typical European palate and the typical North American palate, and this difference has been brought into very sharp focus with the issue of the 2007 vintage at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I have actually witnessed a professional taster, spitting all the while as per usual, physically crumble after going through 30 or 40 of the 2007s at a public event. Is this a good sign? Even in the USA, a lively divergence has opened up between Eric Asimov, the New York Times wine correspondent, and the Sage of Maryland, Robert Parker jr. Finesse or power? Can you indeed offer finesse when the degree exceeds 15°? Are growers copping out when they lament the rise in ripening season temperatures, but also know that this style of wine sells very well in certain markets - so why kick against the trend? I cover this point in the March 2010 issue of Decanter magazine, by the way. 

During January 2010, I will write a piece on "les vins naturels" - those wines made with little or no sulphur during fermentation, raising and bottling. By nature, these should be wines that hover between the two categories of w.o.w. - easy drinking - and STGT - faithful expression of place. I will ponder the merits of these laissez-faire wines from a Rhône standpoint, and also point to side issues that accompany them, such as their stability. Domaines referred to will include Thiérry Allemand (Cornas), Dard & Ribo (Crozes-Hermitage), Domaine Gramenon (Côtes du Rhône) and Jean-Michel Stéphan (Côte-Rôtie).

Fairs And Markets

December 2009

the 53rd Cornas Wine Fair, or Market as they call it in their functional way, is the early December highlight, and features among a welter of tastings of 2008 Northern Rhônes in Tournon, along with similar close inspection of 2008s at Gigondas, Lirac and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Comments on these will be posted later in the month. For now, having tasted a wide selection of Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008s, I find they carry friendly fruit, and will drink young, but they are miles better than 2002, which some armchair-bound journalists have wrongly put in the same category as 2008.

Something I have also noticed is the rather heady pricing on two prominent Châteauneuf-du-Pape estates, Clos des Papes and Beaucastel. I have not tasted the Beaucastel, but in December tasted the Clos des Papes at the estate in, please note, its yet to be assembled form. Please log in to see the note on this wine to be. What I also observe is that both these 2008s are being offered, in all their infancy, pre-final blending, at £400 per case of 12 bottles, in bond in Britain. Thus there is duty, shipping and VAT to be added; they therefore weigh in as expensive wines, which will have to do well to justify the price in what is not a great vintage. The old caution of Caveat Emptor (buyer beware) must apply for those who wish to rush in.

Cornas (cheval mascot) alert: the mighty Cornas WON by 13 LENGTHS (13 longueurs pour ses fans les vignerons) in his 2mile, 1.5 furlong steeplechase for younger horses on Dec 17 at Exeter. He was actually joint favourite at odds of 11/10 and eased round, jumping accurately, and won without being fussed by his rivals. His sore hoof (the first four letters of his name, actually) had been attended to, and he prevailed in style. I vaguely cheered him on from minus 15 Centigrade in Finland while discussing the merits or otherwise of the Finnish economy, (unemployment rising in 2010), while the race was run, without my usual bottle of 1991 Clape Cornas to hand. Probably just as well. ALLEZ, CORNAS! His fan club grows all the while, and I took the opportunity of informing the Mayor at the December Cornas Wine Market that his foreign ambassador had 4 legs, and a much higher profile than him. He took it in good part.

New Notes

December 2009

back from the Rhône, just, without sleeping the night in a snow drift near Brighton, from Helsinki, the first 2008 tasting notes are being gradually fed in. It is a vintage that needs micro-investigation - what the French term "le travail de fourmi (the work of an ant). No blanket statements can be made. Each domaine must be judged separately. Under Saint-Joseph, notes on the whites of Domaine Bernard and Fabrice Gripa should be looked at. Under Hermitage, the 2008s of Marc Sorrel, and his 2007s, all of which are now bottled, are also reviewed. Also under Hermitage, the new venture Nicolas Jaboulet, Perrin Frères has been added, a merchant business that started in August, 2009, and released its first wines in November, 2009. Under Cornas, the 2006, 2007 and 2008 (in cask) of Thiérry Allemandhave been tasted in December chez the enfant terrible.

Under Condrieu, the Domaine Georges Vernay range was tasted, including a 1976 Coteau de Vernon, which is also covered under Recent Tastings under the title 1979 & 1976 Georges Vernay. And the Domaine Faury has been updated, their whites from 2009 and 2008, their reds from 2008 and 2007. At Côte-Rôtie, the organic, sometimes no sulphur child Jean-Michel Stéphan and his range of 2007s, 2008s, 2009s have been entered. Jean-Michel is a rare example of carbonic maceration use, his inspiration being the late Jules Chauvet of justified past Beaujolais fame. Also the highly promising Christophe Billon`s 2007s, 2008s and 2009s have been reviewed, as have the 2009s, 2008s and 2007s of another young Turk, Stéphane Pichat, and the traditional Domaine Gallet.

STGT Wines

mid-November 2009

starting to be fed in are STGT and w.o.w. wines tasted in the Rhône this month, along with the first 2009s, notably the whites. Look for any STGT wine with 11/09 as the tasting date. The vins de pays 2008s are shaping into very good value, easy drinking wines - there are some under the w.o.w. bracket, and right good they are, too. Domaines visited and written up so far are at Condrieu, the two Frankies - François Merlin, and François Villard, along with the nicely local, STGT-leaning Marie & Pierre Benetière. One of my first ever visits to Condrieu in June, 1973, was to Pierre`s brother who was then a négociant in the regional wines, and thus one of the few people dealing in finished wine in bottles at the time. My domestic drinking in Aix-en-Provence was the starred litre bottle, plastic top, Ventoux red and rosé from the Cave de Beaumes-de-Venise, about 80 centimes a pop if I remember rightly. Bottles with corks were for big hitters, pas moi. I did have a few pairs of smart espadrilles, though, even if not in the I Marcos league.

At Côte-Rôtie, René Rostaing and the brothers Bonnefond, Patrick & Christophe have also been revised. At Saint-Joseph, neighbours Emmanuel Barou, Pierre Finon and Pascal Marthouret, the first two successful with vins de pays and Finon especially with his whites, the last-named in the w.o.w. camp. Also Louis Chèze, up on the plateau at Limony, whose domaine has almost become an empire since he started in the 1980s, and Domaine du Chêne at Chavanay.

At Séguret, the ever reliable, good quality Domaine de Cabasse, also a hotel in the summer months, has been added, as has a small but active enterprise at Ventoux, at the village of Le Barroux, St Jean du Barroux. (Mass in the chapel just outside the village there is spoken in Latin). At Plan de Dieu Côtes du Rhône Villages, a young man with a small vineyard, Hervé Bessac, is a new entry, as is the large 70+hectare Côtes du Rhône estate at Suze-la-Rousse, Château La Borie, provider of well-fruited wines. Another good domaine with clearly-fruited wines is Domaine Marie-Blanche at Signargues, one of the recent Côtes du Rhône Villages. 

Cornas (cheval mascot) alert: please reach for your nearest bottle of Cornas. If you don`t open it, at least touch it. Whisper to it, hum at it, intone positive thoughts towards it. For our steed is running at Ascot on Saturday 21 November, in a £34,000 9 runner handicap steeplechase over 2 miles, 1 furlong (1 furlong = 1/8 of a mile, thus 220 yards). The race starts at 2.05 and is on Channel 4 in GB. He has the top weight and is meant to be the classiest horse in the race. His trainer was keen to run to him, saying he is in good form at home. I expect a gallant showing, but he may be finishing second or third. His odds are 4 to 5/1. Allez, Cornas! LATE WIRE: Cornas finishes third, an honourable run, but never really in the front rank. Well run, Cornas. The bottle of 1991 Cornas Auguste Clape that I got out of the cellar helped to some extent, it would seem.  

November 2009 News: growers report their 2009s as fermenting well, but in the southern Rhône, some vats have started to take their time, so loaded with sugar have they been. The malolactic fermentations have been remarkably quick to occur this year - the drought and hot summer meant there were low levels of malic acidity, with some "malos" taking place before the primary, alocoholic fermentation had finished - something very rarely experienced. In the Northern Rhône there appears to be considerable enthusiasm about the new vintage, both from a quality and a quantity standpoint. In the Southern Rhône, there are also great hopes. An issue yet again may be that of low acidity wines with high levels of alcohol, which could prompt more than desirable cellar intervention. We will see. I have visits to the Rhône before Christmas, and will be reporting back on both 2008s and some early impressions of 2009.

Cornas (cheval mascot) alert: Cornas ran a most honourable second in a Grade 2, hot handicap steeplechase at Exeter on 3 November. I was, ahem, drinking 2001 René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie in London at the time, so apologise to our Cheval Mascot for such negligence. Would he have won (beaten 3 lengths) if I had been drinking Cornas, or indeed, if we had organised readers to ALL drink Cornas that day? His jumping was apparently good, and he went down fighting. One report that the jockey had "tack trouble at or near the last fence" is a little alarming - do vignerons drop their pipettes? So Cornas ran up to expectations, also having been backed rather heavily from 12/1 into a starting price of 5/1. Maybe his fan club is growing. Meanwhile, his daring owners, the Vine Trail crew, have returned from Melbourne after watching another of their equine empire, Capecover, like Cornas a New Zealand bred, run in no less a race than the Melbourne Cup - the race that stops a nation, the race that creates a public holiday across Australia, making it doubly popular. Drawn in stall 19 - wide - he will be finishing strongly, as he likes to make his move late. How late is late? - a Hegelian question for this Sunday morning. The answer I'm afraid - late in the absolute, metaphysical sense: 17th of 23.

Honourable Racer

November 2009

growers report their 2009s as fermenting well, but in the southern Rhône, some vats have started to take their time, so loaded with sugar have they been. The malolactic fermentations have been remarkably quick to occur this year - the drought and hot summer meant there were low levels of malic acidity, with some "malos" taking place before the primary, alocoholic fermentation had finished - something very rarely experienced. In the Northern Rhône there appears to be considerable enthusiasm about the new vintage, both from a quality and a quantity standpoint. In the Southern Rhône, there are also great hopes. An issue yet again may be that of low acidity wines with high levels of alcohol, which could prompt more than desirable cellar intervention. We will see. I have visits to the Rhône before Christmas, and will be reporting back on both 2008s and some early impressions of 2009.

Cornas (cheval mascot) alert: Cornas ran a most honourable second in a Grade 2, hot handicap steeplechase at Exeter on 3 November. I was, ahem, drinking 2001 René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie in London at the time, so apologise to our Cheval Mascot for such negligence. Would he have won (beaten 3 lengths) if I had been drinking Cornas, or indeed, if we had organised readers to ALL drink Cornas that day? His jumping was apparently good, and he went down fighting. One report that the jockey had "tack trouble at or near the last fence" is a little alarming - do vignerons drop their pipettes? So Cornas ran up to expectations, also having been backed rather heavily from 12/1 into a starting price of 5/1. Maybe his fan club is growing. Meanwhile, his daring owners, the Vine Trail crew, have returned from Melbourne after watching another of their equine empire, Capecover, like Cornas a New Zealand bred, run in no less a race than the Melbourne Cup - the race that stops a nation, the race that creates a public holiday across Australia, making it doubly popular. Drawn in stall 19 - wide - he will be finishing strongly, as he likes to make his move late. How late is late? - a Hegelian question for this Sunday morning. The answer I'm afraid - late in the absolute, metaphysical sense: 17th of 23.

Australian Visit

late October 2009

I am nearing the end of an instructional and entertaining visit to the vineyards of McLaren Vale, South Australia. The Vale lies south of Adelaide, has a breezy, maritime climate, and the majority variety in its vineyards is Shiraz. I have been the International Judge at the McLaren Vale Wine Show, an event that runs over two and a half days. There is definite potential for this region to become better known in future years, and there are encouraging moves such as a series of six sub-regions - McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat, Blewitt Springs, for instance, to be created - a sort of mini appellation network. This is very reasonable, given the diverse soils and rock sub-strata here. A precise map logging the geology is in preparation, and there are definite signs that a good amount of the growers see the need to make more precise, less blockbuster, "me-too" wines. I have also been impressed by the pure Grenache wines I have encountered. A full Report will follow in the future.

For lovers of mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I would also remind you of the very extensive look at the 1998 vintage posted recently under RECENT TASTINGS. I will be in the Rhône in the next few weeks to see some of the first vat samples of 2009, and to take a good look at how the 2008s are faring.

Meanwhile, I apologise for the weird encryption, a grown-up word for gobbledygook, on some domaines, which is a result of recent changes on the site. These are being attended to, and the domaines affected will be back in full shortly.

JEAN-LUC COLOMBO: not a great month of October 2009 for the free-wheeling Wunderkid of Cornas. See Goings-On.  

CORNAS, cheval mascot, alert: Cornas travelled to the west of Ireland for a very winnable 2 mile steeplechase on 11 October, and was made favourite for the contest. He jumped like a tiger for the first 5 or 6 fences, but unfortunately his pilot asked him to be too bold and to jump too extravagantly at a back straight fence and he took a crashing fall. Very happily, he and the rider seemed OK after the race. Back to the drawing board for our Cheval Mascot, thus. A bit like Cornas, the wine - never really the King at the Rhône Annual Ball, despite good mentions by the cognoscenti and off-beats. Team Cornas have had to stick to the Guinness, but it is now called la bière des chuteurs, not la bière des vainqueurs, as it used to be termed during my days in the Cameroun, West Africa. Don`t say that out loud, by the way.

Last Crops

October 2009

the last crop is being picked, and the scene is set for a very good vintage. It was predicted here, it`s all in writing. If only I could back winners using these forecasting methods! Rain on 16 September was a fantastic boon for the growers, since the vines had started to seize up, with sugar levels rising, but tannic maturity not following. Reports also emphasize a loss of crop that is severe in places such as Gigondas, and overall quantity is well down on "normal" years - the last one of those was 2007. In the meantime, the fruity charms of the best 2008s are coming through, acting as a welcome easy drinking pause between what will be considered to be two very good vintages. Recent Additions: a long and winding report on 1998 Châteauneuf-du-Pape - 10+ years on - has been posted under RECENT TASTINGS. I set the scene at the time of the vintage so there is a full context surrounding the behaviour of the wines as they mature. See GOINGS-ON for other recent additions, which include the now complete report on 2007 NORTHERN RHONE.

Warm Climate

September 2009

a very hot August has marked its path through the vineyards, resulting in some blocked ripening here and there. In this situation, the vines need moisture to continue the ripening of their tannins - stalks, stems, pips can vary between green and yellow, and this makes life difficult for a grower to press the harvest button. Thunderstorms have occurred, but are very localised. Patrick Coste of Domaine Le Pointu at Châteauneuf-du-Pape related how in late August the north of the town of Orange was temporarily flooded after a thunderstorm, while his domaine, just south of Orange, received no rain. The first picking of white grapes and those intended for rosé has started. See Goings-On for the latest news.

Taken as a whole, the outlook is bright in both the Northern and the Southern Rhône, but rain would help to bring balance to the vintage - otherwise the spectre of firm tannins arises.  

Recent Additions: most of the 2007 Northern Rhône vintage report has been completed - see the sidebar 2007 Northern Rhône. Domaines added at Châteauneuf-du-Pape include Roger Sabon, Moulin-Tacussel, Lou Fréjau, de l`Harmas, Panisse, Vieux Lazaret and a handful of fairly recent start-ups - La Ferme du Mont, Bouvachon-Nominé, Le Pointu. At the Massif d`Uchaux, the interesting Château d`Hugues, run by the exotic character Bernard Pradier, is also included.

Encouraging Reports

August 2009

reports from the vineyards are extremely encouraging. July was hot and dry, and a little rain at the start of August most welcome. By the first week of August, temperatures in the southern Rhône soared, with 38°C recorded at Châteauneuf-du-Pape on a very still August 5 - not a breath of air. By and large, harvest dates look like being about one week ahead of their usual dates, with the Syrah in the South rocking on at speed. Please click on Goings-On for some comments from different growers across the Rhône Valley. In England, the south-east, which includes my home territory of Sussex, has fared better than the Midlands and North, which have been beset by rain recently. Runner beans are thriving. Tasting notes of 2007s from Gigondas and Vacqueyras are gradually being fed in, while the summary report on Northern Rhône 2007 is coming to fruition, gradually. The individual notes have been supplied under each domaine - please use the LVT (Last Vintage Tasted) indicator to track that under each domaine.

Season Going Well

July 2009

growers up and down the Rhône tell me that the growing season is going well, smoothly, and that harvest dates at this juncture look like being on the early side. They have had none of the drip-drip weather that led to widespread mildew in 2008, and are as hopeful as they can be before the all-important months of July and August. As it has in Britain, the weather in June in the Rhône has been hot, but water reserves are fuller than they have been for a few years - so, touch wood, things are looking promising. The good feeling about the 2009 vintage continues.

June was sad in that Châteauneuf-du-Pape lost one of its most senior figures, Paul Avril of the Clos des Papes - see Goings-On for my little obituary on Paul, an outstanding ambassador for the region, and a charming man of poise and intellect. Alsace also lost its great ambassador, the ebullient Jean or Johnny Hugel. With officialdom and big business systems stifling more and more of the characters of the wine trade, these are the sort of people who nowadays stand out for their drive and enterprise, both Avril and Hugel men who represented "lesser" regions of France thirty-five years ago when I first met them. It is fitting to think that now neither region is in any way "lesser".

Recently posted items include domaines from Cairanne, Costières de Nimes, Rasteau, Roaix, Signargues and Ventoux - see under those appellations. In constant renewal are the central drinkrhone categories of STGT and w.o.w. - Soil to Glass Transfer wines and what one wants wines. Refer to these (date tasted in right hand column is a good indicator of recent activity) for natural, terroir wines or easy drinking, free-flowing wines. A cross-section of 2006 and 2007 wines from Vinsobres have been entered, while the next project is the full report on the 2007 northern Rhône. For the full list of domaines recently posted, see Goings-On.

Heat,Sun,Abundance

June 2009

les anciens will be sitting round the camp fire, mumbling about how the weather they anticipated a good while ago has come to pass - heat, sun, abundance. I hope they have handy supplies of rosé handy, but I expect their dish is more a Syrah or Grenache-inspired red. Having just celebrated two major and marvellous events, the Yapp 40th anniversary of their existence as the leading Rhône and Loire wine merchant in GB, and the Tim Johnston (Juveniles, Paris, famous for many a good bark at annoying people or regions near the Gironde, including the ejection of the Mondovino team onto the trottoir outside Juveniles, an event written up, no less, in the stately Revue de Vin de France) ?40th birthday luncheon - GOODNESS, this is a long sentence, but the home straight is in sight - I can testify to the refreshing qualities of the 2007 Tavel rosé La Forcadière from Domaine Maby (http://www.yapp.co.uk/) and the utterly delightful 2008 Château de Roquefort Côtes de Provence Corail rosé from the excellent biodynamic estate of Raimond de Villeneuve near La Ciotat, south of Marseille (http://www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/).

I have posted a review of 2008 Tavels under Recent Tastings. I find 2008 a really great rosé vintage from the Southern Rhône and Provence, providing the grower has been realistic and not pushed for too much extraction. There is no need for many of these wines to exceed 13 degrees, in which case the best are gorgeous to drink outdoors - great for the aperitif, picnics, barbecues and so on. Ship `em in, I say. There is also a recently posted full report on the 2007 Northern Rhônes. I am still grounded after knee trouble, so the dinners in the Rhône have been held over until 2010. Note that a few 2008 vat sample tasting notes are appearing after domaine visits made between December 2008 and March 2009. A full list of recent domaine additions is under the Goings-On tab in the left-hand margin.

Fiasco Spared

May 2009

some optimism is appearing about the 2008 vintage, notably in Bordeaux. The Rhône is mercifully spared the annual fiasco of pubescent wines being assessed by the great and the good when some of the wines have not even finished their malolactic fermentation - or if they have, they may well have been in heated cellars to get to that stage. Nor have final blends been decided upon. It is interesting that the wines flying off broker`s lists in London are the Premier Grand Crus, plus the usual Lynch Bages, Léoville Barton very reliable wines. The Merlot wines of the Right Bank are also starting to hot up.

I have posted the notes from a Chapoutier 2008 tasting held in London at the end of April in the next days. See Recent Tastings. This was all the parcellaire or single plot wines, the reds 100% Syrah, the whites 100% Marsanne. I would always prefer to taste in the cellar of the grower rather than from a sample shipped away from its region, but the results were quietly encouraging, with terroir coming through in some instances from this cool vintage: a really hot year like 2003 of course suppressed terroir in its first years. Here and there on the site are a few 2008 notes from the odd vat of Grenache or Syrah that I have included for interest`s sake, rather than a formal assessment.

Recent additions: a full report on 2006 Northern Rhône has been posted, and a host of Northern Rhône domaines from the last 5 months - see Recent Additions in Goings-On. Also, the top 4 2005 Côte-Rôtie wines from Guigal, which were bottled at the end of January, tasted in mid-March in Ampuis. Also, the latest from Domaines Bernard and the organic, counter culture Jean-Michel Stéphan at Côte-Rôtie - both have vineyards mainly in the southern sector there. The Domaine Guy Farge at Saint-Joseph has also been added - Guy being an ex-Co-operateur (Tain) who now makes Saint-Joseph from good vineyards at St-Jean-de-Muzols and also Cornas (allez!)

I note that the Meteorological Office in England is now forecasting a long, hot summer, something this website was on about at least two months ago. Listen to les anciens, the veterans, and get out more is my comment to them.

Rosé's And Whites

April 2009

2008 has performed in a usual Rhône way - providing good whites and likeable rosés, the latter less heady than recent vintages. Thus the aperitif can be drawn from Tavel and neighbour Lirac, or from some of the enterprising Côtes du Rhône domaines which take trouble over their rosés. Notes on Tavel will be posted in the next weeks. See Goings-On for news of an award given to me by the growers of Vinsobres last month.

The third week of April 2009 was the stage for the Decanter World Wine Awards, which involved a large amount of tasting over four days in London. This year there were more Rhône entries for the Decanter event than ever before this year, and the number of gold medals given doubled from last year`s tally of two to four. Their identities will be revealed in due course - I do not know yet who made them since the wines were all tasted, and re-tasted blind. There was one 2008 white, and three 2007 reds. 

Recent additions to the Northern Rhône feature three new domaines of good quality each one: the saucily-named SCEA La Tache at Saint-Joseph, Christophe Curtat at Saint-Joseph - both in the prime southern zone of that straggling appellation - and at Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Saint Clair, of Denis Basset. Please also keep checking the STGT and w.o.w. categories as tasting notes on 2007 are being fed in. Notice that Crozes 2007 from good domaines looks like delivering really friendly fruit, classic for w.o.w. However, there are a lot of got-up wines as well from Crozes. Also check out the rock solid qualities of the Domaine Durand at Saint-Joseph (and Cornas), and the Domaine Belle at Crozes-Hermitage (and Hermitage). 

Also recently included has been a vast array of Chapoutier wines, also those from their offshoot Ferraton (both listed under Hermitage), Marc Sorrel from Hermitage, and from Crozes-Hermitage, Alain Graillot, with a first look at his 2008s, as well as the wines of his son Maxime, at his Domaine des Lises - a name to remember.

Cornas (Cheval) News: our Cheval Mascot ran on Saturday 4 April at Aintree, near Liverpool, in a 2 mile novice chase event that preceded the world famous Grand National race. He finished fourth in this championship race, and was bang there until the winner quickened away to win by 12 lengths - presumably it is a Bessards/Méal style beast, that Kalahari King, while Cornas is, well Cornas - honest virtues and a real trier. He is off on his summer holidays now, with some lush turf to pick at. Repose-toi bien, Cornas.

He had been skipping around at his home in Devon, and clearly likes the spring weather that Britain has recently enjoyed. Fingers are crossed, but once again he crosses swords with the best beasts around - a reprise of his race at Cheltenham last month, when he finished seventh after slipping on landing two fences from home. The flat racecourse at Aintree will suit him a little better. Auguste Clape has not yet been informed of Cornas` next outing, but was in grand form when seen two weeks ago tasting with the crowd in Tain l`Hermitage. ALLEZ CORNAS !!!

Rhône Event

End of March 2009

the bi-annual Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône event was its usual whirlwind of colourful people from around the world, and the gang of journalists that meets up every two years - notably from Belgium and Denmark - which results in late night assaults on STGT Montlouis and other delights. Visitor numbers were down, unsurprisingly, but the audience was more professional and focused than in 2007. The USA and Canada were well represented, as were Belgium, Norway and Germany. British trade visitors were low in number, high in quality - Averys, Flint Wines, Berry Brothers - the last-named continuing to outpace most of the British traditional merchants through their commitment to the real Rhône of small domaines and good quality names that now include Beaucastel. London merchants that rely on Bordeaux have hard yards to catch up, especially after a less than star vintage in 2007.

The main focus was the 2007 vintage. The southern Rhône will be covered in detail in the coming weeks as I reside in England and scribble away. It will start with a bringing together of the Châteauneuf-du-Papes, red and white: many of these have now been tasted. Please also keep consulting the STGT and w.o.w. categories, where wines are being added all the time.

Event Preperation

mid-March 2009

the bi-annual Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône event takes place from March 16-21. This is attended by wine importers, retailers, press and a few way out investigators - two years ago there was a VERY hearty bus of Slovakians who would all taste the same wine at the same moment, it appeared. Traffic problems ensued, and noise levels were high. Did they place many orders? I cannot say. It is that time again, and bookings will probably be down on 2007 - we will see. Reports will be posted the following week.

Massive Tasting

early-March 2009

having tasted over 400 Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages reds in Avignon from 2006 and 2007, then 120 2006 Châteauneuf-du-Papes that have now been bottled, I need bread and water, possible the dentist, and also the time to assemble the notes on-line. These tastings took me 7 consecutive days, given that I am not a locomotive, unlike some of the high profile scribbling brethren. I will be leading with the most prominent domaines from those vintages.

CORNAS, our Cheval Mascot News: "mid-division, hampered 3rd, headway on outer approaching 3 out, close 3rd and going well when stumbled 2 out, ridden before last, weakened flat". The Form Book does not lie. Cornas, in the top race of the year for his group of young horses over 2 miles, performed with pulsating quality on March 10 at Cheltenham. He came cruising down the hill on the outside, the jockey sitting motionless, and hearts started to quicken. At the second last fence, a downhill obstacle, he made a good jump but slipped on landing, and in the words of his jockey Daryl Jacob "lost his momentum and about 3 lengths - otherwise we would have been fourth." Thus he was 7th, but I can say that he did what good Cornas wine should do - showed guts and a willing attitude, with no affectation (ie new oak). VIVE, CORNAS!!!

Previously: Cornas the Cheval Mascot, has his big, high-profile day on Tuesday 10 March at Cheltenham in the second race, the 2.05, called the Arkle Chase, over 2 miles - named after Ireland`s champion, the greatest horse I ever saw, when I was a callow youth in 1965. He is a 50/1 shot, in a field of 18 runners. He will run well, although a slight foot problem last week took a day or two to clear up. He should not be 50/1, and if all went well, he could finish in the first six. The place odds for him coming in the first three are around 10-12/1. I will be ringside for this race. ALLEZ CORNAS!!!

The end of February heralded the first inkling of spring in the southern Rhône, and by the first week of March, the almonds and mimosas were adding a bit of welcome colour to the landscape. The last of the pruners were also out and about. The 2008s are settling down, and will be reviewed for the first time since December in mid-March when I return to the Rhône, both north and south. With an anti-cyclone situated over the Azores for around 10 days, it was a good time to be tasting - very stable days, cool nights, and healthy sunshine.

Cornas (cheval) News: Cornas, our website Mascot, has now run WITH GREAT DISTINCTION in the 3.20 Novices Chase at Sandown, the feature race on the card. He was beaten a measly neck into second place, after a mighty round of jumping, only inhibited by a slight mistake at the second last fence where he lost about 1+ lengths. Without that, he would have won. There is something rather wonderful about shouting "Go on, allez Cornas" at the television, while jumping around and making the animals take to the hills. The forecast paid over 50/1, so there are funds from this latest venture of our Mascot. Hats off to Nick Brookes and the team at VineTrail.

Previously . . Cornas runs in the 3.20 race at Sandown tomorrow, the 20 February. The race is over 2 miles, and there are 5 runners, of which he is the outsider - just like Cornas (le vin), always underrated! We will find out if he is good enough to compete in the big championship race at Cheltenham in March, the Arkle Chase. Fingers are crossed for a good performance. ALLEZ, CORNAS!

Snow Has Landed

February 2009

snow has hit France, as well as coating England thanks to the Russian Steppe blowing in. For those who live in New York, there is an excellent production of Uncle Vanya on at the Stage Theatre Company on E 13th Street: Chekhov letting no-one off in his depiction of 1899 ennui, just 20 years before the Revolution. Maggie Gyllenhaal is captivating, the acting of Denis O`Hare and Peter Sarsgaard in the male suitor roles completely complementary. Meryl Streep was even in attendance, watching her daughter Mamie Gummer perform the role of the love-lorn Sofya. So much for Russia for now, but it`s that sort of day.

The mail has come in about the Paul Jaboulet Aîné article in Decanter, February 2009 - in support, I am both glad and sad to report. Amateurs of these wines from the past lament the moves being made, the result being a loss of personality. I hope that management take these comments as the prompt to sort things out, and to strive to better understand the region.

Being entered this month are 2007 tasting notes, led by Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaines - see Goings-On for the full list. They are indeed wholesome, and a couple have even crept into the w.o.w. (what one wants) category, even if a little more expensive than usual for that.

This month is marked by a vast tasting of Côtes du Rhône reds in Avignon, as I seek out value for the current times. More on that from March, as I have two almost consecutive visits to the Rhône, the second being for the Découvertes week in mid-March.

Cornas (cheval) alert: I wish this bulletin had been written 2 days ago, since our Cheval Mascot triumphed in his first novice (young horses) steeplechase over 2 miles at Ludlow (the local racecourse for the very good Tanners Wines in Shrewsbury) on Thursday 15 January. He won by 5 lengths after making a mistake at the first fence, then took hold of the bit and wooshed away from ten rivals. His odds were 7/1, and the owners nibbled away at him enough to make the price fall from an early 14/1. Free wine from Vine Trail, folks. I had not one centime on - drat! I encourage Cornas drinking this weekend in sympathy.

Christmas Highlights

January 2009

vinous highlights of Christmas-New Year came in the form of the 1990 Pol Roger and the 1978 Graves Château La Louvière blanc. 2 bottles of each, in each instance the last 2 bottles of a case bought at issue. The Pol Roger showed yet again just what a fantastic vintage 1990 is for Champagne - full of mousse still, with a honeyed complexity running through the most elegant of palates. Great length. The second bottle showed a fraction more age, with a Comté cheese note on the bouquet. Oh for a magnum, a Jereboam or a daughter born in 1990, not 1991, so I had more of the 1990s.

The Louvière shows my love for white Graves - ever since I was introduced to Château Haut-Brion blanc 1959 during an outdoors luncheon at Beaumanière Restaurant in Les Baux when it was in its finest 3 star pomp in 1973. Wham! Quelle finesse, what lingering scented delights. As a neighbour of Carbonnieux, La Louvière is in good white wine territory that has never really had full appreciation - not a bad thing for the value hounds. The 1978 La Louvière white is still fresh as a daisy, the colour a simple pale yellow, and a wine of remarkable staying power: decanted, it was still going without any concession to dryness or oxidation 24 hours later. The Sauvignon as the 75%+% senior partner showed through most of all, with a murmur of acidity at its heart, the Semillon aiding the finish and its breadth. Wonderful wine - when you open such "aulde friends" that have moved house with you several times and are still doing the business, wine becomes one of the greatest pleasures, and flashbacks to what was going on in the world and your own life come readily and picturesquely to mind. Often it is the unassuming wines, not the grandiose, that cast this spell.

Rhône highlights: from the Rhône, highlights were the still young and shapely 1999 Côte-Rôtie from Patrick Jasmin, the also young and compact 1998 Domaine de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape red, and above all, my little chou, my sweet friend, the 1990 Saint-Joseph red from Jean-Louis Grippat, my bon ami whom I bumped into, amid great emotion, at the Cornas Wine Marché in December, Jean-Louis having retired from his life as a vigneron when he sold his domaine and vineyards to Marcel Guigal in 2001. What a long, existential sentence that was - I must have been reading Donleavy in my sleep!

Best Value Wine: please also see Best Value Wines for a tremendous value white Laudun from Marks and Spencer in England, on sale at £4.49. Scroll down to the Southern Rhône section there.

Future visit: the later part of February heralds a visit to the Southern Rhône to taste an extensive series of Côtes du Rhônes and Villages, with the thought that value for money will be ever more important in 2009, and for the paupers in Britain with their battered economy and currency, vital. There is the usual gala set of 2007 Burgundy tastings in London during January, with people keen to see how the whites are performing. Certainly, that is likely to be a Burgundy vintage for the northern European palate, unlike the Southern Rhône, which is packed with sweet Grenache.

Tardieu-Laurent: the masters of oak, based in the pretty Lubéron village of Lourmarin, buy wines from old vine plots and raise them over a couple of years. A tasting of their range was held at their British importers, Corney & Barrow, in December 2008. See Tardieu-Laurent under their entry in the Cornas appellation.

Paul Jaboulet Ainé: added so far in January have been the tasting notes of my December 2008 visit to Paul Jaboulet Ainé. My recent article in the Decanter Magazine of February 2009 took around 9 months to write, since I was so vexed by the style of the wines emerging from the new management regime. I regard Jaboulet, the icon of my youth in the Rhône, as vital to the region`s heritage and well-being. Thus wines that do not come close to local expression are of great concern for the Rhône`s identity.

We are talking about the long view, and of integrity here. Does one let the house buyer purchase the Graded, Listed building, and knock it down? Do we, the consumers, want to drink Me-Too wines, expecting applause when we sagely extol their virtue of holding "the correct amount of blackberry"? Such talk is cheap. The successful campaign to stop the building of an apartment block on the vineyards of Cornas 12 months ago resulted in the Mayor of Cornas losing his seat, the groundswell of fuss from overseas playing a large part in that event, as recounted to me, with due thanks, by the NEW Mayor of Cornas in December, 2008.

Consequently I feel that my position on Jaboulet is important for the region. If all winewriters go round intoning that the new wines are better than the last ones, or that they have pretty fruit, they are only doing at most half their job. Historical context is vital in the most noble vineyards, so I for one am prepared to stand up and be counted on that, after 37 years covering the Rhône.

Other recent additions: also added to the roster of domaines in January and December have been the Domaine de La Guicharde at Massif d`Uchaux, the Domaine de Lucéna at Visan, and the Domaine des Pasquiers at Sablet, along with Domaine de Montvac at Vacqueyras; Domaine Jean David at Séguret - both interesting domaines, the latter STGT, organic wines. 2007s were assessed at Château de Beaucastel, a visit to Domaine Pontifical at Châteauneuf-du-Pape has been entered, and at Cornas, Vincent Paris` first vintage of La Geynale, the 2007 (I am in the group owning that vineyard) and his other young wines were tried, plus a tasting with Jacques Leminicier of his Cornas and Saint-Péray 2007 and 2006. Dec 2008 visits to Guigal, Vidal-Fleury and René Rostaing at Côte-Rôtie, André Perret and Domaine Georges Vernay at Condrieu (and Saint-Joseph) were also logged, as have June 2008 visits to Domaine La Fourmente and Domaine L`Orbieu at Visan.

Pedigree Vintage

mid-December 2008

a few hundred 2007 Northern Rhône reds and whites were tasted in early December, and there are certainly wines of some pedigree around in this vintage, which is less flashy than the Southern Rhône. Notes to be posted over the coming weeks. In both North and South, the 2008s I have tasted have been OK, as they say . . direct fruit, and more in the glass than the doomsayers (at least those who deem any poor year in Bordeaux equals a poor year everywhere else in France) have been muttering.

There was a foot of snow on 11 December, it lying for some days at 300 metres on the plateau above Côte-Rôtie: that made for very cold, dank cellars and nutters trying to overtake me on snow-bound roads. Water reserves in the Northern Rhône are now back to normal, the first time in several years, so perhaps 2009 starts out on a well-balanced footing. The Southern Rhône is still short by I would estimate around 20-30% of its "normal" water reserves.

Pricing is going to be a hot topic in 2009. With a good vintage in 2007 and a dodgy year in 2008, one would think that the growers will go all out with prices as high as the market will take on the 2007s. But we have an enormous slowdown, and galloping unemployment. Will 2008s be a lot cheaper? Well, they should be, but then the crop is down by at least 30%. So lowering prices on a greatly reduced crop is not easy to do, especially if the bank is breathing down your neck. Some high profile merchants have gone long on buying up large stocks of 2007 Côtes du Rhône reds, with a view to buying up very little of the 2008s, and hoping for a good vintage in 2009 to keep supply of that wine going.

In Britain, with its particularly enfeebled economy, the added bugbear is the weakness of sterling, collapsing against the Euro as I write. Duty increases from November only add to the gloom. This is the pragmatic Celtic-Anglo Saxon way of hitting merchants, as opposed to the Gallic one of banning internet comment on drinks and generally making people feel bad about working in the wine trade or growing vines.

Our cheval mascot, Cornas, raced twice in November, which was once too often, and "he was quiet when saddled" on the second occasion, despite his owner claiming he was a hardy New Zealand-bred. He finished 7th in that race at Ascot, by the way. Maybe Auguste Clape should feed him some oats and tell him to get a grip. His next destination is to jump larger obstacles after a rest over Christmas. Maybe some Yuletide Syrah in the bran mash . .?

Plans for the vineyard visit will be firming up in the next 2 months. The target date is likely to be towards the end of May 2009. Happy Christmas to readers in the meantime.

Local Growers

December 2008

Cornas kicks off the Northern Rhône village wine festivities. that occur every December. This is when the local growers have a chance to sell their recent wines to their nearby public, and a frequent sight is that of septuagenarians wheeling their diable trolleys ("diable" because of the two handles that stick out) laden with cases to people`s cars. I first attended the Cornas Marché aux Vins in 1973, when it was called the Festival of the Syrah and the Roussette. Those were long days, with post-midnight assembly in the cellar of Auguste Clape. I shall be back there again this year for the 2008 version, and then a series of 2007 tastings and domaine visits across all the Northern appellations.

The Cornas Fair is followed a week later by the Chavanay Wine Fair, with more of the Saint-Joseph, Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu vignerons present, that little bit nearer their homes.

2008 in the Southern Rhône has fared reasonably well: fruit without great stuffing around it has shown up at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras. But the fruit is clear. Meanwhile, the 2007s there boom along, with bags of fruit and abundant sweet appeal. Some wines are facile, and lack tannic structure - these are not the wines of a Great Year. The best domaines seem to have that all-important tannin, are very good indeed, and can live well. 2007 notes will be fed in from mid-December, after my visit to the Northern Rhône that starts in this first week of December.

The cheval mascot, Cornas, has run twice since the last news was posted - 5th at Ascot, then 8th at Newbury, both in hot handicap hurdle races over 2 miles. I am a shade poorer after these two sorties, and have not yet heard from Nick Brookes of Vine Trail about the inside story. This month`s Allez Cornas! award therefore goes to the village before its Marché aux Vins.

I repeat the advice to see the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006 whites, listed under the sidebar 2006 Southern Rhône, and also to keep in touch with the STGT and w.o.w. categories - the latter invariably points to good value wines. Added recently has been the Perrin et Fils collection of Southern Rhône wines - an extremly strong line-up - and these are listed under Perrin et Fils in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation.

Horse Buisness

Mid-November 2008

CORNAS alert. Our cheval Mascot Cornas ran 4th in a good race at Sandown Park last week. His trainer, Nick Williams, is also a chartered accountant, like his wife. They train about 15 horses with great amounts of care and attention, no doubt the same way as they look at The Books. Cornas is now due to run at Ascot on Friday 21 November, in the 3.50 pm 2 mile Handicap Hurdle, and has a chance. I will be en route for Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but will be urging him on or flapping my wings in support. Nick Brookes of Vine Trail will be on the spot, and will relay post-race reports. ALLEZ CORNAS!

Note that new Gigondas domaines have been inserted, and 2007 Gigondas tasting notes for those domaines. Also, at Crozes-Hermitage, the new Domaine Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet, and an update on the 2007s from Vincent Paris at Cornas and Yves Gangloff at Condrieu. Please see the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006 whites, and keep in touch with the STGT and w.o.w. categories - the latter invariably points to good value wines.

Precise Selection

November 2008

the harvest is in, the die is cast for 2008. It is certain that yields are markedly down on the abundant 2007, and I suspect that the better names will rise to the top in a year that will need precise selection. Areas that escaped the abundant September rains, and hail, will fare best. I am told that Languedoc endured less rain than much of the Southern Rhône this year, and that Alsace shows promise on its Rieslings.

I set off to the Rhône 3 times in the next 6 weeks, starting with a close look at Gigondas in the first week. I will cover 2006s, 2007s and some raw cuvées of 2008 Grenache to get an idea of matters. Please note that there are now more Gigondas domaines entered, and that some of those who also produce Beaumes-de-Venise, notably Domaine de Cassan and Château Redortier, are also now logged up.

The end of October also brought the very sad news that Monsieur Henri Brunier, the most amusing and charming proprietor of the Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, died at the end of the month. See Goings-On for a closer appreciation of him. There was also the passing of Henri Estevenin, one of the colourful characters of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a restaurateur, and booming bon viveur whose sons run the Verger des Papes restaurant near the Château.

Gradually the net is spreading to cheaper wine appellations such as Costières de Nîmes, where I have added the good value Château La Tour de Béraud, under the same ownership as the accomplished Château Mourgues du Grès.

Turmoil

October 2008

what a crazy month was September 2008. Whacky or what? I experienced some of the turmoil first-hand when working in New York, Boston and London. Already the wine merchants are offering the Menetou Salon or Quincy rather than the Sancerre, or the Costières de Nîmes rather than the Rhône Villages. The Rhône growers joined in the general volatility with difficult weather in the first half of the month - notably two large storms in the Southern Rhône - but then welcomed the Mistral to blow from North to South and so commence cleaning-up operations.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape growers started to pick their Grenache around 21 September, and Gigondas got going a week after that. Morning temperatures of 9-10°C (48-50°F) rising to day levels of not more than 20-24°C (68-75°F) suggest a good year for the white Rhônes. Yields are well down on 2007 - 20-40% off - and it will be a year demanding careful selection by buyers: for the growers, precise, watchful and pre-emptive vineyard work will pay its rewards this year. Playing catch-up in the cellar will be a dodgy course of action.

Here on the website, there were more domaines loaded under Gigondas in September, and this will continue in October. A new Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaine, Domaine des 3 Cellier (one half of the now discontinued Domaine Saint-Benoit) has been added, and also the awakening Domaine Durieu and the steady, traditional Eddie Feraud.

The big news at Gigondas in September was the purchase by the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel of the excellent, STGT Domaine des Tourelles - see Goings On for the explanation. A series of tastings of white Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006s has also been done, and will be rounded up, along with the prominent Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006 reds, under the 2006 Southern Rhône left hand tab during this month.

Visits to the Rhône to taste 2006s and 2007s and some vats of 2008 will occur in the next months leading up to Christmas. We also bid farewell to the home photograph of my runner beans (still giving crop on 3 October, 2008) and greet a shot of Gigondas from the air that I took in February 2008. In rainy vintages, Gigondas often performs well, helped by the altitude and later ripening of its vineyards. A sound September is, of course, a pre-requisite.

Flouring

September 2008

the flowering beans retain their picture slot, but their coulure has been similar to that experienced by the Grenache in parts of the Rhône - when the flowers do not convert into fruit. Lack of sunshine hours has been a big problem in England this summer - August is about 97 hours versus an average of 165 hours. Down in the Rhône, growers are crossing their fingers for a good start to September, but have been boosted by a hot and fine second half of August. Please see Goings-On for some latest reports from the growers.

On a personal note, two visits to Moscow have marked my August, a Moscow that had a third week of heat around 25-33°C, high indeed. Wine exists in something of a desert in Russia, since taxes are punitive for those on a normal working wage. A typical Côtes du Rhône red sells for around £40 or US$73 in a restaurant. In good food shops, such as the one on the main avenue of Tverskaya, Guigal and Paul Jaboulet Aîné are on the shelves, with off vintages such as 2002 present, but also recent Beaumes-de-Venise sweet wines including the 2006 that bear the new Jaboulet labelling. Smaller Rhône domaines do not figure among the oceans of Bordeaux.

One small venue of note is Le Sommelier, address 5 Smolenskaya Street - opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the main Ring Road - one of the seven splendid Stalin era buildings. This is on the west side of the city. You can smoke a cigar and eat Jabugo Iberian ham, while sipping a domaine wine here, with a variety of choices. Côtes du Rhône red from Domaine Charvin and Condrieu from Yves Cuilleron are both available there. The telephone number is +7495 7826363, web http://www.lesommelier.ru/. Good hunting!

Another mention of dinners in the Rhône for April or May 2009. Let me know if this piques your interest - some have replied already, and this is restricted to subscribers. Email me at jll@drinkrhone.com, por favor.

In September, I will be in New York and Boston at the start of the month, and the next vineyard visit will be after the growers have harvested - some time in October, therefore.

Great Cultivation

August 2008

Cornas, le cheval mascot, has been rudely usurped by my own efforts at cultivation, just when vignerons are doing likewise in their vineyards. The beans that are flowering on the left are Scarlet Emperor, a classic Runner Bean, and on the right is Hestia, a dwarf Runner Bean. Both have been grown from organic seeds, but the year in southern England has been as tricky as it has in much of Europe, with very little sustained heat of any note. The beans are currently being cropped and the family feel healthy. I have always though that wine writers should be obliged to grow crops so they understand the vicissitudes and pitfalls that await anyone trying to make wine. That might rule out rather a lot of scribblers, probably no bad thing.

In the Rhône vineyards, we enter the bend into the home straight for 2008, with weather in August playing a major role in the outcome for the 2008 vintage. There has been widespread mildew in the vines after so many constant rainfalls in May and June - nothing large, but enough to wipe away any treatments. It was also cool at flowering time. Please see Goings-On for some more comments on 2008 so far.

There is also a tasting review of Paul Jaboulet Ainé, with the wines entered under their domaine heading. The 2005s and 2006s were put under the spotlight in May, 2008. The Tavel 2007s have been covered, and also little retrospectives on 2003 and 2000 Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds.

This month I have two visits abroad, not connected with the wine, so there will be gradual progress in entering Gigondas. I am also considering organising some dinners in the Rhône around April or May 2009. These would involve drinking a young vintage or two, and one that was more mature, say 5 to 8 years old. Some growers would be present, and there would be a vineyard visit on the day of the dinner. This is a very early idea, but it would be helpful if any subscribers could register their interest. Because space is limited in many of the venues, this will be reserved for subscribers only. Please contact me at jll@drinkrhone.com

Delicious Meals

July 2008

we retain Cornas, le cheval, as our photo mascot, even though he is taking a summer rest and probably galloping around some prime West Country turf near his stables. A small degree of extra sophistication has hit town this month, as links are created to wines singled out in tastings. I have given the STGT wines their own slot, as this is so fundamental to the approach that I most appreciate and respect.

From June, the highlight in London was an exceptional lunch at the 1 star Michelin Ledbury restaurant, a dish of ravioli of crab and lemongrass with sweetcorn and girolles being the complete star: beautiful with the Saint-Péray Les Pins 2006 from Domaine Gripa. Before that I was in the Rhône, which had its first really warm weather on Tuesday 17 June, after 5 or 6 weeks of indifferent climate. Outbreaks of mildew were reported in the Gard area, west of the river in the Southern Rhône, and elsewhere growers were struggling to contain that and some oidium on their vines. Cool weather, a lot of small rainfalls and no stable high pressure meant that copper or sulphur treatments for mildew and oidium were not gripping on the vines. At that stage the harvest was about 10 days behind the time of recent vintages.

To be posted this month will be a very full appraisal of 2005 at both Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas, as well as notes on 2006s and some 2007s. About 35 Tavel 2007s will also be put up, as these wines are obviously time sensitive. The new wines will be flagged up when entered in the section marked The Wines, where each domaine`s close-up is to be found. Visan, a Côtes du Rhône Village with some promising domaines, is finally emerging from a long dormant phase, and some 45 wines from there will be posted up, with their domaines as well. This is the sort of place that should be offering good value for money as winemaking standards improve and younger growers look after the vineyards more carefully than previous forebears.

For the moment, sample domaines that are free to all to assess what you receive on drinkrhone.com are Domaine Courbis and Jean-Michel Gérin in the North, and Domaine Pierre André and Domaine Chante Cigale at Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the South. This should give a flavour of what to expect. I can always be contacted at jll@drinkrhone.com as well.

Snake Attack

June 2008

I am leaving my cobra story for anyone who may stray on to the website, just to show that international travel surely ain`t what it used to be: this comes from the Hotel des Cocotiers in Douala, Cameroun, the only hotel where I have witnessed a snake in Reception. This was being lit up by a man in Wellington boots, who retreated each time he tried to hit the reptile, only infuriating it even more. I was watching this panto, when a waiter sidled up to me. The Camerounais have a wonderful sense of humour, and delivery. He knew me well from previous visits: "Bon jour, chef," he started - "pas bon, eh?" I didn`t know whether I should comment on the badness of the situation - no-one checking in etc - or the badness of the man`s aim. I opted for the classic British middle way: "C`est vrai, non. Where does the snake come from?" He informed me that they had been clearing some land next to the hotel, and this snake had been knocked out of a coconut tree. He reserved the best to last: "C`est un cobra ......... pause for effect ...... femelle, vous savez" and doubled up laughing. The female of the species, oh my goodness - this is SERIOUS!!

Snake Attack

June 2008

I am leaving my cobra story for anyone who may stray on to the website, just to show that international travel surely ain`t what it used to be: this comes from the Hotel des Cocotiers in Douala, Cameroun, the only hotel where I have witnessed a snake in Reception. This was being lit up by a man in Wellington boots, who retreated each time he tried to hit the reptile, only infuriating it even more. I was watching this panto, when a waiter sidled up to me. The Camerounais have a wonderful sense of humour, and delivery. He knew me well from previous visits: "Bon jour, chef," he started - "pas bon, eh?" I didn`t know whether I should comment on the badness of the situation - no-one checking in etc - or the badness of the man`s aim. I opted for the classic British middle way: "C`est vrai, non. Where does the snake come from?" He informed me that they had been clearing some land next to the hotel, and this snake had been knocked out of a coconut tree. He reserved the best to last: "C`est un cobra ......... pause for effect ...... femelle, vous savez" and doubled up laughing. The female of the species, oh my goodness - this is SERIOUS!!

Racer Supreme

May 2008

The really big news in April was the triumph of my friend Nick Brookes` horse, Cornas. Nick is the supremo of Vinetrail, http://www.vinetrail.co.uk/, and a full-on Rhône supporter, as can be judged by the name of this beast that was actually bred in New Zealand. Not called Hawkes Bay, then Nick? Cornas prevailed in a 2-mile hurdle race at Wincanton, near another noted Rhône merchant`s stable, that of Yapp Brothers, http://www.yappbrothers.co.uk/. Boy, this is becoming a merchandising intro. The nub of the matter is that Cornas won at 12/1, a very considerate starting price for those not into the turf: ie invest 1 bottle on him, and receive a whole case, plus your original bottle, in return. He went unbacked by me, as at that precise moment I was in the ladies lavatory, the one with the door open, on the M4 motorway service station having received food poisoning in a Tapas restaurant in Monmouth, Wales. 3 members of my extended family were also felled in similar fashion. Go Cornas, and beware tapas in Monmouth.

Reduced Delicicies

April 2008

a reminder that Hong Kong very smartly reduced wine duty from 40% to ZERO on February 27, 2008 - what a move to tie up the burgeoning Asian market, a real hub there from now on. Berry Brothers have a wine education school starting up, and there is big action there now. Here in Britain, we were hit with increased duty on wine - 15p a bottle if I recall - in the mid-March budget. Second: Le Parisien, the French newspaper, published an article on Champagne last year, and it has been deemed by the Judge of First Instance to have constituted publicity for wine. The threat is now that all articles on wine in France should bear a health and pregnancy warning. Websites on wine in France are also menaced by another judicial move that may prevent them showing any publicity. If all young drunks got hooched up on wine, this might be more explicable but all growers feel under threat now from this sort of over-reaction and grim disapproval from those on high.

The only other commercial tip I can relay from my weeks in France in January is - try not to fly internally: the Air France monopoly will cost you about twice more than your local aller-retour flights from a nearby country. Some 2007 Pomerols may be OK, as will the southern Rhône. At the moment, 2006 views have been posted on a series of Châteauneufs, including Beaucastel, Clos des Papes and Rayas 2006, for instance. More will be posted this month.

In the meantime, you will see that the website has moved to a subscription service. The cost is £40 a year. The idea is for a data base that is gradually built up over time. The website will be updated on a gradual basis, but it should be treated as a live archive rather than a daily or weekly newspaper. I emphasize that I do not and cannot earn my living from wine writing, so I also work in communication training, which takes me around the world, far from the vineyards. So blocks of data will be loaded at intervals. Please do not expect daily updates.

I am often asked the question - when is the Southern book coming out? My answer is: my post-tax revenues from the 700+ page Northern book so far - advance and royalty - are less than US$4,000. Expenses obviously lurch this figure into a blazing Syrah red. I would expect - and hope - that many of you would not get out of bed for such derisory income for work that took over 2 years. So you do what you can: the website is the first stage towards a Southern book.

One other item of news: on 28 March, 2007, I formally participated in the purchase of 0.8795 of a hectare at Cornas, split between the site of La Genale and Thezier. A group of British and Scandinavian wine enthusiasts and professionals assembled the necessary to acquire this land and to rent it to the nephew of the vendor for a 40-year period. The seller was Robert Michel, who was taking his retirement. The nephew is Vincent Paris. He will continue to produce a wine called La Geynale. As a result, I declare an interest in the domaine Vincent Paris, as of spring 2007. VIVE LE CORNAS!

You may note that the website is a little more polished than before. You can now search more easily for specific wines, specific vintages or specific tasting notes triggered, for example, by how many stars you seek in a wine. If you want a 4-star St-Joseph, go to Search, plug in St-Joseph in the Vineyard box and 4 stars in its box, and there should be an abracadabra moment of revelation. Scroll down past mountains of Guigal and St-Joseph is there at the bottom, in correct alphabetical order. I cross my fingers on your behalf(ves).

This is a site intended to cover the Rhône Valley wines, people and vineyards. It is being gradually launched, since its composition will be the fruit of over 30 years' work, and that means a mighty number of little orange Rhodia notebooks (must be size 14).

My name is John Livingstone-Learmonth. I am the author of 4 books - "The Wines of the Rhône" - published by Faber & Faber in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. My latest work on the region, The Wines of the Northern Rhone, was published by University of California Press, on sale from November 2005 (US$55, £ 35.95). It can be referenced on http://go.ucpress.edu/livingstone-learmonth.

The book won two Awards in 2006. The first was a Special Commendation for the André Simon Award. It has since been voted the Louis Roederer International Wine Book of the Year 2006. Press reaction has also been favourable, and I have received some enthusiastic e-mails from readers in countries including Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, even England. None from France yet, but I am informed of an American gentleman who likes to drink at Willis Wine Bar in Paris. He was seen seated at the counter with a bottle of Clusel-Roch Les Grandes Places and Barge Côte Brune Côte-Rôtie on either side of him, my book in front of him, muttering "this book is going to cost me a lot of money." He has since returned to drink a magnum of Clape Cornas.