2022 NORTHERN RHÔNE CLOSE-UP
1. 2022 VIN DE PAYS, VIN DE FRANCE, CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE REDS, WHITES, ROSÉS
2. 2022 HERMITAGE WHITE
3. 2022 HERMITAGE RED
4. 2022 CROZES-HERMITAGE RED
5. 2022 SAINT-JOSEPH RED
6. 2022 SAINT-JOSEPH WHITE
7. 2022 SAINT-PÉRAY
8. 2022 CROZES-HERMITAGE WHITE
9. 2022 CONDRIEU
10. 2022 CÔTE-RÔTIE
11. 2022 CORNAS
1. 2022 VIN DE PAYS, VIN DE FRANCE, CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE REDS, WHITES, ROSÉS
PASCAL JAMET [doesn't enjoy being photographed] WITH HIS 2022 IGP COLLINES RHODANIENNES BIA BLANC
Among the variety of just off piste wines beyond the cru appellation zones, Seyssuel is continuing to deliver authentic wines of character from the mica-schist soils that prevail north of Vienne en route to Lyon. The oldest vineyards are now about 20 years’ old, and are handled by extremely competent growers that include YVES CUILLERON, LOUIS CHÈZE, PIERRE GAILLARD, STÉPHANE OGIER, ANTHONY PARET, GARON and BOTT. The wines are relatively expensive if one regards their IGP des Collines Rhodaniennes title, less so if one considers their quality and ability to evolve and gain complexity as they go. A full visit and tasting is on my list of things to do in 2024.
THE HISTORIC VARIETIES ARE BEING TRUFFLED OUT
I had a good chat with the loquacious, strongly opinionated - all good - ÉRIC TEXIER, who launched a few thought provoking observations: “in July, 2022, I didn’t expect a harvest, but then came two rainfalls, so we emerged OK. The yield on the white was poor.
Old conservatory vines such as the Exbrayat, worked until the 1950s in the Ouvèze, and the Bouriscou from the Ardèche, as well as the Pougnet-Ribier that one person apparently grows in the southern Ardèche interest me. These varieties were often abandoned in the past because they didn't ripen fully, only reaching 7°-8° - they might stage a comeback now given the increased high heat of the summers and climate change.”
YVES CUILLERON is another grower who has taken steps to plant sometimes overlooked varieties – often those precisely neglected because they failed to ripen properly in the old shivery days of the 1970s, for example, when the stand out vintage by a street was 1978. The following vintages had less than satisfactory ripening in that extremely tricky decade: 1972 in places, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977. Hence vignerons could not simply continue with harvest that failed to perform, at minimal prices as well, right at the bottom of the pyramid. YVES has so far issued wine from Chatus, Durif and Persane; the last vintage tasted of them was the rainy 2021, which was testing for the Durif, better for the Persane and Chatus.
Based at Arras, PASCAL JAMET and his wife CATHERINE, she from near Valence, have always run with hillside vineyards at Arras and plain level vineyards for their IGP des Collines Rhodaniennes from places such as Portes-les-Valence, Catherine’s land. As a commitment to quality on the IGPS, PASCAL states: “we hand harvest the IGP red crop; you have to be on top of the situation to avoid over-ripeness; we start their harvest ahead of the St Jo Syrah.”
The couple are happy to explore possibilities with less heralded grape varieties. Cue PASCAL: “I am a member of the Centre d’Ampelographie Alpine (the Alpine Centre of Ampelography/Vine Identification & Study). We seek out all old historic varieties of the region, and found the Bia in 2009-10. These are often growing in very limited quantity in a mixed vineyard, considered to be a hybrid much of the time. Now the Bia blanc has been installed here as the Mother Vine, and YVES CUILLERON, for one, is planting it.
The Bia comes in Noir and Blanc, and is a little brother of Viognier & Syrah, origin the Isère (38), in Savoie called Muscat d’Ampremont. We have planted it on galet stone covered soils at Châteauneuf d’Isère in the Drôme (26). It is the only one of my whites to be cask fermented, and I started with it in 2021.
In 2021 it had a Muscat tone, less degree, and was harvested at the end of September, the nose very aromatic. In 2022, a completely different ripening profile, I harvested at the end of August with a higher degree but the skins weren’t fully ripe, and 2022 is a less aromatic version. I also used 20% Bia blanc in my Viognier-Petite Arvine botrytised blend and it had a potential degree of 18°.”
My Tasting Note on the 2022 Bia blanc ran thus: *** shiny yellow robe; the nose gives a hint of quince, citrus-lemon, white peach with a roast peanut angle. The palate presents glycerol, is rather fat early on with mid-palate oiliness in it, a peach tang in the flavour. It drifts a little late on, but is neat there, shows a touch of petrol on the aftertaste, has something of Alsace about it.”
The Note on the 2022 50% Viognier (1998), 30% Petite Arvine (brings energy, fresh aromas), 20% Bia blanc botrytis, which comes from Étoile-sur-Rhône (Drôme, south of Portes-les-Valence), a nine row vineyard: **** full yellow robe, gold tints. The nose offers apricot jam, cooked orange, with petrol, while the palate drinks nicely, has enough gras to hold together, and enough movement to flow. The finish is rich, rather sturdy. This has good heart – that is a real ace card – with lift and length also. It starts discreetly, then oomphs up and along, has depth, character. 13.5°. This is 50% Vio, 30% Petite Arvine, 20% Bia blanc, so a change to the blend. Bottled end Feb 2023. 100 gm residual sugar. 1,200 b. 2032-34 May 2023
LEADING VIN DE PAYS, VIN DE FRANCE, CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE RED, WHITE, ROSÉ 2022s
| REDS | ||||
| ****(*) | G & J Bott Coll Rh Seyssuel Kamaka | 2036-38 | 10/23 | spine, floral, freshness, length |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Ripa Sinistra | 2044-46 | 10/23 | dark content, iron, sturdy, STGT |
| ****(*) | Dumien-Serrette VdFr Le Moulin Syrah | 2029-30 | 02/23 | gd heart, racy fruit, super |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jamet CdRh Equivoque Syrah | 2043-45 | 02/24 | cool, gd thrust, firm gras, iron |
| **** | Dom des Amphores Coll Rh Syr Sphé-érique | 2030-32 | 02/24 | tasty, fine juice, gourmand, interest |
| **** | Will Arnold VdFr du Plateau Syrah | 2028 | 02/24 | cool spine, attractive, perfumed |
| **** | Will Arnold CdFr Terre Bleue Gamay | 2029-30 | 02/24 | fruit purity, tender sève, interest |
| **** | Hervé & Nat Avallet Coll Rh Convivium IV | 2032-34 | 04/24 | smooth content, well lined, elegant |
| **** | Hervé & Nat Avallet Coll Rh Convivium VI | 2033-35 | 04/24 | grainy content, cool, energy |
| **** | P & C Bonnefond Coll Rh Sensation Syrah | 2027 | 05/23 | natural verve, neat, inviting, w.o.w. |
| **** | Julien Cécillon VdFr Syrah Les Graviers | 2026 | 05/23 | juicy content, ensemble, w.o.w. |
| **** | Julien Cecillon VdFr Gamay La Savane | 2027 | 05/23 | joli delicacy, spherical, w.o.w. |
| **** | Lucidi & Chapoutier Coll Rh Viennae Lucidus | 2033-34 | 04/24 | stye, ease, tasty, fresh spurred |
| **** | Christophe Curtat IGP Ardèche Syrah VV | 2032-33 | 10/23 | depth, refined, St Jo level |
| **** | Degache Frères Coll Rh Syrah | 2026 | 04/24 | pleasing fruits, floral, w.o.w. |
| **** | Guillaume Gilles VdFr Gamay | 2033-34 | 10/24 | sturdy, bit strict, structure, time |
| **** | Domaine Jamet CdRh Syrah | 2035-37 | 02/24 | glistening fruit, wide, fleshy, long |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Coll Rh L’Ame Soeur | 2036-38 | 04/24 | fruit precision, energy. STGT |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier VdFr Syrah La Rosine | 2033-35 | 03/24 | cool & live fruit, juicy, vibrant |
| **** | André Perret Coll Rh Merlot Syrah | 2031-32 | 10/23 | juicy, forward, rousing, pleasure |
| **** | Domaine de Rosiers Coll Rh Syrah | 2030-32 | 02/24 | dynamic fruit display, harmonious |
| **** | Dom Rostaing Coll Rh Les Lézardes Syrah | 2033-34 | 11/24 | lovely neatness, entrancing, fine |
| **** | Martine & Christian Rouchier VdFr Puat | 2031-32 | 05/23 | comfy gras, stylish, persists |
| **** | Maison Stéphan VdFr Syrah | 2028 | 02/23 | cosy fruits, sexy juice, w.o.w. |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard VdFr Chatus | 2030-31 | 02/24 | cool fruits, smoky darkness |
| **** | Dom Grges Vernay Coll Rh Sainte-Agathe | 2032-33 | 02/24 | fresh length, integrity, tuned fruit |
| **** | Alain & Emmanuelle Verset VdFr Syrah | 2028 | 02/23 | gd fruit stream, jaunty, fun |
| ***(*) | Dom des Amphores Coll Rh Syrah Les Iris | 2026-27 | 02/24 | squeezy gras, juicy, nice length |
| ***(*) | Hervé & Nat Avallet Coll Rh Pulchra Terra | 2032-33 | 04/24 | broad fruit, pitchy, genuine |
| ***(*) | Matthieu Barret CdRh No Wine's Land | 2029-30 | 02/24 | crisp fruit, immediate, direct, iron |
| ***(*) | Christophe Billon Coll Rh Les Corendies | 2031-33 | 04/24 | soft, smoky, supple gras, bonny |
| ***(*) | Dom Bernard Chambeyron Coll Rh Syrah | 2030-31 | 04/24 | cosy couch, natural, abundance |
| ***(*) | Dom Bernard Chambeyron CdRh VV Syrah | 2032-33 | 04/24 | fine content, naked, fruit clarity |
| ***(*) | Domaine Combier Coll Rh Syrah | 2025 | 02/23 | tasty fruit, frank, w.o.w. |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Gamay à Côté | 2027 | 10/23 | free run fruit, gusto |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Syrah Viognier Signé | 2027-28 | 10/23 | Vio softness, gd fruit level |
| ***(*) | Bryan Deleu Coll Rh Rocca Syrah | 2031-32 | 02/24 | gd coolness, lead pencil clarity |
| ***(*) | François Dumas VdFr Syrah | 2030-31 | 02/24 | crunchy fruit, secure filling, calm |
| ***(*) | Domaine Gallet VdFr Gallet-Jade (NV but 22) | 2027 | 04/24 | natural richness, honest drinking |
| ***(*) | Xavier Gérard VdFr Montée Autrichiens | 2031-32 | 04/24 | droit, quite scaled, late drive |
| ***(*) | Guillaume Gilles CdRh Les Peyrouses | 2030-31 | 10/24 | fleshy, juicy, gourmand, pleaser |
| ***(*) | Domaine Gonon Ardèche Les Îles Feray | 2033-35 | 02/24 | life, genuine depth, minty, vegetal |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Gouye VdFr Gabouillon Syrah | 2033-34 | 02/24 | thick, muscle, country, another era |
| ***(*) | Dom Bernard & Fabrice Gripa VdFr Cerise | 2031-33 | 02/23 | serious, structured, gd heart |
| ***(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr Gamay | 2026 | 02/23 | free spread of fruit, w.o.w. |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jamet Coll Rh Syrah | 2032-34 | 02/24 | sunny toned, density, bit hidden |
| ***(*) | Jean-Luc Jamet CdRh L'Enclave | 2030-32 | 03/24 | open, juice intensity, fat tannins |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jasmin Coll Rh La Chevalière | 2030-32 | 02/23 | fine fruit run, fresh |
| ***(*) | Domaine Lombard IGP Drôme Azalée | 2026 | 08/23 | bright, true, good spring in step |
| ***(*) | Jacques Lemenicier VdFr Syrah La Quille | 2025 | 02/23 | juicy, engaging, clear drinking |
| ***(*) | Julien Merlin Coll Rh Le Troquet | 2028-29 | 02/24 | direct fruit, naked, crunchy |
| ***(*) | Perrin Dom de Bréseyme CdRh Brézème | 2032-34 | 03/24 | juicy start, flows, iodine, character |
| ***(*) | Domaine Pichat Coll Rh Vienne Divergente | 2033-35 | 04/24 | supple content, some energy |
| ***(*) | Julien Pilon Coll Rh Seyssuel Frontière Syr | 2027-29 | 02/24 | crunchy, pedigree fruit, iron cool |
| ***(*) | Martine & Christian Rouchier VdFr la chave | 2033-35 | 05/23 | rich, fleshy, rolling |
| ***(*) | Martine & Christian Rouchier VdFr Syrah | 2029 | 05/23 | robust, solid length, gd stems |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard VdFr Syrah | 2029-30 | 02/24 | tasty fruit, trim sweetness, genuine |
| ***(*) | Eric Texier VdFr chat fou | 2026 | 02/24 | juicy theme, gd fruit stream |
| ***(*) | Domaine du Tunnel VdFr L'Argonier | 2029-30 | 09/23 | cool, integrity, rocky close |
| ***(*) | Dom G Vernay Coll Rh Fleurs Mai Syrah | 2030-32 | 02/24 | dark fruit, busy, tannic rustle |
| ***(*) | Dom Verzier Coll Rh Seyssuel 1ere Lueur | 2034-36 | 02/24 | pure fruit, gentle content |
| ***(*) | Hugo & Pauline Villa VdFr Chemin Croisette | 2026 | 03/24 | soft fruit, straightforward, ends well |
| ***(*) | Domaine Alain Voge CdRh Les Peyrouses | 2027-28 | 10/23 | oily essence, firm drive |
| *** | Dom des Amphores Coll Rh Mornen noir | 2025-26 | 02/24 | cool fruit, fluid, brisk tannins |
| *** | Romain d'Aniello Coll Rh Syrah | 2027 | 04/24 | fruit tingle, purposeful, genuine |
| *** | Hervé & Nat Avallet Coll Rh Convivium II | 2030-31 | 04/24 | comfy fruit, accessible, quiet |
| *** | Domaine Betton VdFr Syrah | 2025 | 05/23 | frank fruiting, crisp, direct |
| *** | Dom de Boisseyt Coll Rh Syrah Confluence | 2027 | 02/24 | quite fruit, does the job, safe |
| *** | Domaine Clusel Roch CdRh Les Vergers | 2033-34 | 04/25 | herbal-crunchy, some gras, arid end |
| *** | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Syrah à Côté | 2027-28 | 10/23 | lithe content, light, vegetal |
| *** | Christophe Curtat VdFr Les Gros | 2027-28 | 10/23 | direct, bit vegetal, angular |
| *** | Bryan Deleu VdFr Hurlu | 2028-29 | 02/24 | compact fruit, bit pedestrian |
| *** | François Dumas VdFr Gamay | 2029-30 | 02/24 | cool fruit, stiff, dark, structured |
| *** | Ferraton Père & Fils Coll Rh Syrah | 2026 | 02/24 | peppery, grainy, frank, strict end |
| *** | Simon Forgue & Julien Pilon VdFr Dahu | 2030-31 | 02/24 | grounded, firm Tannat, tannins |
| *** | François & Fils Coll Rh Syrah | 2027-28 | 04/24 | simply fruited, bit floral, firm fibre |
| *** | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr Le Decanonisé | 2025-26 | 10/23 | lightly floral, quiet finish |
| *** | Jacques Lemenicier VdFr Syrah | 2025 | 02/23 | sweet fruit, frank, bit simple |
| *** | François Merlin Coll Rh Brocéliande Syrah | 2029-30 | 10/23 | crisp, noticeable tannins |
| *** | Dom des Miquettes VdFr biou canon | 2027-28 | 10/23 | iron spine, flow, digs deep |
| *** | Maison Christophe Pichon Coll Rh Mosaique | 2028-29 | 04/24 | soft, comfy, supple, bit simple |
| *** | Julien Pilon Coll Rh Grande Tablée Gamay | 2026 | 02/24 | steady fruits, supple, bit pushed |
| *** | Julien Pilon Coll Rh de l’autre rive Syrah | 2027 | 02/24 | sweetness, ease, becomes grainy |
| *** | Maison Stéphan VdFr Vinum Allobrogia | 2032-34 | 02/23 | spark, linear, raw, firm |
| *** | François Villard Coll Rh appel des Sereines | 2026-27 | 02/24 | sweet fruit, crackle tannin, disorder |
| **(*) | G & J Bott Coll Rh First Flight Syrah | 2029-30 | 10/23 | tarry, insistent, assertive |
| **(*) | Mickaël Bourg VdFr La Démarcante | 2027-28 | 10/24 | not fulfil promise; fading, bitter |
| **(*) | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Syrah Les Candives | 2027-28 | 10/23 | correct fruit but jumbled |
| **(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr Clos des Vaches | 2029-30 | 10/23 | spiced, direct, grainy, not sure |
| **(*) | Rémi Niéro Coll Rh Les Agathes | 2026-27 | 04/24 | easy fruit, bit dilute, limited |
| **(*) | Pierres Sèches VdFr Syrah-Gamay | 2025-26 | 02/23 | clear fruit, sudden finish |
| **(*) | Domaine Verzier Coll Rh Connivence | 2026 | 02/24 | solid richness, demanding tannin |
| WHITES | ||||
| ****(*) | Domaine Lombard Brézème Les Davids | 2027 | 09/23 | style, elegance, storming quality, V |
| ****(*) | Xavier Gérard Coll Rh Viognier | 2028-29 | 04/24 | stylish firm gras, Condrieu-esque |
| ****(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard VdFr Viognier | 2026-27 | 02/24 | neat gras, subtle, precise, charm |
| **** | Dom des Amphores Coll Rh Détour | 2027 | 02/24 | gentle gras, fine freshness, interest |
| **** | Dom des Amphores Coll Rh Viognier Les Iris | 2026-27 | 02/24 | soft gras, tasty, accurate, fine, V |
| **** | Domaine de Brésyeme Brézème | 2027-28 | 11/22 | clear, tuneful, good gras |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Marsanne à Côté | 2026 | 10/23 | neat gras, v pretty, w.o.w. |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron VdFr Roussilière doux | 2038-40 | 10/23 | well set gras, character, local |
| **** | Bryan Deleu VdFr Roussanne-Marsanne | 2026 | 02/24 | Rouss gras, Mars tang, lucid length |
| **** | Eymin-Tichoux Coll Rh Avant-Première Vio | 2029-30 | 04/24 | cool fruits, neat, elegant |
| **** | Pascal & C Jamet Coll Rh Viognier botrytisé | 2032-34 | 05/23 | gd heart, gras, flow, character |
| **** | Jean-Claude Marsanne Coll Rh Viognier | 2026 | 05/23 | stylish richness, fragrant, buttery |
| **** | Domaine des Miquettes VdFr Maxime | 2025-26 | 10/23 | joli gras, delightful, w.o.w. |
| **** | Stéphane Montez Coll Rh Le Petit Viognier | 2027-28 | 05/23 | gentle gras, trim fruit, w.o.w. |
| **** | Chr Pichon Coll Rh Seyssuel Diapason | 2028 | 10/23 | neat content, skipping, fresh, cool |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard VdFr Marsanne | 2027 | 02/24 | joli verve, dash, airborne, apero |
| **** | Pierre-Jean Villa Coll Rh Esprit Antan Vio | 2027-28 | 05/23 | stylish, authority, gd filling |
| **** | Pierre-Jean Villa Coll Rh Primavera Viognier | 2026 | 03/24 | graceful float, pleasure, w.o.w. |
| **** | François Villard VdFr Contours Viognier | 2028 | 05/23 | tuned fruit, precise, stylish apero |
| ***(*) | Romain d'Aniello Coll Rh Viognier | 2026 | 04/24 | agreeable richness, floral, fresh |
| ***(*) | Will Arnold VdFr Blanc d'Or | 2026-27 | 02/24 | well set, fluent, defined, neat gras |
| ***(*) | Christophe Billon Coll Rh Les Corendies | 2026 | 04/24 | soft, plump, curved, la table |
| ***(*) | Christophe Blanc VdFr Viognier Les Galets | 2026-27 | 03/25 | juiced, savoury, together, table |
| ***(*) | G & J Bott Coll Rh Seyssuel Kamaka Vio | 2031-32 | 10/23 | elegant, mineral, gains impetus |
| ***(*) | Julien Cécillon VdFr Marsanne Cornilhac | 2027 | 10/24 | oily, tousled, country, character |
| ***(*) | Julien Cécillon VdFr Viognier | 2026 | 05/23 | tender gras, sustains, neat |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Viognier à Côté | 2026 | 10/23 | smooth, pleasure, restraint |
| ***(*) | Christophe Curtat VdFr Viognier | 2025 | 10/23 | direct, qte fresh, table OK |
| ***(*) | Bryan Deleu VdFr Viognier Coquet | 2027-28 | 02/24 | fine juicing, good tinkle |
| ***(*) | Ferraton Père & Fils Coll Rh Viognier | 2026 | 02/24 | plush, trim freshness, solid length |
| ***(*) | Simon Forgue & Julien Pilon VdFr Dahu | end-25 | 02/24 | soft coasting, supple, well rounded |
| ***(*) | Guillaume Gilles VdFr Les Peyrouses | 2028-29 | 10/24 | comfy richness, joli fat, table |
| ***(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr Chasselas | 2025 | 02/23 | gentle, aromatic, v drinkable |
| ***(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr délire de Coppi | 2028-29 | 02/23 | grips, then goes, aromatic |
| ***(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand VdFr Viognier | 2025 | 02/23 | attractive, gd grip, steady length |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jamet CdRh | 2030-31 | 02/24 | unctuous, oiliness, late tang, table |
| ***(*) | Pascal & Catherine Jamet Coll Rh Viognier | 2025 | 05/23 | good & full, plenty flavour, table |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Miquettes VdFr Viognier | 2026-27 | 10/23 | striding, fresh, firm, authentic |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Ogier VdFr Viognier de Rosine | 2027-28 | 03/24 | discreet gras, tight sides, serious |
| ***(*) | André Perret Coll Rh Marsanne | 2026 | 10/23 | easy richness, plump, ripe |
| ***(*) | André Perret Coll Rh Viognier | 2027 | 10/23 | gentle, suave, floral, trim gras |
| ***(*) | Julien Pilon VdFr gd-père était limonadier | 2026 | 02/24 | joli filling, fleshy, fine juice |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard VdFr Roussanne | 2027 | 02/24 | gliding, floral, extended, correct |
| ***(*) | Eric Texier VdFr Adèle | 2027-28 | 02/24 | Ardèche Clairette; salted, neat |
| ***(*) | Alain & Emmanuelle Verset VdFr Viognier | 2025 | 02/23 | joli, neat body, fine juice |
| ***(*) | Hugo & Pauline Villa VdFr Qtn Équilibre Vio | 2026 | 03/24 | cosy, v neat drinking, fruit precision |
| ***(*) | François Villard Coll Rh Contours Mairlant | 2027 | 05/23 | grilled, compote fruits, rounded |
| *** | Will Arnold VdFr Poignée d’Amour | 2026 | 02/24 | firm richness, salting, late tannin |
| *** | P & C Bonnefond Coll Rh Sensation Viognier | 2027 | 05/23 | nicely firm within, spiced |
| *** | G & J Bott Coll Rh First Flight Viognier | 2027-28 | 10/23 | assured gras, sound length, table |
| *** | Cave de Tain Coll Rh 1ere Note Marsanne | 2025 | 09/23 | crisp, direct, pared back |
| *** | Cave de Tain Coll Rh 1ere Note Viognier | 2025 | 09/23 | tangy, nutty, tight, table |
| *** | Yves Cuilleron Coll Rh Roussanne | 2026 | 10/23 | neat gras, relaxed, agreeable |
| *** | J-François Jacouton Coll Rh Granit Viognier | 2026 | 05/23 | nice centre, buttery, orderly |
| *** | Pascal & C Jamet Coll Rh Bia blanc | 2026 | 05/23 | glycerol, oiliness, petrol, bit Alsace |
| *** | Julien Merlin Coll Rh L’Interprète | 2026 | 02/24 | spark, crunchy fruit, bit technical |
| *** | Rémi Niéro Coll Rh A l’Origine Viognier | 2027 | 04/24 | sound, table, bit restricted |
| *** | Christophe Pichon Coll Rh Viognier | end 25 | 10/23 |
nerve, tang, bit taut |
| *** | Julien Pilon VdFr le bruit des vagues | 2026 | 02/24 |
fluid compote, rounded, low acidity |
| *** | Domaine Rostaing Coll Rh Lézardes Viognier | 2027 | 10/23 | thick content, quiet end, table |
| *** | Martine & Christian Rouchier VdFr Marsanne | 2025 | 05/23 | flattering, early, up front |
| *** | Martine & Christian Rouchier VdFr Viognier | 2025-26 | 05/23 | tidy freshness, refined channelling |
| *** | Maison Stéphan VdFr Le Grand Blanc | 2025 | 02/23 | fine, direct, airborne, sweet |
| **(*) | Dom Olivier Beraud VdFr Grand Val Viognier | 2026 | 02/24 | firm couch, sturdy, country wine |
| **(*) | Domaine Betton VdFr Marsanne | 2026 | 05/23 | candy, banana flavours |
| **(*) | Dom de Boisseyt Coll Rh Viognier En Amont | 2026 | 02/24 | quietly juiced, candy, technical |
| **(*) | Dom Bernard Chambeyron Coll Rh Viognier | 2026 | 04/24 | neutral flavour, low interest |
| ** | Jean-Luc Jamet CdRh Couzou | 2027-28 | 03/24 | firm gras, bouquet disorder, glow |
| ROSÉ | ||||
| **** | Pierres Sèches VdFr Syrah | 2024 | 02/23 | effortless, splendid fruit, w.o.w. |
| ***(*) | Pascal & C Jamet Coll Rh | end 24 | 05/23 | close-knit, zappy, gd interest |
2. 2022 HERMITAGE WHITE
VALENTIN, GUILLAUME & PHILIPPE BELLE WITH THEIR ORGANIC HERMITAGE BLANC, VINTAGES 2017-2022
There were few surprises over the profile of the 2022 Hermitage blancs: rich wines, deep content, firm length. But measures taken these days prevent them from being too big on scale, certainly less voluptuous than in the past. The pace of ripening was so extreme that there could be no hanging around, as was explained by GUILLAUME SORREL: “I started the 2022 Hermitage blanc harvest on 24 August, the Crozes blanc the next day. The grapes had started to crack, and were gaining 1° every 24 hours. A lot of concentration came in the last two days.
The yield was 25 hl/ha, the same as 2021. The Rocoules is 16°, the same as 2003 and 2015. I didn’t want its malo to take place, and it blocked at 3 gm of sugar still to go, so that will take time. I am including 10% of 2021 in it for greater finesse, and vice-versa, to boost the body of the 2021.”
The above manoeuvres of swapping amounts of each vintage – perfectly legitimate - are a good approach to achieving a more fluid 2022, but I would take issue with fattening up the crystalline 2021 vintage, even a little. Its purity was notable, and it could be a rare style in the next 10 years if summers remain on extremes of heat and drought.
FAREWELL CÔTE D’AZUR: HARVESTING JUST INTO THE FOURTH WEEK OF AUGUST
CHAPOUTIER’s winemaker CLÉMENT BARTSCHI also referenced an early start, stating: “we started the harvest on 22 August, eight days before the Syrah. The harvest was low acidity, low degree which permitted balance. The white vines suffered a bit less from the drought than the Syrah – Les Murets has some clay, while L’Hermite is high up, so OK. Le Méal suffered a bit, though [full South facing].
2022 marked a serious change of approach to the Méal blanc, an extremely expensive flagship white for CHAPOUTIER. Back to CLÉMENT: “it was having trouble ageing well, and we didn’t want to continue with the caricature of Méal in extreme ripeness. So we are harvesting it earlier, also in three gos, as we do for L’Ermite and de l’Orée. We don’t wait for the Marsanne grapes to be golden so much now – that gave flavour and complexity but we are now running at around 15% dorée grapes, against 50%, so on the same bunch you can have Marsanne grapes that are both green and golden. The degree range in the 2000s was 15° at times, but now it’s 13.5° to 14°. We are also using less new oak, and all these measures are achieving a more digestible wine.”
My reaction to these changes, as per the 2022? Well, it was stylish, floral, a wine of neat grip, but, for me, a tiny bit tame. It will evolve gradually, though. A final comment: if CHAPOUTIER are discovering premature oxidation on these wines, then that is an understandable reaction. I can't say my cellar is stocked with them, so comments to me on a postcard, por favor.
JULIEN PILON was another grower who favoured prompt harvesting for his bought in crop, telling me:” my Hermitage blanc was 13.5° this year, 2022”.
PHILIPPE BELLE was kind and generous enough to give me a vertical tasting of his white Hermitage, which I had not covered for some reason in recent years. Hence there was a look at six vintages, 2017 through to 2022. On the last named, he remarked: “it’s a joli year for the white, which has minerality, and good balance.”
A VERTICAL OF DOMAINE BELLE HERMITAGE BLANC 2017-2022
PHILIPPE has been joined by sons GUILLAUME and VALENTIN, both wine school educated. The domaine became officially organic in 2017, and since then has worked with wild yeasts, a most important factor in white wine character and quality. The Hermitage blanc comes from 75% Péléat and Diognières, 25% Maison Blanche, with limestone influences in the soils, and, according to cropping yields, ranges from 60-75% Marsanne, the rest Roussanne, the two varieties harvested together.
MORE TERROIR ENABLED
The family have cut the new oak proportion down from 75% to 50-60%, and renounced lees stirring in 2012. Hence there is the chance of greater terroir and varietal expression now. Looking at the six vintages, 2017 and 2022 were both drought years; 2018 and 2019 were both hot summers, with pronounced levels of ripeness. 2021 was the outlier, with rainy conditions and vineyard blights, while 2020 – a hot year – showed the adaptation of the vineyards subsequent to 2018 and 2019, with more moderate levels of alcohol and extremely stylish content, a superior balance to the two preceding vintages.
2020 THE STAR
The star of the line-up was indeed the 2020, extremely harmonious, sensational, with primo balance, a ***** wine deserving of a lobster or a turbot. Runner-up was the ****(*) 2018, of which PHILIPPE declared: “it has better balance than 2019, which is more opulent.” This was a wine of wired intensity, spinal, grounded, one that gave stimulus to the drinker.
The 2017, 2019 and 2021 were all ****; the 2017 held the highest degree, 14.5° on the label [add up to 0.5°], and making a good bonhomme Hermitage statement with petrol and exotic fruits’ notes that can especially come through in hot vintages with ripe harvest. The 2019 was accurate on its vintage, a thorough, sustained wine with some sunshine assertion. 2021 lies apart, as mentioned, 13.5°, and mixing a good marriage of neat glycerol with innate freshness, pockets of spark in it.
For now, 2022 is the quiet year of these six, has a joli suave texture eight in its centre. Bottled in early September, it was tasted after one month in bottle, so there may be greater expression to come.
It would be worth scanning catalogues or auctions for some of these Hermitage blancs, of which 2,000 bottles are produced in normally sized vintages.
Regarding the longevity of 2022, I would hope that many could travel well towards, or sometimes past 2040.
LEADING HERMITAGE WHITE 2022s
| ***** | M Chapoutier L’Ermite | 2045-47 | 10/23 | v smooth, balance, complexity, structure |
| ***** | Domaine Jean-Louiis Chave | 2047-49 | 02/24 | elegant, tasty gras, good foundation |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Le Méal | 2044-46 | 10/23 | stylish, floral, restrained, neat grip |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier de l’Orée | 2043-45 | 10/23 | en finesse, crystalline fruit, fresh |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Le Reverdy | 2040-42 | 02/24 | engaging, proper Herm bl, suave, roots |
| ****(*) | Domaine Sorrel Les Rocoules | 2046-48 | 10/24 | suave, gliding, stately, fuelled |
| **** | Cave de Tain Coeur des Siècles | 2040-42 | 09/23 | nuanced, pedigree, silken side |
| **** | Domaine Betton Arpège | 2040-42 | 05/23 | sustained content, much glycerol, long |
| **** | M Chapoutier Chante Alouette | 2042-44 | 09/23 | relaxed filling, nicely oily, wide |
| **** | Domaine du Colombier | 2038-40 | 09/23 | firm, muscular, singular, provocative |
| **** | Faugier-Gonnet | 2039-41 | 11/24 | agreeable firm gras, steady couch |
| **** | Domaine Sorrel | 2042-44 | 10/24 | resolute content, thick, solar, long |
| **** | Saint Cosme | 2039-41 | 07/23 | immed gras, unctuous, late spur |
| ***(*) | Domaine Belle | 2036-38 | 10/23 | firm fruits, suave texture, more to give |
| ***(*) | Delas Domaine des Tourettes | 2037-39 | 09/23 | fine filling, soft, neat, not deep |
| ***(*) | Ferraton Les Miaux | 2035-37 | 02/24 | refined content, cool, neat, clear |
| *** | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2036-38 | 09/23 | firm content, subdued, workmanlike |
| *** | Gabriel Meffre Laurus | 2037-39 | 09/23 | comfy richness, sweet oak, steady |
| **(*) | Domaine Julien Pilon prisme | 2041-43 | 02/24 | firm, pedestrian, low profile |
3. 2022 HERMITAGE RED
THE TOP OF LE MEAL, 240 METRES, IS THE UPPER LIMIT OF THE RIVER RHONE IN THE PAST; THE ALLUVIAL SOILS DEVELOP MORE CLAY TO ITS EAST [RIGHT OF PICTURE] AS THE HILL DROPS AWAY, HELPFUL IN THE DROUGHT YEAR OF 2022
To quote GUILLAUME SORREL: “2022 was the hottest, driest summer ever at Hermitage.” So what happened next?
Well, from something of a standing start – with the vineyard canopy grinding to a halt - things turned out successfully; there is a pretty fine vintage for drinkers to buy, and regard as a medium to long term affair, without the majesty and longevity of 2020, for example, but superior to 2021. Below I chart the last five vintages, 2018 to 2022, and the highest ratio of **** and up wines comes in 2020, 2019 and 2018.
| YEAR | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |||||
| 6 STARS | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| 5 STARS | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 4.5 STARS | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 11 | |||||
| 4 STARS | 13 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 9 | |||||
| 3.5 STARS | 5 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 3 STARS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| TOTAL WINES | 31 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 33 | |||||
| 4.5 STAR+% | 30 | 25.9 | 56.6 | 32.2 | 54.5 | |||||
| 4 STAR+ % | 76.2 | 41.3 | 93.3 | 87 | 81.8 |
Note 1 2020 includes three BERNARD FAURIE cuvées; his successor EMMANUEL DARNAUD has made just one cuvée in 2021 and 2022.
The 2022s were well filled – without excess concentration – and not too heady – degrees were moderate. It is what I would term a handy vintage, not a grandiose one, with one pleasing aspect the performance of the wines from the middle to eastern sections, the less high nobility terroirs in the form of domaines that focus on Crozes-Hermitage and have a small holding at Hermitage from the time of previous generations.
Viticulturally, 2018 was an undoubted shock to the system for the vineyards, with high degree, swirling mass wines, a path followed to some extent in 2019. However, there were signs in 2020 that the vines were adapting to sustained periods of high heat, and 2022 brought further proof of this remarkable adjustment, all the more so given the severe lack of rain.
GUILLAUME SORREL continued: “the 2022 reds aren’t like the whites – they are not high degree wines. The reason was the early August blockage; there was rain in the first week of September, a total of 60 mm [2.2 in] in total across three days. We waited three weeks between the white and red harvest this year – 24 August for the white, 15 September for the red. The Hermitage red was 14°, the Gréal 14.5°. It’s a very top year for the reds – there is very beau balance between degree and puissance/power.”
JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE gave me his take, referring to how the vineyards performed: “despite the drought and high heat, the vines behaved well and produced grapes; it’s a correct year, dense, supple, silky, gourmand, lacking a bit of acidity. There is a profound side to the wines. The grands terroirs performed, even if there aren’t a lot of those in our region, though.
2022 for the red Hermitage is superb; it turned out very normal from a non-normal context. There were two types of ripening – from the clay that stocks humidity, and its ripening goes further in a year like 2022. Then, the granite that dries out into concrete, the vines stopping ripening unless their roots are deep in the rock face, so they suffer clearly. They suffer, stop, have some blockages, but they serve to keep the grapes fresh and above all low degree – 12.5° to 13° which is good. The heat, the dry conditions, the extreme weather was thrown at the vineyards, but none of those appear in the wines of 2022.”
CLÉMENT BARTSCHI, winemaker chez CHAPOUTIER, ran through events as follows: “the year had a very precocious start, but then the drought came, and there was very little development of the vineyard vegetation – the canopy didn’t rise above the level of the échalas, each vine’s wooden stake. The mid-August rain saved us – otherwise we were in for a repeat of 2003. The vineyard had started to block on its ripening, so the sugar-alcohol level hadn’t become excessive.
The rain served to relaunch the evolution, while at the end of August we were still at 12° to 12.5°. We realised that the skins and pips were ripe when we reached 13°, so we started the reds on 30 August, the whites earlier, the 22 August. We completed the harvest in three weeks this year, against four to five weeks normally.
The mild to feeble [faible] degree on the Hermitage red allowed us to keep balance in the wines; the tannins weren’t completely, fully ripe, and we pursued a soft vinification in function of that. We are surprised by the adaptation of the vineyard in the face of climate change. I also see the adaptation of growers, who are using less new oak, and extracting less – that wouldn’t have been the case 20 years ago.”
Noting the difference in harvest dates between SORREL and CHAPOUTIER, it is clear that there has been a revision of policy at the latter enterprise. I picked up on this when tasting Le Méal rouge 2022 from cask with CLÉMENT and MAXIME CHAPOUTIER.
Here is my tasting note: **** (cask) dark red; the nose has a lurking oxtail intensity, cooked plums, white tobacco hints, mulberry fruit that persists. The palate serves relative restraint for Méal, has a cool bearing, an almost wired presence, sinew in the content, with upright tannins, a rocky, near chewy element from them. It carries a blood like intensity through it, has the spine in place, will slot in around that as it expands over time. It’s like they have reversed the process so as to start with caution and develop richness, rather than serve richness right away. And they agree with that observation. That has changed the nature of the tannins, which are more chalky, fused. It’s rather a wait and see wine, taste post bottling. From 2027-28. 2049-51 Oct 2023
The duo even used the word “cliché” when talking about the usual image of Méal, one of thunderous, rich, elemental depth, a reflection of the hillside’s Southern, sun-lapping exposure and mixed soils, with lower granite levels than on Bessards (Pavillon cuvée for Chapoutier) or Grandes Vignes (Ligne de Crête cuvée for Delas) to the west, for example. The heart of the most famous red Rhône ever made, the 1961 PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ La Chapelle, came from Le Méal (with a little help from Cornas Clape of the same vintage), and is what gives the pulse to a true Hermitage.
The decision to harvest earlier therefore impinges not only on the richness of the wine, but also on the nature of the tannins, as observed in the tasting note. I am not sure I view this favourably, but am open to seeing how the 2022 Méal rouge evolves after another eight years or so.
A PRETTY ACCESSIBLE VINTAGE, MID ZONE SMOOTHNESS
2022 is not a high barrier year, with wines that can need only around three years to show soundly; there is certainly ripeness at their centre, with some needing to amplify and fill their frames. I certainly find elegance and appealing textures in the central site wines, which as a rule run between 3,000 and 8,000 bottles per domaine. These were uniformly **** wines in 2022, and were aided by the presence of moisture retentive clay on sites such as Les Diognières.
YANN CHAVE 2022
The Yann Chave is 85-90% 1978 Syrah from Beaume, 10-15% early 1980s Syrah from Péléat: it was savoury, offering its smooth black-fruited matter with a steady, continuous hand, a pleasing elegance in its gras, along with mild oaking - a good move. The fruit lasted with calm purpose, the finish textured, lissom.
DOMAINE DU COLOMBIER 2022
The Domaine du Colombier is mostly 1950s Syrah from Beaumes, Les Diognières, Torras et les Garennes (three sites on mid to east of hill). The 2022 is a heart on its sleeve wine with character, drive, giving a vivid glass of grass roots Hermitage.
DOMAINE BELLE 2022
The Domaine Belle is 50% from Les Murets (1981-82, sandy, stony, limestone), 50% from Les Diognières (1950s, clay-limestone, sandy, stony), the 2022 a wine of “silky tannins, delicacy” in the words of PHILIPPE BELLE, who added: "it's a joli vintage with good balance, not an extreme or solar year - the Rhône river had an influence via the freshness of the nights. It's a balanced and fine wine this year."
LAURENT FAYOLLE 2022
The LAURENT FAYOLLE bears the name Les Diognières, from Syrah planted on that site’s clay-limestone in 1965-66 by grandfather JULES FAYOLLE, whom I knew in my youth. The 2022 gave a layered, coasting run of black fruits with refinement in the tannins, a pleasing elegance, with a good intrinsic concentration and a spur of drive just before the well rounded, smooth close – that inner energy most compelling. This is an understated, true, en finesse Hermitage.
As a footnote, I was unable to make my usual November-December 2023 visits due to health problems, not serious, which is why there has not yet been a tasting of 2022 at DOMAINE JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE, nor chez FERRATON. These will be done in the first three months of 2024.
LEADING HERMITAGE RED 2022s
| ***** | M Chapoutier L’Ermite | 2052-54 | 10/23 | charged, elemental, compelling, finesse within |
| ***** | M Chapoutier Le Pavillon | 2051-53 | 10/23 | elegant, handsome, orchestrated, accomplished |
| ***** | Domaine Jean-Louis Chave | 2057-59 | 02/24 | classic truth from the different climats, complex |
| ***** | Delas Ligne de Crête | 2050-53 | 09/23 | salted thrust, energy, subtle, serious |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Les Greffieux | 2047-49 | 10/23 | fluent, engaging, vivid, to study, STGT |
| ****(*) | Emmanuel Darnaud | 2047-49 | 09/23 | broad, stylish, superior, balanced |
| ****(*) | Laurent Fayolle Les Diognières | 2043-45 | 09/23 | coasting fruits, joli elegance, finesse |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Les Dionnières | 2047-49 | 02/24 | gliding, deep juice, cool, persistent, stylish |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Le Méal | 2048-50 | 02/24 | inner complexity, floral persistence, intricate |
| ****(*) | Domaine Sorrel Le Gréal | 2043-55 | 10/24 | serene purpose, class, stately, inner strength |
| **** | Cave de Tain Gambert de Loche | 2045-47 | 09/23 | early elegance, smooth, shapely |
| **** | Dard & Ribo | 2044-46 | 02/23 | spiced, silky gras, fine, hand made |
| **** | Domaine Belle | 2042-44 | 10/23 | rolling gras, fine intensity |
| **** | M Chapoutier Le Méal | 2049-51 | 10/23 | cool, wired, blood intensity, chalk tannin |
| **** | M Chapoutier Monier Sizeranne | 2046-48 | 10/23 | relaxed, tasty fruit, fresh tannin |
| **** | Yann Chave | 2042-44 | 09/23 | savoury, pleasing gras elegance |
| **** | Domaine du Colombier | 2045-47 | 09/23 | elemental richness, character, drive |
| **** | Delas Les Bessards | 2049-51 | 09/23 | naked, Puritan essentials, snappy, linear |
| **** | Ferraton Les Miaux | 2045-47 | 02/24 | engaging, fluid, sizzle, iron tannins |
| **** | Domaine Graillot | 2044-46 | 05/23 | ready fruit, pliant, harmony tinkle |
| **** | Dom des Remizières Émilie | 2045-47 | 09/23 | well together, fruit clarity, length |
| **** | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2045-47 | 11/22 | fruit streams, well proportioned |
| **** | Saint Cosme La Pierrelle | 2046-48 | 07/23 | iron thread, interest, time |
| ***(*) | Delas Domaine des Tourettes | 2045-47 | 09/23 | restrained richness, accessible, steady, correct |
| ***(*) | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Maison Bleue | 2049-51 | 03/24 | droit, emphasis, firm grip, cool, some drive |
| ***(*) | Gabriel Meffre Laurus | 2043-45 | 09/23 | peppery, iron-like, taut, good yeoman |
| ***(*) | Domaine Sorrel | 2047-49 | 10/24 | brothy, fleshy, edged tannins, fresh, time |
| ***(*) | JMB Sorrel Le Vignon | 2039-41 | 02/23 | supple, suave, sun influenced |
| *** | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2040-42 | 09/23 | early depth, tannins bit dry, plain |
| *** | Marc & Marlène Melody | 2041-43 | 09/23 | rolling richness, broad, obvious, gourmand |
| *** | Vidal-Fleury | 2043-45 | 09/23 | firm, bold, upright, grounded, workmanlike |
4. 2022 CROZES-HERMITAGE RED
LES PICAUDIÈRES ABOVE GERVANS IS ONE OF THE NORTHERN RHONE'S LEGENDARY VINEYARDS, FIRST BROUGHT TO PROMINENCE BY RAYMOND ROURE. NOW PART OF IT IS CULTIVATED BY HIS GREAT NEPHEW STÉPHANE ROUSSET, WITH TOP RESULTS
Commercially successful, qualitatively good, but variable, sums up Crozes-Hermitage rouge in 2022. It’s an appellation in two parts, of course, with the more refined northern zone marked by wandering hills and vales, with the granite and loess outcrops of the surrounds of the Hermitage hill. The southern sector, the lion’s share of the appellation, was largely a fruit bearing plain until around the 1970s, and it has been prone of late to hail storms crossing the Rhône from the west – as was the case in 2023 - while the soils can dry up, with irrigation required and demanded. The big margin profitability comes from the southern sector.
A drought in the summer meant that the vineyards of this southern sector suffered problems of blocked ripening, a situation that exacerbated the differences between the two sectors, with under pressure growers having to take decisions about harvesting, not all of them felicitous.
AUGUST RAIN SHIFTED THE SOLAR EMPHASIS
XAVIER FROUIN, seasoned oenologue of the CAVE DE TAIN has to deal with a vast amount of Crozes-Hermitage Syrah from all corners of the appellation. He cannot avoid a broad brush approach when things might demand precision timing. He told me: “in early August, we had a harvest that was solar affected, unbalanced, with concentrated levels of sugar and low acidity. You had to adapt on a daily basis; the first rain, around 30-40 mm [1.2-1.6 in] on 18 August unblocked what was a stopped ripening. We had been going to pick on the 18th, but waited until the 21st for the whites, the Syrahs from the end of August.
You had to be patient, you had to wait above all for the skin and pips’ ripeness. Torrential rain was forecast for the first weekend in September, so some people rushed to harvest then, but the vast rain never came – that was a mistake.
The August rain allowed the tannins to ripen further, and there was a lot more colour after the rain. There is disparity between the first reds that we simply had to harvest urgently because of possible degradation – they didn’t have a great tannic structure, as well as representing harvest that had been hit by the drought. The late zones such as the loess-granite soils at Crozes-Hermitage itself had good balance, degrees of 12.5° to 13°, with finesse on the palate. 2022 is a vintage where the noble terroirs handled the drought stress best. You also had to be careful not to over crop this year. Precocious ripening soils with a heavy harvest was not a great combination.”
STUNTED GROWTH BEFORE THE RAIN, SOUTHERN SECTOR DROUGHT STRESS
Another producer with a heavy Crozes-Hermitage presence is CHAPOUTIER, whose winemaker-oenologue CLÉMENT BARTSCHI gave this appraisal: “the fear was of a 2003 coming down the tracks, but the rain in August and early September saved the situation. Vegetation had been stunted by the drought and heat, the drought mainly. They are low acidity wines, but they have balance. The tannins on crop from vines that suffered drought stress were not good quality – that brought in the plain of the southern sector and the low parts of slopes – they are not used to a lack of water resources; the granite soils, used to stress, handled 2022 well.”
AN ANTI CULTURED YEASTS INTERLUDE
I got on to my campaign against cultured yeasts with JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT’s nephew JULIEN CÉCILLON, who prefaced his vintage review with a good trenchant comment. We had been discussing how some growers back slide on this, giving the reason of a lack of natural yeasts in their young cellar buildings. Over to JULIEN: “it pisses me off that people invest in cultured yeasts for something that works already. I did five vinifications in five separate locations that had never had a vinification in them, and it worked each time on wild yeasts. The problem is that the oenologue consultant is actually a doctor pharmacist. MICHEL CHAPOUTIER calls the role of the yeast as one that magnifies the end of the life of the grapes.
A MIXED YEAR FOR THE REDS
2022 at Crozes-Hermitage is mixed for the reds, with the issue of lack of ripeness. That came from a blockage on the ripening, followed by premature harvesting. There also grands vins in 2022, though. I have been organic since 2022, and also biodynamic on my Crozes red vineyard from 2019 – I find the soils have improved as result, the wines not yet. I don’t want to certify biodynamic as there are some strictures such as filtration not allowed.
The vineyard took a deep breath after the August rain in 2022, and then you had to wait, and not be in a hurry. Some people made the mistake of harvesting too soon, and failed to capture the taste of the wine, both at Crozes and Saint-Joseph.” Je suis d’accord with this appraisal.
JULIEN’s Crozes is from a lovingly tended 0.95 hectare of 1940s-1960s Syrah that he rented, before purchasing it in 2020 from ROBERT FLANDRIN. The soils, on Pierre Aguille at Crozes-Hermitage are granite-quartz, with 10% decomposed loess, are worked by horse & pickaxe. This is exactly the sort of wine that subscribers should be interested in – a wine of character and complexity that is able to rise above the challenges of the year thanks to the detailed approach of the grower.
HIGH YIELDS, DODGY TANNINS
So: high yields a problem, and dodgy tannins from poorly ripened harvest. Meanwhile, demand is high – so corners are cut, of that there is no doubt, and were I to be a French resident, I would not be going anywhere near cheap supermarket 2022 Crozes reds. To illustrate the demand, the 1 hectolitre [100 litres] price of wine in bulk 20 years ago was €300. At the start of 2023 it was €590 for conventionally produced wine and €635 for organic wine.
CHRISTELLE BETTON, based just outside Tain, is another to make wines of character, her whites of particular note. She expressed 2022 as follows: “it was a year of combat with an improbable outcome, uneven ripeness, a year with no parallel, a lot of drought pressure. I gave thanks for the mid-August rain, without which there wouldn’t have been much crop.
Across the appellation, I think quality will be scattered. I started the white harvest on 29 August, the Syrah on 10 September. The more I taste the red, the more I like it. The grapes had such thick skins that you could play football with them. I did drop by drop irrigation at Larnage since it was very blocked, very slow to ripen, and then eight to 10 days later, it had risen from 10.5° to 12.5°.”
DAVID COMBIER of the longtime organic Domaine of the same name also referenced rainfall, and was happy with the outcome: “the reds in 2022 are very beaus, super. 2020 was very good, but 2022 is better, even with the drought. We had the luck to receive 80 mm [3.2 in] of rain in mid-July, which Cornas didn’t get – that saved the harvest. There was some rot on Cap Nord at Gervans and Serves in the northern sector because of the rain.”
IRREGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF RAIN
DAVID REYNAUD of the biodynamic LES BRUYÈRES based at Beaumont-Monteux near the Isère River told me: “2022 is the opposite of 2021: there was just 200 mm [8 in] of rain from 1 January until 15 August. Beaumont Monteux had less rain than Mercurol and Chanos Curson that received rain fronts from the Ardèche to the west. Flowering started on 25 May after a few small rains in the spring. My last treatment was at the start of June. I took out the entrecoeurs [excess buds] in May, then didn’t touch the canopy.
VOLATILE LEVELS HIGHER THEN USUAL
I started the white harvest on 22 August, a month earlier than 2021, the reds on 27 August. The wines are beaus, fresh, 13° max, not solar. The yield was 30 hl/ha, against 45 hl/ha in 2021. I expected more of a jam tone in the reds, but they are digestible, perhaps a bit like 2020. The level of Volatile Acidity was higher than usual, though – 0.6 gm/litre – against a more usual 0.4-0.5 gm/litre. A lot of bacteria developed from the heat during 2022.”
EDGAR CUILLERON also works with the southern sector, and commented: “the plain area, with 80 cm deep soils covered with galet stones – therefore hot soils – became very ripe, so the wines are opulent, but not aggressively so.”
MANY BUNCHES SERVED TO KEEP THE DEGREE LOWER
ANTOINE GRAILLOT of the celebrated DOMAINE GRAILLOT is centred on Les Chassis in the southern sector. He reported: “our yield was 37 hl/ha, not bad for the year. The Crozes red was 12° - we started about 25 August, as we have recently. There were a lot of bunches – had there been a small amount, the degree would have been higher, as happened in 2018.
The fact that 2021 had been rainy may also have prompted a large budding in 2022. I am delighted, very happy, since there is a belle balance, and freshness. From 2017 and 2019 with the high heat summers, I saw the future as sombre, but now we understand more, have to harvest earlier, and work differently, and that gives me confidence for the future.”
DENSITY, CONCENTRATION SPOKEN OF
THOMAS SCHMITTEL works in the same cellars with his merchant business of EQUIS, and the DOMAINE DES LISES with MAXIME GRAILLOT. He observed: “the wines aren’t hyper powerful; there is an almost extra dry side to them, density. It’s a year that will be interesting when they awaken – it’s a year of nerve, muscle.”
Nearby, PHILIPPE JABOULET of DOMAINE PHILIPPE & VINCENT JABOULET has almost fifty vintages under his belt. He related: “2022 is agreeable, very agreeable, will please people. It’s more structured than 2021, has a belle colour. There is a 2019 side to it – a lot of concentration from the drought. The yield wasn’t very high – 30 hl/ha because the grapes were small.”
NORTHERN SECTOR: ENCOURAGING REPORTS
Growers with northern sector exposure gave encouraging reports, with laissez-faire maestro FRANÇOIS RIBO of DARD & RIBO stating: “the saving of the vintage occurred in mid-August with the 50-60 mm [2-2.4 in] of rain in small doses. We started the harvest on 29 August for the whites, and ended on 13 September – we went very fast. I really like 2022 for Crozes red – the wines have kept very decent freshness, have a belle quality of tannins and a sympa balance.”
PHILIPPE BELLE has his central vineyard at Larnage, which abuts Hermitage, but also vineyards in the southern sector. He commented: “there was a succession of heat episodes; these tired the vines as they compensated for the lack of moisture. You would have expected a high degree and low acidity – but that wasn’t the case. We did suffer a loss of yield, though, especially for les Pierrelles [southern sector], while the vines at Larnage on the kaolin clays were OK. The wines have balance and are fine, the moderate degree a help.”
JEAN-PIERRE MUCYN also combines southern vineyards with his core areas around Crozes-Hermitage, and has always favoured an en finesse style. He summarised thus: “2022 was disconcerting for Crozes since a high degree and an imbalance in the alcohol was expected, but that wasn’t the case. The degree averages around 12° to 12.3°, and the colour is very dark for the reds.
The resistance of the vineyard really shone through this year, given the conditions. Blockages of ripening had installed before we had a saving grace of 9 mm [0.39 in] of rain on 14 August, then small falls each week, allowing the vines to re-start. It’s not a year to keep, and will be ready quite soon; there are sympa tannins which are well inside the wines. Overall, we came out of things pretty well.”
GRANITE BLOCKAGE OF TANNIN RIPENING, BUT A TRUE COOL SYRAH OUTCOME
Based at Erôme, STÉPHANE ROUSSET gave me this rundown: “2022 has given Syrah du Nord; the vines didn’t fabricate a lot of sugar, so the wines are structured, and less dense than 2019, which is spiced and Syrah du Sud in manner, like 2018. Les Picaudières [his top site, legendary over the years in the appellation] had a blockage of ripening – the phenolic ripening took time due to the impact of the drought on the granite, unlike the foot of the slopes, flat ground with a bit more clay.”
MAXIME CHAPOUTIER referred to two of his cuvées, telling me: “there was no excess of weather, unlike 2019. Despite the heat, the degree wasn’t high, just 13° on Sicamor, for example.” Sicamor is a blend of plots across Crozes-Hermitage, Larnage, the east flank of Hermitage appellation (poudingue, alluvial soils) & west flank of appellation (granite soils) with Les Chassis from the plain, and the ****(*) 2022 was a really optimal blend of these two sources, STGT wine with a neat filling from Les Chassis to support the mid-palate.
Les Varonniers is a largely granite-based cuvée - 20% 1970, 50% 1990s Syrah from terraces on Chavanessieux at Crozes-Hermitage, sand on top of granite base in the northern sector, plus since the early 2010s 20-30% Syrah from Les Chassis (southern sector, had been 10-15% before then). On this, MAXIME stated: the 2022 Varonniers came in at 12.5° against 14° in 2019, while, despite the heat and drought, it still shows its granitic line, the mid-palate en finesse and less on volume than previous years.”
BEST 2022s: CHARACTER, COMPLEXITY, NATURAL DRIVE, ENERGY
To look at the attributes of the vintage, the leading wines are those with character, complexity, natural drive, inner energy. They stand apart from those that are pleasing from a mainly fruit delivery angle, going further than those wines, albeit that the latter group provide enjoyable drinking, the best examples in the **** bracket. It is good that alcohol levels are not pushing the limit this year, but there is a counter swing these days, with growers so terrified of excess degree, a derivative of well ripened harvest, that they are picking too soon for comfort.
Hence when I see 12.5° on labels of wine already bottled within the year following the harvest in a vintage such as 2022, I am not necessarily reassured. The drive for fresher wines, yes, less imposing, yes, but the drop in ripeness and therefore pleasure is a concern. More Puritan wines for a Puritan age, perhaps?? An example, not the only one, was the cuvée Sens of LAURENT FAYOLLE, a peppery wine of narrow delivery, with a searching finish.
The judgment on a vintage can always be partly guided by how the merchant trade fares in buying bulk wines, whether they have a good choice or a limited one. In 2022 examples of the difficulties came from two reputable merchants, OGIER at Chateauneuf-du-Pape and VIDAL-FLEURY in the Northern Rhône. Neither was successful.
A further note of caution attaches itself to the entry level – therefore volume – wines of even good domaines this year, domaines such as BELLE, COMBIER, LAURENT FAYOLLE and MURINAIS. The Belle Pierrelles, the Combier Cuvée Laurent, the aforementioned Fayolle Sens (has more than doubled in volume in the past few years) and the Murinais Les Amandiers are all some way behind the superior, lower volume offerings from each of these three names. Moral of the tale: buy the better cuvées.
Another symptom of the push-pull tension at Crozes comes from earlier bottling than around 10 years ago. To satisfy the demand, wham, into bottle goes the wine, prematurely probably. When I tasted a group of 58 wines in September, 2023, nearly half, 27, had been bottled already.
IRRIGATION WATER, MACHINE HARVESTING: LOSS OF WINE CULTURE
One of my conversations with JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE turned to how things were being managed at Crozes-Hermitage, and he gave me a withering view on matters here: "I am very anxious, since I feel we are losing the culture of wine in our region – take a look at Crozes-Hermitage where there is an industrialisation of the viticultural process – people are forgetting that we are a region of hills and peasants, countrypeople. So there is machine harvesting, and the scandal of irrigating vineyards with maize water machines in 2022.
Crozes is an El Dorado of low costs and firm pricing, while “idiots” [anyone with a hillside vineyard] work on foot, use a pulley machine [le treuil] and visitors take pictures of them and not of the plain. You can’t talk artisanal if you machine harvest, you can’t talk organic if you water vineyards with water from the Rhône. Things should be clear on that front, and they aren’t. What is needed is a true defence of the values of the vigneron or vigneronne.”
CHÂTEAU LE DEVAY, A GOOD NEWCOMER
On a brighter note, a worthy newcomer was the 1,700 bottle Crozes red of FLORENCE and JEAN-CHARLES FOURNET under the CHÂTEAU LE DEVAY label. Neither is a wine professional - she is a speech therapist, he a radiologist. They have lived at the eighteenth century Château, which is near Vienne, since 2004, and with a passion for wine, started a retail wine business called La Cave du Temple in 2015.
Their nephew ROMAIN GAY, with a Beaune oenological degree, then came to join them, with advice from PIERRE-JEAN VILLA, and they started to produce their own wine. Their 2022 Crozes-Hermitage red, cask raised, was a successful **** wine of tasty fruits and fresh tannins: a good, limited edition offering.
In terms of longevity, 2022 will not keep as well as vintages such as 2019, nor 2020, with 15 years a good end date for many. A few will quietly run past towards 20 years. Select carefully, and there will be rewards this year, but don’t stray too far from the arc of quality.
LEADING CROZES-HERMITAGE RED 2022s
| ****(*) | Julien Cécillon Les Marguerites | 2041-43 | 05/23 | lovely expression, serene, complex |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Sicamor | 2036-38 | 10/23 | gd character, iron, interest, STGT |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Les Varonniers | 2044-46 | 10/23 | iron fuel, fruit gusto, terroir |
| ****(*) | Domaine Combier Clos des Grives | 2044-46 | 02/23 | stylish, sturdy, energetic length |
| ****(*) | Dard & Ribo Les Bâties | 2038-40 | 02/23 | structure, complexity, smoke, scope |
| ****(*) | Emmanuel Darnaud Les Trois Chênes | 2034-36 | 09/23 | svelte, polished, chomping, stately |
| ****(*) | Delas Dom des Grands Chemins | 2036-38 | 09/23 | suave, accomplished, silken, superior |
| ****(*) | Olivier Dumaine La Croix du Verre | 2034-36 | 10/23 | bel ensemble, deep, balanced |
| ****(*) | Laurent Fayolle Clos Les Cornirets | 2035-37 | 09/23 | authority, place, character, drive |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Le Grand Courtil | 2038-40 | 02/24 | pedigree content, classy fruit, long |
| ****(*) | Domaine Melody Premier Regard | 2032-34 | 09/23 | stately, furnished, full & flowing |
| ****(*) | Dom Murinais Caprice de Valentin | 2034-36 | 09/23 | natural drive, top level, v fine |
| ****(*) | David Reynaud Georges | 2035-37 | 09/23 | inner energy, structured, vivid |
| ****(*) | Domaine Rousset Les Méjeans | 2043-44 | 10/24 | ferrous fluidity, authentic, serious, STGT |
| ****(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Les Bâties | 2036-38 | 02/24 | complete, serene, balanced, a winner |
| **** | Aléofane | 2029-30 | 09/23 | free fruiting, delivery gusto |
| **** | Cave de Tain Les Hauts du Fief | 2035-37 | 09/23 | sun, ripeness, weight, depth |
| **** | Château Le Devay | 2030-32 | 09/23 | tasty fruit run, fresh, drive |
| **** | Domaine Les Alexandrins | 2031-32 | 09/23 | likeable fruit insistence, spark, drive |
| **** | Domaine Belle Roche Pierre | 2038-40 | 10/23 | cool fruit, calm gras, deep |
| **** | Yann Chave Le Rouvre | 2035-37 | 09/23 | tight, structure, persistent, time |
| **** | Clairmont Les Palais | 2031-33 | 09/23 | inner depth, sustained length |
| **** | Domaine du Colombier Gaby | 2034-36 | 09/23 | drive, structure, stylish, time |
| **** | Domaine Combier | 2033-35 | 02/23 | savoury, fluid, heart, length |
| **** | Domaine Combier Cap Nord | 2039-41 | 02/23 | cool, mineral, fluent, frank, STGT |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Les Chassis | 2033-35 | 10/23 | fruit quality, drive, genuine |
| **** | Dard & Ribo Pé du Loup | 2034-36 | 02/23 | squeezy gras, charm, aromatic |
| **** | Emmanuel Darnaud Au Fil du Temps | 2031-33 | 09/23 | supple, easy, harmony, detail |
| **** | Emmanuel Darnaud Mise en Bouche | 2027-28 | 09/23 | lissom ease, cosy, trim, iron |
| **** | Delas Le Clos | 2035-37 | 09/23 | cellar, oak, liberal fruit, brio |
| **** | Laurent Fayolle Les Pontaix | 2029-30 | 09/23 | bonny fruit wave, purity, V |
| **** | Ferraton Calendes | 2032-34 | 02/24 | dark fruit, good resources, rocky tang |
| **** | Ferraton Les Pichères | 2035-37 | 02/24 | snug depth, verve, local imprint, oak |
| **** | Domaine Graillot Larnage | 2042-44 | 05/23 | interesting fruit, intricate, juice emphasis |
| **** | Dom Hauts Chassis Les Châssis | 2035-37 | 11/24 | cosy filling, gourmand, fruit intensity |
| **** | Dom des Hauts Chassis Les Galets | 2033-35 | 11/24 | bright, bustling, savoury, inner drive |
| **** | Dom des Hauts Chassis Vespera | 2036-38 | 11/24 | silky roll, purity, Burgundian poise |
| **** | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Les Jalets bio | 2035-37 | 09/23 | refined fruits, structure, grounding |
| **** | Dom P Jaboulet Aîné Dom Thalabert | 2046-48 | 03/24 | fruit quality, intensity, intricate, scope |
| **** | Domaine Lemenicier | 2029-30 | 02/23 | liberal, fine juice, expressive |
| **** | Domaine des Lises | 2033-35 | 05/23 | continuous fruit, snug, pleasing |
| **** | Domaine Gaylord Machon Ghany | 2031-32 | 09/23 | immediate, joli fruit, crisp, STGT |
| **** | Domaine Melody Étoile Noire | 2031-33 | 09/23 | fruit purity, stylish, swooping |
| **** | Domaine Melody Friandise | 2029-30 | 09/23 | nicely sunswept, depth, drinkability |
| **** | Domaine du Murinais Vieilles Vignes | 2033-35 | 09/23 | joli fruit, elegant, well sustained |
| **** | Etienne Pochon | 2027-28 | 09/23 | natural freshness, free, authentic |
| **** | Dom Les 4 Vents Les Pitchounettes | 2030-31 | 10/24 | joli, harmonious, floral, v true Crozes |
| **** | Domaine Les 4 Vents Les 4 Vents | 2030-31 | 10/24 | well lined, firm gras, genuine |
| **** | Dom des Remizières Christophe | 2035-37 | 09/23 | refined fruit, pedigree tannin |
| **** | Gilles Robin Alberic | 2033-35 | 10/24 | good fit, sure length, genuine |
| **** | Domaine Rousset Les Picaudières | 2044-46 | 10/24 | firm, tasty gras, aromatic, plenty to it |
| **** | Domaine Saint Clair Etincelle | 2032-33 | 09/23 | generous, calm, suave, rolling |
| **** | Saint Cosme | 2033-35 | 07/23 | joli juice, elegant, suave |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Les Habrards | 2037-38 | 02/24 | nerve, iron emphasis, purpose, Nordic |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Tenay | 2034-36 | 02/24 | joli cool fruits, intricate, interest |
| **** | Domaine Vendome Les Coulaires | 2026-27 | 09/23 | joli, supple drinking, floral |
| **** | Dom de la Ville Rouge Terre d’Eclat | 2032-34 | 09/23 | easy richness, solid, inner drive |
| ***(*) | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2030-32 | 09/23 | copious, broad, flashy, easy |
| ***(*) | Franck Balthazar | 2027-28 | 10/24 | juicy appeal, plump, supple |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Vin Biologique | 2035-37 | 09/23 | fine, collected juice, cool, charm |
| ***(*) | Domaine Belle Louis Belle | 2036-38 | 10/23 | inner depth, tarry, high oak |
| ***(*) | Domaine Betton Caprice | 2032-33 | 05/23 | sound heart, drive, typical |
| ***(*) | Graeme & Julie Bott | 2030-31 | 10/23 | sleek fruiting, ensemble, spontaneous |
| ***(*) | Alleno & Chapoutier Guer Van | 2039-41 | 10/23 | easy fruits, upfront, flashy |
| ***(*) | Yann Chave | 2032-34 | 09/23 | tight, knuckled, fruit surges |
| ***(*) | Clairmont Coeur de Clairmont | 2026-27 | 09/23 | wavy richness, supple, straightforward |
| ***(*) | Domaine du Colombier | 2032-34 | 09/23 | inner muscle, tannic vigour, dark |
| ***(*) | Christophe Curtat Fée des Champs | 2026-27 | 10/23 | relaxed fruit, well judged content |
| ***(*) | Dard & Ribo C’est Le Printemps | 2031-33 | 02/23 | iron threads, vegetal, grainy |
| ***(*) | Olivier Dumaine Opora | 2028-29 | 10/23 | rich, almost savoury, plump |
| ***(*) | Domaine Esprit Perles Noires | 2029-31 | 09/23 | soft, fruit interest, intricate |
| ***(*) | Domaine Esprit Le Zouave | 2027-28 | 09/23 | dark fruit, mild, grainy, mature |
| ***(*) | Equis equinoxe | 2030-31 | 05/23 | juicy, unrestrained, plentiful fruit |
| ***(*) | Domaine Alain Graillot | 2037-39 | 05/23 | padded, agreeable drinking, clarity |
| ***(*) | Laurent Habrard Grand Classique | 2028-29 | 09/23 | simple content, gentle, unforced |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Louis S Syrah | 2026-27 | 09/23 | supple content, easy to please |
| ***(*) | Michelas St Jemms Fleur Syrahne | 2029-31 | 09/23 | sound, agreeably filled, woven |
| ***(*) | Dom Michelas St Jemms Signature | 2032-34 | 09/23 | rolling content, stands firmly |
| ***(*) | Domaine Rémy Nodin Le Mazel | 2027-28 | 09/23 | calm, sultry, perfumed |
| ***(*) | Maison Christophe Pichon | 2030-32 | 10/23 | cool, droit, fruit clarity, naked, iron |
| ***(*) | Julien Pilon Buveur d'Argile | 2028-29 | 02/24 | fluid fruit, early vigour, herbal, sound |
| ***(*) | Domaine Les Vents Saint Jaimes | 2028-29 | 10/24 | well juiced, ripe tannins, some iron |
| ***(*) | Dom des Remizières Particulière | 2030-32 | 09/23 | comfortable filling, cut, bit exerted |
| ***(*) | David Reynaud Beaumont | 2029-30 | 09/23 | ripe, floral, neat lip smack |
| ***(*) | Domaine Rousset | 2036-38 | 10/24 | firm density, close-knit, bit sunswept |
| ***(*) | Dom Saint Clair la fleur enchantée | 2030-31 | 09/23 | suave, fat, copious, weighty |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Saint-Clément Horizon | 2026-27 | 09/23 | juicy, engaging fruit, impetus |
| ***(*) | Domaine Sorrel | 2038-40 | 10/24 | clenched, smoky, pinging fruit |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard | 2034-36 | 02/24 | strict, linear, cool, naked, tinkling |
| ***(*) | Dom de la Ville Rouge Inspiration | 2030-31 | 09/23 | fine fruit, naked+, genuine |
| *** | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2029-31 | 09/23 | ripe, exuberant, grainy tannin |
| *** | Domaine Belle Les Pierrelles | 2030-31 | 10/23 | grippy, correct, bit mainstream |
| *** | Domaine Betton Espiègle | 2029-30 | 05/23 | grounded, dense, thrust, correct |
| *** | M Chapoutier Les Meysonniers | 2029-30 | 10/23 | supple, fluent, pristine, efficient |
| *** | M Chapoutier Petite Ruche | 2027 | 02/24 | fruit stream, herbal, ends vegetal, dryish |
| *** | Domaine des Combat | 2029-30 | 09/23 | lithe content, pared back |
| *** | Domaine Combier Cuvée Laurent | 2029-30 | 02/23 | sweet, straightforward, some gras |
| *** | Yves Cuilleron Labaya | 2027-28 | 10/23 | plump, mature, plain |
| *** | Domaine Esprit Esprit | 2026-27 | 09/23 | unpretentious, stewed, touch basic |
| *** | Laurent Fayolle Sens | 2029-31 | 09/23 | bit narrow, bustling tannins |
| *** | Ferraton La Matinière | 2029-30 | 02/24 | lithe, peppery, cool, workmanlike |
| *** | Domaine Gaylord Machon Lhony | 2030-32 | 09/23 | compact, firm density, marked oak |
| *** | Gabriel Meffre Saint-Pierre | 2030-32 | 09/23 | mature style content, stewed |
| *** | Michelas St Jemms La Chasselière | 2031-33 | 09/23 | firm juicing, busy, assertive end |
| *** | Domaine Mucyn Les Entrecoeurs | 2028-29 | 09/23 | supple, mild content, low freshness |
| *** | Domaine du Murinais Les Amandiers | 2025-26 | 09/23 | lightly aromatic, mild, straightforward |
| *** | Rémi Niéro Vie Magne | 2028-29 | 04/24 | skimming, airborne, solo drinking |
| *** | Domaine Pradelle Courbis | 2027 | 09/23 | easy fruit, supple, OK |
| *** | Domaine des Remizières Origine | 2031-33 | 09/23 | juiced, rolling, primal, grunter |
| *** | Hugo & Pauline Villa | 2027 | 03/24 | mildly fruited, correct, bit bland |
| **(*) | Dom des Louis Quintessence S | 2028-29 | 09/23 | enclosed content, oak, strictness |
| **(*) | Marrenon Les Belles Echapées | 2025-26 | 09/23 | stewed fruits, low expression |
| **(*) | Gabriel Meffre Laurus | 2029-31 | 09/23 | loose content, unsettled acidity |
| **(*) | Ogier L’Orientale | 2028-29 | 09/23 | reedy content, iron, plain |
| **(*) | Domaine Pradelle | 2027-28 | 09/23 | sweet, sappy, stewed |
| **(*) | Domaine Pradelle Les Hirondelles | 2028-29 | 09/23 | perky fruit, acidity, workmanlike |
| **(*) | Vidal-Fleury | 2026-27 | 09/23 | spiced, cool, escapist |
| ** | Ravoire Olivier Ravoire Espee | 2027-28 | 09/23 | copious, obvious, overdone |
5. 2022 SAINT-JOSEPH RED
CHRISTIAN ROUCHIER IN HIS LUC VINEYARD ABOVE SAINT-JEAN-DE-MUZOLS; ALLOWED TO CONTINUE AS SAINT-JOSEPH, UNLIKE HIS LA CHAVE VINEYARD 300 METRES AWAY
2022 Saint-Josephs reds have something of a stealthy quality about them, stealthy because it is not an obviously very good vintage, more one with homely, welcoming, open features that gives pretty instant reward. It flourishes entertaining fruit, and many growers have avoided the trap of chasing the harvest too forcefully, an approach that would have brought excess toughness in the tannins. After all, the raw goods were grapes from a very hot and dry summer, thick skins the consequence – certainly until the mid-August rain appeared over the horizon.
I wondered how the year stood up against 2020, a year that I would at face value consider to have greater depth and structure, a more resounding vintage. Numerically, the comparison showed as follows, taking into account that quite a lot more wines were tasted in 2020; 2022 will still be ongoing in 2024 as I visit more domaines, of course. Having been obliged to cancel my November/December 2023 trip due to health problems, my visits resumed in February, 2024.
| STARS | 2020 | 2022 | ||
| 5 | 02 | 01 | ||
| 4.5 | 13 | 12 | ||
| 4 | 42 | 43 | ||
| 3.5 | 50 | 40 | ||
| 3 | 19 | 13 | ||
| 2.5 | 03 | 04 | ||
| 2 | 01 | |||
| TOTAL | 129 | 114 | ||
| %4 & UP | 44 | 49.4 |
BALANCE REFERRED TO BY GROWERS
Experienced sources referred to the balance of the vintage, with FABRICE GRIPA of DOMAINE GRIPA in the original 1956 Saint-Joseph appellation vineyard area of Mauves telling me: “2022 is the most balanced of the series of hot vintages from 2015 onwards. I was very much on my guard that the tannins might be hard, so I went for a very soft extraction – you had to avoid austerity in 2022.
The rainfall of 15-20 mm [.6-0.8 in] of 20 August was very helpful, serving to re-inflate the grapes, and bring a good level of ripeness, especially as the week of 15 August had been very hot. The 2022 vineyard was less advanced to the eye than 2019 and 2017 – the plants handled the drought very well, especially the slopes. The flat zones, low slopes suffered. All my reds are 14°.”
THE MASSALE MARSANNES
Another doyen of Mauves is the thoroughly likeable JEAN-CLAUDE MARSANNE, who makes wine with a restrained touch, and, like his neighbours the GONONs favours old, sometimes misshapen oak casks.
When I first met the family in the early 1970s, they were hand grafting from old Syrah stock for the new plants. I wrote in The Wines of the Rhône, the 1992 edition (Faber): “the three brothers Jean, André and René would each don a straw hat as they set off to graft new vine-stock on a sunny May day, no doubt regarded as a touch eccentric by the local neighbourhood. They are an example of old agricultural France at its best. The Marsannes would use their time well: it is slow work, but a good man does 600-800 plants in a day, his speed accentuated by having a brother behind him to pile up the soil to keep the greffe, or cutting, from the sun and to stop it drying out.”
JEAN-CLAUDE is JEAN’s son, and signalled a change of generation only by attending Beaune Wine School, where his head was clearly not filled with modern gizmo ideals. He continues with what I feel are close links to the spirit of those days 50 years ago. On 2022 he was enthusiastic: “2022 is superb, even with not a lot of wine, my yield 28 hl/ha. I have grasses sown between the rows, so there was competition for the moisture, and the grapes weren’t big. It’s a beau vintage, in the run of hot years.”
MASSALE SYRAH PERFORMS BETTER THAN CLONES UNDER DURESS CONDITIONS
A stone’s throw away from the MARSANNE domaine, JEAN GONON observed that “our 2022 Tournon Syrah was dense, but fresh. The massale Syrah is a big help in the hot vintages as opposed to the clone Syrahs. In working the soils, cereal works best – it creates the most organic matter and has a good length of roots as well. You can plant rye, wheat, barley. The problem with vetch is that if it’s late, it grows over the vines. We also apply lime especially on very dry soils, working to get round the toxicity of aluminium, and to readjust the soil balance – that must also be accompanied by the application of compost. It’s what our older generations did.”
Such vineyard work is now more important than ever, and has helped the vines to adapt to high heat in a short space of time. Both 2022 and 2023 are vintages that experienced high bursts of heat, albeit with more rainy and more tropical style challenges in 2023 – step forward mildew – but neither checked in with the sort of high degrees experienced in 2018 and 2019, as the wave of hot years started to manifest itself. The welcome result is a tempered balance in the wines.
Nearby at Châteaubourg, between Mauves and Cornas, LAURENT COURBIS of DOMAINE COURBIS reported: “I dropped grapes – there was a bit less juice in the reds. I feared hardness, green tones in the tannins, so the oak allowed the vat wines to expand, to enrich them. The reds are well balanced, without the depth of the 2020s. There was no rain during the harvest.” Certainly, the COURBIS classic St Jo was more assured, more together than the 2021 version.
Staying in the southern sector of Saint-Joseph, its birthplace, FRANÇOIS RIBO of DARD & RIBO felt that the granite had left the vines gasping for breath, as it were, telling me: “I find St Jo red is a bit marked by the hot and dry vintage in 2022; I prefer the year at Crozes.” His vineyards are primarily at St Jean-de-Muzols and Tournon, with a plot at Vion as well.
ABSURD INCONSISTENCY ACROSS THE APPELLATION LEGISLATION FROM 1991
At height in the rambling commune of St Jean-de-Muzols, out of sight of the main Valley, is where CHRISTIAN ROUCHIER has his organic vineyard. His story at present is one of lamentable French bureaucracy. He has two small Saint-Joseph vineyards, luc and la chave.
La chave is from 1957-58 Syrah, on the local gneiss soils; as the crow flies it is around 300 metres from the luc lieu-dit which is about 10 metres lower down. This is significant because the dead hand of French bureaucracy - in the form of the INAO, The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, decreed in 1991 that Saint-Joseph could not be made at a height of over 350 metres. This decree went through before the full impact of climate change was appreciated, with growers allowed a 30 year span before the law hit home.
PARTING OF THE WAYS FOR TWO VINEYARDS 300 METRES APART
The upshot is that from 2022 luc remains Saint-Joseph, the only one, and la chave becomes Vin de France. The legislation wasn't, of course, adapted to current circumstances when altitude = greater freshness. Oh yes. Caught up in this is Christian Rouchier, who states "I was a very young man in 1991 - I don't know what was in their minds then!"
LOW ACIDITY IN 2022
He reported: “there was very little acidity in 2022, both on the reds and the whites. I raised the wine for a shorter period than 2021, since the 2021 had acidity to deal with. The vintage is good enough, though I am not sure how it will evolve due to the low acidity. It holds more matter than 2021, but I have never seen so little acidity. The degree is reasonable, 13°, the yield OK, as it was in 2023.
The style of 2022 is sweet because of the low acidity. There had been a blockage as early as May, but I applied straw and then a bit of raw organic material, the vines got going again, and remained green until December.”
LOW DEGREE, SOUND BALANCE, RAISING BROUGHT PROGRESS
The nephew of legend JEAN-LOUIS GRIPPAT, JULIEN CÉCILLON, is based at St Jean-de-Muzols, and he told me: “2022 St Jo red is a solar year with a low degree, a year when the vines suffered, and delivered all they could in extreme conditions, like running a marathon in the desert. The balance was a surprise, not expected, helped by the fruit that was achieved after the late August and September rain – that literally saved us. The vintage seemed complicated, but after its first winter of raising/élévage, the wines have made much progress.”
A HELPING HAND FOR THE YOUNG FROM CHRISTOPHE CURTAT
Not far away on the old route to Lamastre, where the Hotel du Midi was frequented by my mother’s great friend the marvellous food writer ELIZABETH DAVID in the 1950s and 1960s, CHRISTOPHE CURTAT has his cellar, his policy of helping out young starters exemplified by giving space to young ETIENNE SEIGNOVERT, whose restaurateur parents ERIC and CATHY run the agreeable Auberge Monnet near the River at La Roche de Glun. CHRISTOPHE himself started with no family vineyard, his father a cereal, maize producer in the Isère département near Lyon airport.
He got into making wine through being an enthusiast and taster – just like the late ALAIN GRAILLOT - and eventually worked at YVES CUILLERON and the DOMAINE DU TUNNEL with STÉPHANE ROBERT, with stays in Killara Estate, Australia and in South Africa. He started with just the one hectare in 2005, so knows all about working his way up the ladder, and how important it is to help the ambitions of young people attempting to break into what is becoming a more exclusive activity as vineyard prices ratchet upwards.
As a result, his vineyards are an accumulation of plots spread about from Tournon up to the middle sector of the St Jo appellation, namely at Tournon, Vion (1910s Syrah), Arras, Ozon and Sarras. CHRISTOPHE gave this view on the vintage: “there’s a lot of fruit in quite a concentrated context. There wasn’t too much sun, but the lack of rain gave that concentration. There are fresh wines, but also heavy ones. The tannins can support the wines; I kept stems for peps, as I did with my 2023.”
THE MIDDLE SECTOR, SARRAS, SAINT-DÉSIRAT, SERRIÈRES: RIPENING BLOCKAGES
From the middle sector of the appellation, which takes in Serrières, FRÉDÉRIC BOISSONNET had this take: “there is belle matter in the reds; it’s a powerful vintage that needs to take on elegance and round out. Post bottling, the wine firmed up, will certainly be on power, is concentrated – across the sector here the wines are like that.”
PAUL ESTÈVE, the determined owner of DOMAINE DES MIQUETTES has always pursued his own path, with zero SO2 and amphora use, inspired by a visit to Georgia in 2011. He is based on the plateau at Cheminas, near JEF MALSERT of DOMAINE DE L’ISERAND. He recounted: “2022 is a beau vintage; it was very rustic at first, but is very typical of St Jo, the degree not too high, yield at 40 hl/ha which rendered the wines easier to ferment and more open. The tannins were rough at first, but have softened from the gas in bottle.”
Two escapees from the CAVE DE SAINT-DÉSIRAT in 2001 were JEAN-PIERRE MONIER and JEAN DELOBRE, both finding that their organic methods did not correspond to the mass production culture of the Co-operative. Each one of them makes for an interesting companion in any discussion about methods, principles and philosophy.
JEAN-PIERRE suffers from the most debilitating Lime’s Disease, but gamely soldiers on, with his sons now en place. One of them, SAMUEL, told me: “we lost 10% of the Syrah crop this year. The reds are correct, but the vines were close to a blockage of ripening until the rain came around 20 August, 70 mm [2.8 in] of it, which freed things up. We started their harvest on 1 September.”
His brother GUILLAUME added: “2022 is solar, complicated, with no rain from January until the end of June. Ripening got going, unblocked from July onwards helped by rain. It’s a year that was on the cusp regarding pressure on the vegetation. There is some acidity, the degree between 12.5° and 13.5°, higher than 2023. Ripe tannins were an agreeable surprise - they weren’t too powerful, have finesse.”
Meanwhile, JEAN DELOBRE gave this commentary on the vintage: “2022 is truly bizarre. The August rain saved the reds, whereas the whites didn’t react so much to the rain. It was very, very extreme – and I expected high sugar and alcohol, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. The ripening blockage braked the accumulation of sugar, so the degree ended up at 12.5° to 13°, which was a good outcome. The fruit is quite beau, and the wines tasted well early on. It’s a more supple, soft year than 2019, for example.”
THE NORTHERN SECTOR AROUND CHAVANAY
Up in the northern sector that is based around Chavanay, ANDRÉ PERRET referenced the blockage around Sarras, which he escaped: “first of all, we had no blockages of ripening that occurred further south at Sarras, for instance. Les Rivoires, where I have my 70 year Syrah, has a stream below it, so doesn’t suffer from drought. The 2022 reds are good in colour, very facile, the degree 13.5° to 14°. As a drought year, there is less structure than in 2020, nor is the ripeness the same as 2020 – the ripeness was less achieved in 2022. I have the example of my two peach trees – their fruit tasted less well in 2022 compared to 2020!”
AURÉLIEN CHATAGNIER was one grower who felt that the August rain didn’t really move things forward, pointing out: “I ended my St Jo Syrah on 20 September; after the mid August rain of around 40 mm [1.6 in], the vegetation took off again, but didn’t supply energy to the grapes, which meant you had to cut back the sudden vegetation, then wait. I am satisfied with the vintage.”
STUNTED GROWTH MORE THAN A BLOCKAGE AS SUCH
LIONEL FAURY, above Chavanay in the hamlet of Ribaudy, gave me a rundown on local conditions through the growing season, stating: “vineyard work was quite easy in 2022, since it was hot and dry, and not many treatments were required. We had 50 mm [2 in] of rain in three falls in August; not all plots had been blocked before the rain – it wasn’t a blockage as such, more the fact that the conditions since the start of the growing season meant that the vines started to shape up for a dry year, so stopped growing. April had been very dry, and post flowering in mid-June they didn’t grow taller. There were no excess shoots, either.
LOW ACIDITY THIS YEAR
I started the harvest 1 September, and finished the 15 September. On the reds, the tannins and colour came very quickly, with vinifications lasting longer than usual. Quality is super, and it’s a low acidity year, in the line of 2017 through to 2020.”
JULIEN PILON also mentioned the low acidity, relating: “my St Jo can be bottled early, since it has very rounded tannins, low acidity – they are polite, flattering wines. The higher zones of St Jo, including the plateau, retained more acidity.” CORENTIN PICHON agreed: “I am happy after 2021’s experience; it’s a very gourmand year, on the fruit, doesn’t have the richness and complexity of 2020, is good but not great, a flattering year.”
EDGAR CUILLERON had a similar angle, telling me: “there are a lot of powerful wines in 2022; I am very happy, wines that are not necessarily fresh and lifted, though. The best three red appellations this year were Côte-Rôtie, Cornas and Saint-Joseph.”
In pursuit of freshness, GRAEME BOTT, the Kiwi with his St Jo vineyards young plantations at Chavanay and St Pierre de Boeuf went for more whole bunches this year: “we usually include 20% stem on our St Jo red, but in 2022 went up to 50% for reasons of freshness,” he reported.
FRANÇOIS DUMAS crafts very calm and natural, hand made feel wines from aboce Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf. He commenetd on the elegance of the vintage, also preferring it to 2023: “I am very happy with 2022 Saint-Joseph red. Even with the very dry conditions, the wines are fresh and elegant. 2023 was more tricky, with hail in May, July and 22 August. It was my first harvest of white Saint-Jo, and I couldn’t make any wine. 2023 St Jo red is good, but not up to the 2022.”
Saint-Joseph remains an appellation with discoveries to be made, since the vineyards are adjacent to upland old vine plots that can produce IGP Collines Rhodaniennes or Vin de France, the gates of entry for young people or those starting to move into a double activity. At times, it’s a question of under one hectare of Saint-Joseph, which brings the advantage of having a higher profile than a Vin de France, and a higher margin on the final wine. I will be making visits to such lower profile domaines in the first half of 2024.
2022 is therefore a good vintage, a very correct year, with not many real heavy hitters, but plenty of engaging, well fruited wines. Tannin quality is good, ripe, and on the inside for the most part. The wines with free fruit on nose and palate are the standard bearers, with that free expression certain to appeal to buyers. Bouquets are forward on fruit as a rule, while there are some aromatic-floral wines.
However, perhaps it is just a little glass half empty of me to wonder whether there is a little more standardisation these days, which manifests itself in the form of safely played, open early wines, rather in the commercial footsteps of Crozes-Hermitage. Saint-Joseph should have structure and crisp fruit, and be more than just a two to three year wonder. Time will tell on that front.
For longevity, the leading wines of 2022 will evolve kindly over around 15 to 20 years, even if a good drinking window could run between the age of eight and 15. It’s not a complicated year, so expect bottles to show nicely whenever opened from 2026 onwards. If laying down wines for a birth year or a wedding year, magnums or jereboams are most certainly advised for a more sure longevity.
LEADING SAINT-JOSEPH RED 2022s
| ***** | Domaine Farge Terroir de Granit | 2041-43 | 09/23 | balance, length, quality gras, V |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Les Granits | 2043-45 | 10/23 | cool, flowing, bright, vigorous |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jean-Louis Chave | 2044-46 | 02/24 | dark wine; stems offset ripe depth |
| ****(*) | Domaine J-L Chave Clos Florentin | 2042-44 | 02/24 | firm couch, deep, cool late tones |
| ****(*) | Domaine Coursodon L’Olivaie | 2038-40 | 09/23 | really tasty, great allure, long |
| ****(*) | Lionel Faury La Gloriette | 2039-41 | 09/23 | serious, structured, vivid, stylish |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Bonneveau | 2042-44 | 02/24 | elegant tune, solid length, iron to eat |
| ****(*) | Domaine Gonon | 2042-44 | 02/24 | intricate, interesting, root depth, STGT |
| ****(*) | Domaine de Gouye Vieilles Vignes | 2038-40 | 02/24 | tight clench content, character, STGT |
| ****(*) | Bernard & Fabrice Gripa Le Berceau | 2046-48 | 02/23 | bright fruit, silken touches, active |
| ****(*) | Dom P Jaboulet Aîné Croix des Vignes | 2045-47 | 03/24 | gd rockface vin, artful blend, stylish |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jolivet L’Instinct | 2038-40 | 09/23 | intricate, interesting, v well tuned |
| ****(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Bergeron | 2035-37 | 02/24 | stylish gras, perfumed, pedigree |
| **** | Cave de Tain Esprit de Granit | 2038-40 | 10/24 | joli fruit, intensity, gd length |
| **** | Dom Les Alexandrins Les Ponts | 2036-38 | 09/23 | soft, continuous, harmonious, genuine |
| **** | Domaine Barge Clos de la Ribaudy | 2037-39 | 02/23 | authentic, restrained, tight, iron |
| **** | Domaine Boissonnet Extrêm | 2040-42 | 10/23 | interest of fruit, iron, oaking |
| **** | Domaine Graeme & Julie Bott | 2033-35 | 10/23 | cool, joli fruit, perfume, snap |
| **** | Julien Cécillon Babylone | 2038-40 | 05/23 | gd fruit stream, length |
| **** | Domaine Chaboud-Cellier | 2040-42 | 09/23 | muscular, full hearted, gd thrust |
| **** | M Chapoutier Le Clos | 2041-43 | 10/23 | fluent, nice ensemble, flinted |
| **** | M Chapoutier Les Granilites | 2042-44 | 10/23 | suave filling, iron, inner charge |
| **** | J-L Chave Sélection Offerus | 2035-37 | 02/24 | iron tightness, accurate St Jo |
| **** | Domaine Coursodon La Sensonne | 2040-42 | 09/23 | sweet, firm, some flair, scope |
| **** | Domaine Coursodon Silice | 2041-43 | 09/23 | drive, freedom, stylish, enjoyable |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Les Serines | 2037-39 | 10/23 | rolling gras, refined, flowing |
| **** | Emmanuel Darnaud La Dardouille | 2042-44 | 09/23 | secure fruit platform, fresh, terroir |
| **** | Delas Sainte-Épine | 2043-45 | 09/23 | searching rockiness, terroir, interest |
| **** | Bryan Deleu Intervalle | 2039-41 | 02/24 | appealing flow, balance, hand crafted |
| **** | François Dumas | 2032-34 | 02/24 | bonny fruit, dentelle, hand made |
| **** | Domaine Durand Les Coteaux | 2035-37 | 09/23 | harmonious, pleasing richness |
| **** | Domaine Durand Lautaret | 2037-39 | 09/23 | stylish fruit, content, authentic |
| **** | Equis | 2043-45 | 05/23 | well juiced, floral, STGT |
| **** | Lionel Faury Les Ribaudes | 2037-39 | 09/23 | suave fruit, classy, perfumed |
| **** | Ferraton Paradis | 2038-40 | 02/24 | suave, running, tannic thrust |
| **** | Ferraton Saint-Joseph | 2041-43 | 02/24 | plenty, savoury, oily, southern, intricate |
| **** | Domaine Alain Graillot | 2040-42 | 05/23 | bonny flow, harmony, inviting |
| **** | Domaine Bernard & Fabrice Gripa | 2045-47 | 02/23 | fuelled, upfront, life, length |
| **** | Dom Bernard & Fabrice Gripa Parady | 2044-46 | 02/23 | close-knit, fine tannins |
| **** | Laurent Habrard Saint-Epine | 2036-38 | 03/25 | charming oiliness, potential, patience |
| **** | Domaine Lionnet Terre Neuve | 2036-38 | 10/22 | juicy density, ready gras, firm tannin |
| **** | Gabriel Meffre Laurus | 2038-40 | 09/23 | tuneful fruit, stylish, accurate, oak |
| **** | Gabriel Meffre Saint Etienne | 2035-37 | 09/23 | cool, mineral, authentic, juiced |
| **** | Marc & Marlène Melody | 2034-36 | 09/23 | thorough, perfumed, appealing, savoury |
| **** | Domaine Johann Michel | 2032-34 | 09/23 | homely, unforced, soft, accurate |
| **** | Domaine Monier Terre Blanche | 2034-36 | 02/24 | fresh, live, good tempo, fruit stream |
| **** | Stéphane Montez Cuvée du Papy | 2041-43 | 04/25 | generous, juice restraint, gourmand |
| **** | Domaine Novis Les Bruyères | 2027-28 | 02/24 | bonny cherry, super facile, free, w.o.w. |
| **** | André Perret | 2032-34 | 04/25 | attractive fruits, sun filled, genuine |
| **** | Julien Pilon poissonniers Paris XVIII | 2032-34 | 02/24 | bright, tasty, typical, gd tannins |
| **** | Olivier Ravoire Oriflamme | 2035-37 | 09/23 | iron spine, free fruit, fresh |
| **** | Domaine des Remizières | 2038-40 | 09/23 | accommodating content, full, rolling |
| **** | Domaine Rousset | 2040-42 | 02/23 | clear flow, pure, hand made |
| **** | Les Sept Pierres | 2029-30 | 02/24 | gd gras, tasty, polished tannins |
| **** | Septentria Rouge Édile | 2035-37 | 09/23 | plentiful, appealing, sure richness |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Château Morel | 2032-34 | 02/24 | tasty fruit, sweet temptation, detail |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Janoune | 2034-36 | 02/24 | neatly cool, expressive, character |
| **** | Dom Georges Vernay Terres d'Encre | 2030-32 | 02/24 | gently floral, true, well orchestrated |
| **** | Domaine Alain Voge Les Côtes | 2037-39 | 10/23 | intrinsic vigour, marked character, fresh |
| ***(*) | Alléno & Chapoutier Couronne Chabot | 2040-42 | 10/23 | copious, rolling, sumptuous |
| ***(*) | Aléofane | 2033-35 | 09/23 | open content, nicely vigorous |
| ***(*) | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2036-38 | 09/23 | firm content, genuine, time |
| ***(*) | Olivier Beraud Roses de Louyanne | 2033-34 | 02/24 | firm richness, some smoothness, sturdy |
| ***(*) | Domaine Boissonnet Belive | 2035-37 | 10/23 | firm content, oaking, dark |
| ***(*) | Maison Bruyère & David Les Parcelles | 2031-33 | 09/23 | cool fruit, mineral clarity |
| ***(*) | Cave Saint-Désirat Côte-Diane | 2034-36 | 09/23 | spine, mineral, liberal display |
| ***(*) | Cave St-Désirat House of Wine Grey | 2028-30 | 09/23 | immediate fruit, natural freshness, bio |
| ***(*) | Cave Saint-Désirat Septentrio | 2032-34 | 09/23 | attractive juice, sound ensemble |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Deschants | 2030-31 | 02/24 | relaxed, rocky grip, bit of time |
| ***(*) | Dom Coursodon Paradis St Pierre | 2040-42 | 09/23 | tight, robust, grounded, mature fruit |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Cavanos | 2035-37 | 10/23 | clear fruit stream, pristine |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Pierres Sèches | 2033-35 | 10/23 | engaging fruit, genuine |
| ***(*) | Domaine Courbis | 2030-32 | 02/23 | easy attack, fluid juice |
| ***(*) | Dard & Ribo Les Champs | 2036-38 | 02/23 | compact, firm, upright, some scope |
| ***(*) | Dauvergne Ranvier Grand Vin | 2031-33 | 09/23 | supple, open, upfront drinking |
| ***(*) | Bryan Deleu Exorde | 2032-34 | 02/24 | clear fruit, crisp tannins, fluent drinking |
| ***(*) | Ferraton La Source | 2031-32 | 02/24 | fleshy, easy access, furnished, genuine |
| ***(*) | Pierre Gaillard Clos de Cuminaille | 2044-46 | 03/24 | direct, pared back, sound purity, tannic |
| ***(*) | Bernard & Nicolas Garayt La Croix | 2031-33 | 02/24 | rocky ping, fresh, vigour, sound control |
| ***(*) | Xavier Gérard Le Blanchard | 2031-33 | 04/24 | tuneful, authentic, unforced |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Hauts Chassis ...? | 2037-39 | 11/24 | sealed gras, bosky, cool, vigorous |
| ***(*) | Domaine de l’Iserand Lou Taïssou | 2032-33 | 10/23 | crisp, streams well, floral, authentic |
| ***(*) | Dom de l'Iserand Sabots de Coppi | 2031-33 | 02/24 | gourmand style, firm tannin, emphasis |
| ***(*) | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Le Grand Pompée | 2035-37 | 09/23 | supple, accommodating, tasty, upfront |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jean-Claude Marsanne | 2036-38 | 05/23 | well juiced, long, natural |
| ***(*) | François Merlin Les Grands Ducs | 2034-36 | 10/23 | fluid gras, floral, solid quality |
| ***(*) | Dom Michelas St Jemms Ste Epine | 2033-35 | 09/23 | supple, suave, ripe, well toned |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Miquettes | 2028 | 10/23 | gush of fruit, open, fluid |
| ***(*) | Domaine Mucyn Les Salamandres | 2033-35 | 09/23 | fruit purity, detail, cool, linear |
| ***(*) | Rémi Niéro Bois Prieur | 2035-37 | 04/24 | fruit snap, saline, sound granite Syrah |
| ***(*) | Rémy Nodin Guilherand | 2027-28 | 09/23 | soft, pliant, aromatic, easy |
| ***(*) | Domaine Novis La Capricieuse | 2036-38 | 02/24 | some freedom, tannic clench, time |
| ***(*) | Domaine Novis Le Prieur | 2034-36 | 02/24 | svelte content, nice energy, oaking |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Ogier Le Passage | 2033-35 | 03/24 | iron movement, spine, floral, thick juice |
| ***(*) | Domaine Vincent Paris Les Côtes | 2028-29 | 09/23 | style in fruit, unforced, clear |
| ***(*) | André Perret Les Grisières | 2041-43 | 04/25 | rounded, upholstered, some intensity |
| ***(*) | Maison Christophe Pichon | 2030-32 | 10/23 | fine stream fruits, rocky thrust |
| ***(*) | Domaine Pradelle | 2030-32 | 09/23 | immediate content, lip smacking |
| ***(*) | Martine & Christian Rouchier luc | 2032-34 | 05/23 | mild gras, tender, bit cussed finale |
| ***(*) | Saint Cosme | 2037-39 | 07/23 | coated, gourmand, bit dry tannin |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard L'Echirol | 2035-37 | 02/24 | sinewed, mineral, vegetal thrust |
| ***(*) | Domaine Vallet Muletiers | 2036-38 | 09/23 | free juice, fresh length, genuine |
| ***(*) | Pierre-Jean Villa Préface | 2028 | 03/24 | led by v neat fruit, clear, quiet |
| *** | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2035-37 | 09/23 | copious, open, chomping, plenty |
| *** | Domaine des Amphores Les 7 Lieux | 2032-34 | 02/24 | pine-menthol, two parts apart, time |
| *** | Domaine Olivier Beraud Les 4 Mas | 2028 | 02/24 | grounding, filled, solid close |
| *** | Domaine de Boisseyt Les Garipelées | 2029-30 | 02/24 | easy drinking, pure fruit, dryish end |
| *** | Domaine Boissonnet Émisphère | 2030-32 | 10/23 | some fruit intensity, straightforward |
| *** | Domaine du Chêne | 2031-33 | 09/23 | loose, upfront, iron, some gusto |
| *** | Dard & Ribo Pitrou | 2036-38 | 02/23 | chunky, bit raw, crunched |
| *** | Delas François de Tournon | 2040-42 | 09/23 | steely, Nordic, lit fuse |
| *** | Pascal Jamet Vignoble Tour d’Arras | 2030-32 | 09/23 | ready made, maturity |
| *** | Julien Merlin Le Nordique | 2030-31 | 02/24 | crisp fruits, bite, wee bit technical |
| *** | Domaine Monier-Perréol Tradition | 2033-35 | 02/24 | crunchy fruit, fresh, unmade |
| *** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard | 2029-31 | 02/24 | delicate in construction, pepper, floral |
| *** | Domaine Verzier Empreinte | 2031-33 | 02/24 | mature content, close-knit, trad |
| *** | Vidal-Fleury | 2034-36 | 09/23 | snappy fruit, peppery, bit exerted |
| **(*) | Cave Saint-Désirat | 2029-31 | 09/23 | loose, fibrous, mainstream |
| **(*) | Bernard & Nicolas Garayt Les Cerisiers | 2028-29 | 02/24 | mild fruit, quiet depth, bit dry at end |
| **(*) | Domaine François Merlin | 2033-34 | 10/23 | clear drive, extraction issues |
| **(*) | Domaine Vallet Méribets | 2027-28 | 09/23 | homey, easy, plain |
| ** | Ogier Les Marches de Granit | 2026 | 09/23 | loose, stringy, vegetal |
6. 2022 SAINT-JOSEPH WHITE
THOMAS FARGE: HTTING HIS STRIDE AT THE FAMILY DOMAINE, HAVING RETURNED FROM BRAZIL TO TAKE OVER FROM FATHER GUY
Tiptoeing through obstacles went the growers of Saint-Joseph blanc in 2022. The theme of the vintage – small grapes from the heat and drought – was as true here as elsewhere, with the incidence of granite relatively higher than it is at Saint-Péray, which exacerbated the extremity of the year. I also found more assertive winemaking for Saint-Joseph blanc than Saint-Péray, notably in the application of oak.
CHRISTOPHE CURTAT, his white vineyrds at Arras, Ozon and Sarras, so straying into the middle sector of the appellation, gave this general observation: "the St Jo blancs can lack acidity in 2022, some are a bit heavy. There are others that are jolis, balanced. The small yield meant concentration."
EASY RICHNESS IN THE WINES
It’s a vintage geared to la table, easy richness central to it. There are some major wines, a couple from CHAPOUTIER, with noted white wine vinifier YVES CUILLERON and the relaxed pair of DARD & RIBO also up in the front rank. Their wines will evolve into the 2030s, and develop complexity and interest as they go.
EARLY HARVEST
The harvest was early, sometimes barely into the fourth week of August, as per LAURENT COURBIS of DOMAINE COURBIS who told me: “we started the white harvest on 23 August.” There had been rain in August, much required, but a touch late for real impact. FABRICE GRIPA of DOMAINE GRIPA commented: “the rain of 20 August, 15-20 mm [0.6-0.8 in] helped a lot, especially because the week of 15 August had been very hot. I started the white harvest on 24 August.”
YIELDS HIT
Yields suffered from the weather, with LUDOVIC IZÉRABLE of the organic DOMAINE LIONNET at Cornas informing me: “my white harvest for the 2022 Saint-Joseph was hit by oïdium,” and another organic grower, SAMUEL MONIER of DOMAINE MONIER-PERRÉOL in the middle section near Saint-Désirat reporting: “we lost 45% of the crop this year. We started their harvest on 26 August.”
ROUSSANNE WOES
Roussanne is the variety that most suffers in these high heat situations. I asked my friend JEF MALSERT of DOMAINE DE L’ISERAND at Sécheras, at the north end of the southern sector of the appellation, about this, in the context of him having completed 10 years since selling his wine bar in Tournon and returning to family lands. He gave this observation: “over the 10 years since I started with the 2014 vintage, I have learnt that the Roussanne cannot handle being planted on a South facing slope; in mid-August 2023, it was OK, but when I came back from my two week holiday, it had been grilled from the heat spike. I would plant it on a North facing slope now.”
FRANÇOIS RIBO referred to the travails of his Roussanne as well: “the yield was small on my St Jo blanc, since it’s all Roussanne on the full hillside, so the vineyard became very thirsty, and very hot, a loss of 50% the result. A lot of my 2022 whites hadn’t finished their fermentations by February, 2023 – the grapes were fig-like, the acidity low.” His vines are at Tournon and St Jean-de-Muzols within the first appellation area established in 1956 – vineyards at Sarras in the middle and Chavanay in the north were not included until later in 1969, for example. Hence a proven nobility of terroir applies to those 1956 legislation vineyards.
JULIEN PILON, at Chavanay, joined the chorus of doom on the Roussanne this year:” I lost harvest, with the Roussanne very badly hit – it suffered even after the August rain, the grapes not expanding after that.”
EDGAR CUILLERON commented on the quality of his Roussanne this year, though, telling me: "the year is well balanced, and the Roussanne retained an enormous aromatic level, while the Marsanne ripened well late on. The St Jo blancs are richer, have more gras than the Saint-Péray 2022s."
The vintage will live on its richness, though in the strict sense of the term it is low acidity, as pointed out by the grand, traditional approach JEAN-CLAUDE MARSANNE at Mauves, who told me: “acidity is low; it’s a joli year, similar to 2020.”
A GROUP OF FLUID WINES OF HIGH APPEAL
Along with the table friendly core of wines - those with most interest in my view - there are also highly appealing wines that hit the **** mark, wines that offer tuneful drinking, suited to earlier consumption. Here the vines can be younger than those already mentioned, so in the 10-15 year range, and contact with the lees shorter. Aromatics are sought, with raising bringing in jars and concrete eggs as well.
A trio of good examples of this style were the DOMAINE DURAND, 50-60% Marsanne, 40-50% Roussanne (2009) from 1 hectare on chalk, white clay, stone covered soils at Guilherand beside Crussol, so the southernmost commune of the whole appellation, bang opposite Valence; it was a harmonious wine of accurate freshness.
PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ are also adept at making poised, clear whites, their Le Grand Pompée, which is 75-100% Marsanne (1990), 0-25% Roussanne from Limony, stylish and precise.
THOMAS FARGE has taken over from his Dad GUY, and is starting to hit his straps, his 2022 Saint-Joseph Terroir de Granit red a ***** wine based on high quality gras. His St Jo vania blanc is Marsanne with a little Roussanne from two plots at Vion and three plots at St Jean-de-Muzols, which serves to spread the risk in the event of hail. His stylish 2022 held neat freshness and attractive richness.
These open early wines are ones to drink towards 2028 or 2029, and I think of dishes such as teriyaki and steamed cuisine lining up well for them.
LEADING SAINT-JOSEPH WHITE 2022s
| ***** | Alléno & Chapoutier Couronne Chabot | 2034-36 | 10/23 | vivid, racy, gd delivery, STGT |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Les Granits | 2037-39 | 10/23 | serious, grounded, sure grace |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Digue | 2033-35 | 10/23 | rich core, muscular, authentic |
| ****(*) | Dard & Ribo | 2033-35 | 02/23 | smoked, tangy, intellectual, STGT |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Les Oliviers | 2032-34 | 02/24 | classy sap [seve], complexity |
| ****(*) | Domaine Gonon Les Oliviers | 2040-42 | 02/24 | rich, unctuous, lissom. authority |
| **** | Romain d'Aniello L'Esprit de Mamy | 2029-30 | 04/24 | gliding, poised, detail, gd restraint |
| **** | Domaine Barge La Ribaudy | 2027-28 | 02/23 | gd foundation, sure length, table |
| **** | Julien Cécillon Victoria | 2029-30 | 05/23 | stylish, glycerol furnishing |
| **** | M Chapoutier Les Granilites | 2033-35 | 10/23 | tasty, long, fresh, suave feel |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Le Lombard | 2032-34 | 10/23 | ready fruits, deep, persistent |
| **** | Domaine Durand | 2027-28 | 09/23 | harmonious, tuneful, joli juice |
| **** | Domaine Guy Farge vania | 2028-29 | 09/23 | stylish, joli gras, precision |
| **** | Lionel Faury Les Ribaudes | 2030-31 | 09/23 | soft content, quality, fresh spine |
| **** | Ferraton La Source | 2027-28 | 02/24 | oily texture, authentic, gd pace |
| **** | Mathilde & Yves Gangloff | 2028-29 | 10/23 | plump gras, calm elegance, natural |
| **** | Domaine de Gouye | 2032-33 | 02/24 | classic, country style St Jo, true |
| **** | Bernard & Fabrice Gripa Le Berceau | 2034-36 | 09/23 | direct, firm, complex in time |
| **** | Domaine de l’Iserand Rodéo | 2027 | 10/23 | easy roll, central fat, gd grip |
| **** | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Le Grand Pompée | 2027-28 | 09/23 | joli heart, neat, stylish |
| **** | Pascal Jamet Vignoble Tour d’Arras | 2028-29 | 09/23 | savoury, rolling gras, fresh |
| **** | André Perret | 2027-28 | 10/23 | well set gras, calm, joli |
| **** | Julien Pilon dimanche à lima | 2028-29 | 02/24 | suave, spherical, mobile richness |
| **** | Domaine Vallet Méribets | 2030-32 | 09/23 | elegant richness, stylish, balanced |
| **** | François Villard Mairlant | 2030-31 | 02/24 | balanced ripeness, freshness, fine |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2027 | 10/24 | attractive richness, nutty, table |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Amphores Altitude 300 | 2026-27 | 02/24 | neat gras, comfy table wine |
| ***(*) | Graeme & Julie Bott | 2030-31 | 10/23 | cool fruits, firm gras, St Jo nature |
| ***(*) | Cave Saint-Désirat Amendine | 2026-27 | 09/23 | cool content, floral elegance |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2027 | 10/24 | attractive richness, petrol-like |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Terre d’Ivoire | 2028-29 | 09/23 | sunny content, fleshy gras |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Vin Biologique | 2028-29 | 09/23 | fine juice, tender, oak sweetness |
| ***(*) | J-L Chave Sélection Circa | 2032-34 | 02/24 | oily texture, scaled, plentiful |
| ***(*) | Christophe Curtat Sous l'Amandier | 2027-28 | 10/23 | neat gras, stylish, well presented |
| ***(*) | Delas les Challeys | 2029-30 | 09/23 | easy gras, bonny glass |
| ***(*) | P & J Coursodon Paradis Saint Pierre | 2031-33 | 09/23 | supple, genuine, country wine |
| ***(*) | Pierre & Jérôme Coursodon Silice | 2028-29 | 09/23 | suave, rolling, polished, upfront |
| ***(*) | Bryan Deleu Litote | 2030-31 | 02/24 | quiet, neat, gentle flow, aperitif |
| ***(*) | Domaine Pierre Gaillard | 2028 | 03/23 | soft, peach, flattering, early |
| ***(*) | Domaine Bernard & Fabrice Gripa | 2029-30 | 09/23 | stylish, supple, relaxed |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jolivet Clef de Sol | 2028-29 | 09/23 | fat content, forward, firm end |
| ***(*) | Domaine Lionnet Pierre Blanche | 2029-30 | 10/24 | gd flow, soft, floral, typical Rouss |
| ***(*) | Domaine Jean-Claude Marsanne | 2030-32 | 05/23 | rich, layered, v natural, table |
| ***(*) | Gabriel Meffre Saint-Etienne | 2029-30 | 09/23 | mild richness, orderly, reserves |
| ***(*) | Domaine Monier-Perréol | 2028-29 | 02/23 | round, textured, firm middle |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Montez Grad-Duc Monteillet | 2031-33 | 05/23 | gd fruit stream, spine, thrust |
| ***(*) | Domaine Mucyn Les Carats | 2028-29 | 09/23 | steady richness, some elegance |
| ***(*) | Les Sept Pierres | 2028 | 02/24 | rolling richness, gentle |
| ***(*) | Maison Bruyère & David Les Parcelles | 2028-29 | 09/23 | grapey, steady flow, together |
| ***(*) | François Villard Fruit d'Avilleran | 2027 | 02/24 | savoury, weight, smooth feel, table |
| *** | Cave Saint-Désirat Côte-Diane | 2029-30 | 09/23 | hearty, grapey, driven along |
| *** | Yves Cuilleron Lyseras | 2026 | 10/23 | mild, pared back, quiet gras |
| *** | Domaine Novis La Promise | 2028-29 | 02/24 | v droit, naked, smply, oaked close |
| *** | Maison Christophe Pichon | 2027-28 | 10/23 | skimmer, fleeting, mid road |
| *** | Domaine Vallet Éphémère | 2030-31 | 09/23 | robust, grounded, firmly oaked |
| *** | Domaine Verzier Granit | 2026 | 02/24 | sturdy, wide, trad, bit plain |
| **(*) | Domaine Olivier Beraud L'Harmonie | 2025 | 02/24 | set gras, hints of oxidation |
| **(*) | Domaine de Boisseyt Les Garipelées | 2028-29 | 02/24 | clean, low profile, dullish |
| **(*) | M Chapoutier Deschants | 2026-27 | 02/24 | measured content, tangy, humdrum |
| **(*) | Vidal-Fleury | 2031-32 | 09/23 | firm content, thunderous, insistent |
7. 2022 SAINT-PÉRAY
JEAN-LOUIS THIERS: RETIREMENT TAKEN WITH NO SUCCESSOR, HAPPY WITH THE PROGRESS OF SAINT-PÉRAY SINCE HE STARTED IN 1980
A pat on the back for the growers of Saint-Péray in 2022 is in order. The heat and drought would have caused havoc in the past, the dehydrated grapes and their low levels of juice leading to ample, over concentrated wines. It was certainly a year when Roussanne on shallow granite soils suffered, but there were compensations elsewhere, via the beneficial effects of altitude and soils that include clay-limestone. A one trick granite pony Saint-Péray is certainly not.
SWIFT INCREASE IN VINEYARD AREA
It’s an appellation that has moved fast recently, urged on by pressure from sources such as CHAPOUTIER to up the permitted new vineyard planting area each year. Given that the President of the Growers’ Union has for 17 years been RÉMY NODIN’s brother BENOÎT, whose main business is in fruit, plus a few vines whose crop he sells, it’s not surprising that the OK has been given for such expansion, which has taken the area from 90-100 hectares to 130-140 hectares within the past few years. BENOÎT is due to step down, while CHAPOUTIER have also started to back off their rapid growth plans as the economic circumstances have started to bite, so things may move forward with more care and aplomb in the future.
THE ISSUE CALLED IRRIGATION
Meanwhile, there are underlying issues at work here. One of them is irrigation. Step forward LAURE COLOMBO of DOMAINE DE LORIENT, the daughter of JEAN-LUC and ANNE COLOMBO: “irrigation was allowed between 14 July and 15 August. I am dead against it. PIERRE CLAPE described it as like “putting water in the vat.” The only good aspect is that you have to use a system that can be taken down, not permanent. Using drop by drop [permanent] in a vineyard that has been sprayed with glyphosate chemical [Round Up, for example] stretches credibility to breaking point. Here, it’s a question of bottom line, margin, going from 30 hl/ha to 45 hl/ha, for instance. In the Southern Rhône, it’s a different argument, though.”
I have to confess to feeling very uneasy about irrigation; creating dependency of mature plants that should have deep roots is the wrong way round, while there is the ethical question about whether water supplies should be instead directed to plants that feed the population rather than vines that feed them wine. It’s also already noticeable how the vines have adapted to the run of solar vintages witnessed since 2015, with correct crops and moderated levels of alcohol in the most recent years.
STURDY DEMAND FOR WHITE RHÔNE, REASONABLE PRICES
What is not in doubt is that, if the wine is well made, there is live demand for it. Prices have been reasonable, with a decent amount in the €17-20 bracket [prices at the domaines, tax paid], while those that run between €20 and €30 are top level performers such as GRIPA, STÉPHANE ROBERT’s DOMAINE DU TUNNEL and RÉMY NODIN’s top cuvées.
THE VIEW FROM DOMAINE DU TUNNEL
STÉPHANE ROBERT gave me a thorough appraisal of the vintage: “2022’s Saint-Péray crop was a lot smaller than 2023, with a loss of 30% derived from the dry conditions and jam-like grapes. The Roussanne was stressed, and it’s a hot, solar vintage, with super quality and expression, very strong aromatics. The Roussanne has balance, acidity, despite the sun, and a lot of colour after its name, you could say, because when it ripens it becomes russet, has more colour than the Marsanne. 2022 is a vintage with a lot of aromas, a real strength, that. The Marsanne can be a bit too fine in aroma – you have to seek it out, but it’s showing well.
Up at the Tunnel at 280 metres, we have wine from young vines, which means that in hot and dry summer years we have less harvest due to their shallow roots, whereas down by the village it’s better – the Marsanne gives good yield, good quality down there, and the older vines are more regular producers. That old vine Marsanne near the village produced a high yield of about 45 hl/ha in both 2022 and 2023, aided by their deep roots. It’s not precocious because of that yield, a yield that allows balance as a result.
When the Rhône passed between Barras, where my cellar is, and Crussol across the valley, it left limestone sediments, and there is a pH of the granite of 8, which brings freshness, balance. The pH is higher at Cornas, for example, where the granite is very, very acid-alkaline which suits red vines, less white vines,” he added.
SMALL YIELD OFF THE HARD GRANITE
LAURENT COURBIS of DOMAINE COURBIS works a rented 0.6 hectare Marsanne (67% 1970, 33% 1901) plot partly rotted, granite, clay-limestone soils on Hongrie at 150 metres. He informed me: “because of the granite soils not retaining moisture, the yield was small, 27 hl/ha, lower than the St Jo blanc from the more clay-limestone soils. It’s good, a joli vintage, without the freshness of 2021, which was superb for the whites.”
JACQUES LEMENICIER also pointed to the difference with 2021: “2022 is powerful when set against the freshness of 2021, while LIONEL FRAISSE of DOMAINE ALAIN VOGE gave a reason for an enhanced crop this year: “2022 is a super year for Saint-Péray; we drew a lot of crop from 2021’s frosted vines, started the harvest on 22 August, a week after the rain that really helped to resuscitate the vineyards.”
EDGAR CUILLERON praised the vintage, and referred to the yield as well: "2022 is very good, with a great yield which helped the wines' balance. They have the minerality that is typical of Saint-Péray; the vintage is fresher than the St Jo blancs, which hold a bit more gras and are richer."
MANY HAVE THE BODY FOR LA TABLE
Across the wines tasted and discussed, I was encouraged by many having enough body for la table, but also finishing calmly, and without heat. Some came with purity as a major asset – for example, young THOMAS FARGE’s grain de silex and RÉMY NODIN’s Coteau de la Beylesse. Others such as the MICKAËL BOURG, JOHANN MICHEL M and the NODIN Vieille Vigne Suchat are real, structured, medium term interest table wines that can run along for around 10 years.
THE END OF THE BIGUET DOMAINE OF JEAN-LOUIS THIERS
On parish news, a domaine that has disappeared is JEAN-LOUIS THIERS, whose name was also EARL du BIGUET, due to the lack of a family successor. JEAN-LOUIS has 4.5 of Saint-Péray at Toulaud, the only grower in that commune that lies just north of Crussol, the soils decomposed granite, with some schist. JEAN-LOUIS has rented out four hectares to the VINS DE VIENNE, retaining a half hectare whose harvest from 2023 has been sold to FRANÇOIS VILLARD, one of the VINS DE VIENNE trio of owners. His full-time vineyard worker has also been kept on, now in charge of the VINS DE VIENNE interests at Saint-Péray and Cornas. He has sold some of his harvest to LES VINS DE VIENNE for over 20 years, so it is an established relationship.
JEAN-LOUIS also sells the harvest from his 0.42 hectare of Cornas to Australian MARK HAISMA, once of YARRA YERING, who vinifies it chez VINCENT PARIS. It is from Combe (1950s), and is called Les Combes by Mr HAISMA. This was a vineyard that JEAN-LOUIS rented from MARC MAURICE before buying it off his son BERNARD, who worked in an office in Valence. When I asked BERNARD about the vineyard, he gave me the reply: “I’m also watching the weather when I’m in the office, looking out of the window a lot, rather like school!”
Looking back on his career that started with the 1980 vintage, JEAN-LOUIS reflects that “Saint-Péray has made big advances; it’s now very well known, which wasn’t the case in the 1990s. I always believed in the Champenoise, and was raising it for 12-18 months, well beyond the minimum nine months. I regarded it as an aperitif wine, so never wanted it to be heavy.”
JEAN-LOUIS’ father ANDRÉ classed himself as an agriculteur, and was a well-known face at the six in the morning at the Mauves fruit market, selling his cherries and apricots. There was also dairy and beef production during the 1970s, and the move to wine came when JEAN-LOUIS attended the Beaune Wine School for two years, which was very much the exception to the rule at the time. As he told me: “we used to sell all our wine to the local merchant COTTE-VERGNE, but in 1980 I felt that rising prices gave us a chance to do our own bottling ourselves.”
His is a story that shows the evolution of the Rhône over the past 50 years, with mixed farms gradually evolving into specialisation, and then, with prices moving upwards, the investment in better equipment. What has remained constant through the five decades, though, is the link of personal connections, which means that it is LES VINS DE VIENNE that now have a larger source of harvest for their Saint-Péray rather than some rock n’roll outsider flashing the wads of cash.
LEADING SAINT-PÉRAY 2022s
| ****(*) | Rémy Nodin Vieille Vigne Suchat | 2032-34 | 09/23 | structure, interest, long, tasty |
| ****(*) | Domaine du Tunnel Pur Blanc | 2038-40 | 10/23 | serious, cool toned, top droiteur |
| ****(*) | Domaine Alain Voge Ongrie | 2035-37 | 03/24 | intricate, complexity, salted, interest |
| **** | Mickaël Bourg | 2032-33 | 05/23 | solid structure, rich, authentic |
| **** | Cave de Tain Fleur de Roc | 2030-31 | 09/23 | neat fruits, sure length, free |
| **** | Dom Chaboud-Cellier Boscus | 2031-32 | 09/23 | finesse filling, close-knit |
| **** | Dom Chaboud-Cellier Roussanne | 2030-31 | 09/23 | floral, grippy, firm, gd depth |
| **** | M Chapoutier Hongrie | 2032-34 | 10/23 | silken, inviting richness, bonny |
| **** | M Chapoutier Les Payrolles | 2031-33 | 10/23 | quietly stylish, gentle, gd grip |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron La Biousse | 2030-32 | 10/23 | solid content, structured, grippy |
| **** | Guy Farge grain de Silex | 2028-29 | 09/23 | sound gras, appealing purity |
| **** | Laurent Fayolle Montis | 2028-29 | 09/23 | gd depth, lucid, enjoyably free |
| **** | Dom Bernard Gripa Les Figuiers | 2032-34 | 09/23 | gentle, understated, harmony |
| **** | Domaine Bernard Gripa Les Pins | 2030-32 | 09/23 | joli, detail, grace, floral |
| **** | Pascal Jamet Greenette | 2029-30 | 09/23 | rich, savoury, nice sun, character |
| **** | Domaine Johan Michel M | 2032-33 | 09/23 | well filled, discreet elegance |
| **** | Rémy Nodin Coteau de la Beylesse | 2027-28 | 09/23 | en finesse, detail, fine, w.o.w. |
| **** | Anne-Sophie Pic & M Chapoutier | 2029-31 | 02/24 | salting, freedom, sound control |
| **** | Les Sept Pierres | 2028-29 | 02/24 | firm content, pleasing salinity |
| **** | Domaine du Tunnel Prestige | 2031-33 | 10/23 | silky gras, shapely, quiet complex |
| **** | Vidal-Fleury | 2028-29 | 09/23 | style, relaxed filling, balance |
| **** | François Villard Version Longue | 2030-32 | 02/24 | silky flow, fine juice, calm finale |
| ***(*) | Dom Chaboud-Cellier Marsanne | 2029-30 | 09/23 | firm content, agreeable freshness |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Haut Chamblard | 2029-30 | 10/23 | cool spine, firm, tangy |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Les Tanneurs | 2028-29 | 02/24 | gentle fruits, firm, tangy, table |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Les Potiers | 2029-30 | 10/23 | tidy gras flow, fine acidity |
| ***(*) | Dumien-Serrette | 2025-26 | 02/23 | exuberant, natural, gd heart |
| ***(*) | Domaine Durand | 2028-29 | 09/23 | rolling fruits, genuine, homespun |
| ***(*) | Ferraton Le Mialan | 2028-29 | 02/24 | tight fruits, foundation, reserved |
| ***(*) | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Les Sauvagères | 2027-28 | 03/24 | precise, restrained, handy fruit |
| ***(*) | Jacques Lemenicier Elegance | 2030-31 | 02/23 | firm content, compact juice |
| ***(*) | Jacques Lemenicier Traditionelle | 2029 | 02/23 | busy, naked, spiced |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Lorient | 2028 | 03/24 | Rouss fat, nice weight, trim fresh |
| ***(*) | Marc & Marlène SAS Melody | 2028-29 | 09/23 | ripe content, rich, thorough, table |
| ***(*) | Dom Johann Miche Petites Blaches | 2028-29 | 09/23 | steady fruit run, late grip |
| ***(*) | Domaine du Tunnel Marsanne | 2030-31 | 10/23 | firm gras, grippy, tangy |
| ***(*) | Alain & Emmanuelle Verset | 2027 | 02/23 |
flinty, nerve, pinpoint wine |
| ***(*) | François Villard Version | 2027-28 | 02/24 |
rich, ample, coated, Marsanne grip |
| ***(*) | Dom Alain Voge Fleur de Crussol | 2033-35 | 10/23 | compact richness, time to emerge |
| *** | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2026-27 | 09/23 | tangy Marsanne, understated, cool |
| *** | Domaine Courbis Le Tram | 2027 | 03/24 | exotic fruits, much oak, concocted |
| *** | Julien Pilon les maisons de victor | 2028 | 02/24 | reserved content, wood, bit dull |
| *** | Domaine Alain Voge Harmonie | 2029-30 | 03/24 | firm central richness, bit dour |
8. 2022 CROZES-HERMITAGE WHITE
THOMAS FAYOLLE WITH FATHER PASCAL AT DOMAINE DES MARTINELLES: BEAUNE WINE SCHOOL STUDIES, WORK AT DOMAINE JACQUES PRIEUR IN MEURSAULT
The rise in winemaking standards surrounding white Rhônes has started to quell the extremes of vintage variation recently. The 2022 vintage’s ripening season, so different in profile to 2021’s, did not lead to flat and overblown wines as might have been the case in the past. Accurate harvest dates and lighter touch vinifications have ridden into town to elevate the level of refinement in the wines, which also serve a very strong purpose in bringing in cash flow faster than the reds.
The benefit of this increased attention is apparent in the low acidity 2022 vintage, when there are some strongly appealing wines based on natural levels of richness, with high levels of elegance, allied to precision and sound freshness. It is a vintage that can be drunk right away, and will accompany a good variety of dishes, across fish, vegetarian, poultry, and also cheese.
VINEYARD CHALLENGES
The year was not easy in the vineyards, especially with the drought having an impact on shallow granite soils, and also on the more susceptible Roussanne. The excellent biodynamic grower DAVID REYNAUD of DOMAINE LES BRUYÈRES, based at Beaumont-Monteux told me: “the 2022 white vines didn’t manage the heat – there was very little Roussanne, which was grilled, and there was a blockage during ripening, the grapes small and concentrated. The Marsanne ran between 12.5° and 13°. The yield was around 20 hl/ha, and the style is for drink early wines, some reduction on them.” His Aux Bétises cuvée was fabulous, a wine with pedigree richness, in the top three of those tasted.
VERY LITTLE JUICE IN THE GRAPES
Also organic, DAVID COMBIER of DOMAINE COMBIER gave this summary: “2022 is not our greatest year for the whites. There was very little due to the drought, a loss of 40% with no juice to speak of in the grapes. The degree is 13.5° to 14°. We started the harvest on 22 August, against 24 August in 2020. We harvested over three to four days, the last part a little on over-ripeness.
Our harvest times are roughly two to three hours a day from 7 to 9 am or so. The first picking was the young Roussanne for the Clos des Grives and the last the Gervans old vines. The wines are hyper exuberant, rich aromatically, with fat matter. They drink well young, are very open. The acidity is very low – the balance isn’t that much in place, so drink them young.” Good advice there.
LARNAGE CLAY SOILS AN ADVANTAGE IN 2022
FRANÇOIS RIBO signalled the benefit of having vineyards on the white clays of Larnage, the village that abuts the east end of the Hermitage hill: “the 2022 harvest was belle – Larnage with its clays did better than the granite hillsides at St Jo, for example. The mid-August rain helped the vegetation at Crozes more than it did at St Jo.”
DARD & RIBO certainly came up with a ****(*) cracker from the moisture retentive white clay, kaolin soils of Larnage, their Cuvée K, based on 1920s and 1947-48 Marsanne - calm, relaxed, holding a red wine like structure.
All the DOMAINE BELLE’s white vineyards are at Larnage as well, with PHILIPPE BELLE remarking on the texture of the year: “2022 is a stroking, smooth year due to the high heat; it’s on opulence, at times exaggerated opulence, and stands in contrast to the perfect balance and salinity of 2021, the latter a vintage that will live well.”
WELL FILLED WINES
The wines are certainly well filled, something noted by PHILIPPE JABOULET, whose first vintage was 1975, a remarkable span that took in the family connection at PAUL JABOULET AÎNÉ, followed by the creation of his own DOMAINE PHILIPPE & VINCENT JABOULET: “we sold all our 2022 white quickly; the wine has gras, a belle structure, is very much a table wine – there was real content in it this year.”
The year was also praised by ANTOINE GRAILLOT of DOMAINE GRAILLOT, who told me: “the 2022 whites are good, fresh, with joli fruit.”
A detail on the colour in the wines was provided by CLÉMENT BÄRTSCHI, the maître de chai, cellar master chez M. CHAPOUTIER, who observed: “the sun meant the skins were very golden, and the musts were coloured as a result – hence the deep yellow colour,”
In terms of handling the wines, I note that there has been a toning down of oak in the most recent vintages as growers are stimulated to go for jar raising included. These preserve enhanced levels of freshness, as opposed to the coating furnished by young oak.
There is also the overtly New Wave school that want to create the fashionable “tension” in their whites, which predicates early harvesting, and takes in limited lees contact. If in excess, such wines can miss a beat of richness in the mid-palate, a denial of their southern leaning origins. If well judged, these wines are elegant, and often feature the young generation who have attended Wine School in Burgundy, examples being DAVID COMBIER and THOMAS FAYOLLE of DOMAINE DES MARTINELLES, the latter bringing refinement to their traditional approach white.
GOOD RICHNESS FROM OLD VINES
There is also room for the rich, on the old vine sap [sève] wines that are glorious à table. Immediate members of this club from one year to the next are DOMAINE DU COLOMBIER with their Cuvée Gaby and the DOMAINE SORREL, whose 25 hl/ha small yield was the same as 2021, the difference being small grapes with very little juice in 2022 against frost damage in 2021.
Another full bounty wine was the DOMAINE SAINT CLAIR of DENIS BASSET’s Un Matin . . . which is 85% Marsanne mixed between the 1970s and 2007 from Beaumont-Monteux. It is all cask raised, including some new oak, and the 2022 is rich, fat, up for a dish such as paella.
I am ever more militant against the use of cultured yeasts on white wines, which bring an appalling sameness to wines, plus a real drop-off after only a few minutes’ air, the result being flat, dull wines that repel interest. These wines have not fared well in my tastings.
As for longevity, 2022 will not keep as well as 2021, and most will show very well from now until 2026 or so. The leaders can go a little past 10 years.
LEADING CROZES-HERMITAGE WHITE 2022s
| ****(*) | Domaine du Colombier Gaby | 2034-36 | 09/23 | cavalier, muscular, inner refinement |
| ****(*) | Dard & Ribo Cuvée K | 2032-34 | 02/23 | calm, red wine-like, grad opening |
| ****(*) | Dom des Hauts Chassis Aurora | 2031-32 | 11/24 | notably fine juice, elegant, 100 R |
| ****(*) | David Reynaud Aux Bétises | 2029-30 | 09/23 | pedigree richness, cracking quality |
| ****(*) | Domaine Sorrel | 2034-36 | 10/24 | density, character, stimulating |
| **** | Cave de Tain Les Hauts d’Eole | 2029-30 | 09/23 | gras style, neat juice, together |
| **** | Dom Les Alexandrins Les Garennes | 2031-33 | 09/23 | wide, clenched, neat gras, grounded |
| **** | Domaine Belle Roche Blanche | 2033-35 | 10/23 | silky texture, old vine sap, elegant |
| **** | Domaine Christelle Betton Circé | 2033-34 | 05/23 | wholesome, rich, well set depth |
| **** | Domaine Combier | 2028-29 | 02/23 | lucid fruit, style, vivacity |
| **** | Domaine Combier Clos des Grives | 2031-33 | 02/23 | firm juicing, rich, fine, lingers |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Les Rousses | 2027 | 10/23 | pleasing, tasty gras, clear, natural |
| **** | Dard & Ribo | 2028-29 | 02/23 | suave, salted, silk, grip |
| **** | Dard & Ribo Pé du Loup | 2030-32 | 02/23 | joli gras, attractive, v neat |
| **** | Olivier Dumaine La Croix du Verre | 2028-29 | 10/23 | suave gras, balance, fresh, table |
| **** | Domaine des Entrefaux | 2026 | 07/23 | joli ease, suave, accurate |
| **** | Ferraton Le Grand Courtil | 2032-33 | 02/24 | tight content, together, gd grip |
| **** | Domaine Finot | 2030-31 | 10/24 | finesse, freshness, hand made |
| **** | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Les Jalets bio | 2028-29 | 09/23 | calmly elegant, gentle, fresh |
| **** | Dom P Jaboulet Aîné Thalabert | 2030-31 | 03/24 | floating fruits, gentle, stylish, Sud |
| **** | Domaine des Louis R & M | 2028-29 | 09/23 | secure richness, detail, style |
| **** | Domaine des Martinelles | 2030-31 | 09/23 | stylish, relaxed, authentic, gd trad |
| **** | Domaine Melody Chaos Blanc | 2029-30 | 09/23 | set freshness, bustling, oaked |
| **** | Domaine Melody L’Exception . . | 2027-28 | 09/23 | tempting content, elegant, soft |
| **** | Domaine Mucyn Les Charmeuses | 2027-28 | 09/23 | fluent, supple, free juicing |
| **** | Domaine Les 4 Vents La Rage | 2028 | 10/24 | attractive content, en finesse, elegant |
| **** | Dom des Remizières Particulière | 2025-26 | 09/23 | pure fruit, relaxed, elegant |
| **** | Dom Rousset Marsanne V Vignes | 2029-30 | 02/23 | flamboyant, refined, gd clarity |
| **** | Domaine Saint Clair un matin . . . | 2028-29 | 09/23 | rich mass, character, bounty |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Le Tout | 2033-35 | 02/24 | firm, subtle gras, interest, length |
| ***(*) | Aléofane | 2028-29 | 09/23 | copious, firm end, subdued, time |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Nobles Rives | 2025 | 09/23 | calm, charm, drinks well, V |
| ***(*) | Cave de Tain Vin Biologique | 2028-29 | 09/23 | agreeable richness, cool, table |
| ***(*) | Yann Chave | 2030-31 | 09/23 | compact, low expression, fresh, sound |
| ***(*) | Domaine Belle Terres Blanches | 2030-32 | 10/23 | gentle citrus, steady firmness, table |
| ***(*) | Domaine Christelle Betton elixir | 2027-28 | 05/23 | intricate, woven, sound body |
| ***(*) | Domaine du Colombier | 2031-33 | 09/23 | springy start, firm, assertive |
| ***(*) | Domaine des Combat | 2027 | 09/23 | elegant, accurate freshness, precise |
| ***(*) | Laurent Fayolle Les Pontaix | 2027-28 | 09/23 | suave, neat fruiting, precise acidity |
| ***(*) | Ferraton La Matinière | 2027 | 02/24 | appealing content, spine, genuine |
| ***(*) | Domaine Alain Graillot | 2029-30 | 05/23 | steady ensemble, comfortable depth |
| ***(*) | Domaine Laurent Habrard | 2029-30 | 09/23 | cool fruits, crisp sides, time |
| ***(*) | Labadens Augustine | 2027-28 | 09/23 | fat content, creamy, has grip |
| ***(*) | Dom Gaylord Machon La fille | 2028-29 | 09/23 | soft, nicely filled, fluent |
| ***(*) | Dom Hauts Chassis L’Essentiel | 2028 | 09/23 | gd continuity, firmness, OK length |
| ***(*) | Julien Pilon on the Rhône again | 2027-28 | 02/24 | firm content, late juice, true to place |
| ***(*) | Dom Les 4 Vents Les Pitchounettes | 2027 | 10/24 | nice mixed fruits, fine clarity, trim |
| ***(*) | Dom des Remizières Christophe | 2029-30 | 09/23 | tidy freshness, smooth, juice vim |
| ***(*) | Domaine Rousset | 2028-29 | 02/23 | mild gras, soft, gentle |
| ***(*) | Domaine Rousset Milsence | 2027-28 | 02/23 | fine, floral, light fruiting |
| ***(*) | Domaine Vendome Les Bruclas | 2027 | 03/24 | gd gras central, grip, length |
| ***(*) | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2027-28 | 09/23 | agreeable juice, soft, safe |
| ***(*) | Vidal-Fleury | 2029-30 | 09/23 | fluid richness, secure length |
| ***(*) | François Villard Cour de Recré | 2028-29 | 05/23 | style in richness, good length |
| *** | M Chapoutier Petite Ruche | 2026-27 | 02/24 | compact content, authentic, grippy |
| *** | Domaine Jean Esprit Perles Ivoire | 2027-28 | 09/23 | ripe content, oak, on the go |
| *** | Domaine Pradelle | 2028-29 | 09/23 | compact content, locked away |
| **(*) | Delas Les Launes | 2026 | 09/23 | citrus, low-key, workmanlike, dull |
| **(*) | Domaine du Murinais Marine | 2026 | 09/23 | light, brief, tame |
| **(*) | Domaine Pradelle Courbis | 2026 | 09/23 | citrus, but drifts, sticky end |
| **(*) | Gilles Robin Les Marelles | 2026 | 07/23 | fluid, then drops with air |
| ** | Dom Michelas St Jemms Signature | 2026 | 09/23 | neutral, skimming, dull, v flat |
THE DAY BY DAY FERMENTATION PROGRESS OF XAVIER GÉRARD'S 2022 CÔTE CHÂTILLON CONDRIEU, HARVESTED 23 AUGUST, 2022
But for shifts and adaptations by growers in recent times, the 2022 vintage at Condrieu would have been over powerful, rather as it was in 2017, another year of drought, when many wines clocked in at 14.5° to 16°. Since 2017, the vines have been adapting, too, resisting the excesses of the climate, and capable of giving handsome crop if not harvested too late.
2021 and 2016 stand as the recent tinkling vintages for Condrieu, years of finesse and purity delivered on a large platter. 2022 comes in as a good vintage with a solid body of **** wines, so there is selection for the buyer, as there should be. I note pricing now rising well away from an under €40 level, and frequently into the €60 and higher bracket. Condrieu is not a whimsy buy anymore, especially on a restaurant wine list.
TERROIR WILL HELP THE TOP WINES TO LIVE
The 2022s are on modest levels of acidity, so we are left with terroir to keep them alive and well over the next ten+ years - perfectly feasible for the best. As for the degree, it hovers around 14°, which is perfectly acceptable for wines that should be drunk à table. There are lower degree exceptions – one of them, the GRAEME & JULIE BOTT approach being one of very prompt harvesting, followed by blocking the malo, a step to preserve freshness. JULIEN BARGE is another grower actively working to restrict degree, telling me: “my 2022 Condrieu was 12.6°; I leave more buds than I used to achieve a lower degree.”
A marked contrast with them would be the YVES GANGLOFF style, which favours rich, musky tones, YVES’ 2022 coming in at 14.8°, which was just a touch noticeable on the finish. Both BOTT and GANGLOFF 2022s I rated at ****.
PIERRE ROSTAING remarked on the richness of the vintage, telling me: “2022 Condrieu was very precocious, starting the harvest in the early morning of 29 August, stopping at 10 a.m. It’s powerful, generous, rich, has volume, also typicity. 2021 was less marked Condrieu in manner.”
STÉPHANE MONTEZ of DOMAINE DU MONTEILLET was full of enthusiasm for 2022, recounting: "I adore 2022; the 50 mm [2 in] of rain in mid-August two weeks before the harvest did a trmendous amount of good, lowering the degree and increasing the juice.
The vintage is well balanced, especially given the drought. It's pretty elegant, not fresh and tense like 2021, admittedly, and may not have a lot of acidity, but there is aromatic quality and a bel fruit centred on peach and pear, with bitters that help its balance."
AROMATIC, FINESSE WINES
The growers were pretty pleased with events, ANDRÉ PERRET telling me: “it’s a good vintage, the wines en finesse and aromatic, not too overripe. The acidity isn’t especially high, but it has retained freshness, which is a bit contradictory – it is fresh, but you have the impression of heat on the palate. It’s not a year that you can easily place by rapport to other vintages. I separated the end of the press wine because the crop had been on passerillage – shrivelled and concentrated. The degree wasn‘t excessive in 2022 – 13.5° to 14°.”
YVES GANGLOFF reported: “I lost 40% of the white harvest; the vines stopped growing in mid-June; we took bunches out to save the plants. I started the Condrieu harvest on 29 August. There’s not much acidity, the degree 14°. What with the 2021 frost, then the lack of rain in 2022, the vines really suffered.”
2022 ONE MONTH EARLIER THAN 2021
EMMA VERNAY is now rocking and rolling at DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY, and she gave me this comprehensive rundown on the vintage: “we started the harvest exactly one month earlier than 2021, on 25 August. There was the drought, of course, and we deliberately did not take out the inner growth, working on keeping shade. We didn’t work the soils, and made the lowest ever number of treatments. Apart from the young vines, the vineyard didn’t lose leaves, and ripening came without a blockage.
PERFECT MID-AUGUST RAIN
We were fearful in early August because the grapes had started to lose juice and their skins started to pucker. Then the rain of 53 mm [2.06 in} fell on 15 August, a perfect, fine rain with no storm – so it truly entered the ground, rather than running off. Its main impact was to expand the grapes and to dilute the degree. It was very last minute rain, allowing the water to integrate. Because we had a lot of harvest and the effect of the rain, the degree isn’t too high – 13.5° to 14.5°, while pH is obviously quite high due to all the sun.
FRESHER THAN 2020
The balance is attractive and the freshness is present, which wasn’t necessarily the case in the 2020. I would add that the aroma of freshness isn’t the caricature of a very hot year – we have an enormous advantage with our old vines. The hillside vines are accustomed to dry conditions, unlike the clay-plain level vines. Those hill vines have to seek down for nourishment, have long roots. The appellation put in for a permitted yield of 42 h/ha this year” – obviously trying to compensate for the 2021 shortfall.” On that score, GUILLAUME CLUSEL remarked that his yield of 35 hl/ha stood against 20 hl/ha in 2021.
Young CLÉMENT SEMASKA referred to the form of cut that underpinned the wines, not their acidity, in recounting: “there’s a lot power in the wines, but they are supported by their bitters, notably on the finish, are very expressive, with notes of violet, very direct, without the heaviness of 2020. The emphasis on bitter-citrus-orange holds them up more than does the acidity, they have a lot flavour.”
BLOCKAGES OF RIPENING IN THE VINEYARDS
Ripening blockages were in play, however - no surprise, really. GAETAN LAFOY, for example: “I lost 50% of the crop, starting the harvest on 5 September. There was a blockage of ripening, which was eased by the rain of 16 August. The young vines suffered more than the Syrah young vines in the drought.” JULIEN PILON also pointed out the hiccoughs in the ripening process: “the 2022 harvest wasn’t too ripe, but it was so hot and so dry that the Condrieu vineyard totally blocked its ripening, nothing happening for two weeks. The 60 mm [2.4 in] of rain around the middle of the month unblocked things, a good, even rain it was. I started on two small plots on 25 August, the St Jo white in early September. The degree is 14°, and I had a full yield.”
EDGAR CUILLERON is now well established on the family domaine, which has around 70 hectares of vineyards these days – his responsibility. He observed: “the Viognier on the Muscovite granite suffered in 2022, those very draining soils, Verlieu and La Petite Côte, notably. The biotite-sand soils were less marked. It’s a very powerful year, similar to 2018 and 2019, but it’s a bit more light on the palate than those two vintages, which are very solar years” – an indication of the vineyards adapting to changed circumstances.
A neighbour of CUILLERON on the recently developed Viticole Zone beside the Rhône at Chavanay is the PICHON family; remember, I go back to visiting these domaines when they had half a dozen hectares, and vinified in cellars under or next to their houses. Now they are in vast hangars, which is of course a lowering of soul, whichever way you like to slice it. System reigns over instinct, c’est la vie de nos jours, I suppose. I must get back on track.
CORENTIN PICHON, the grandson of PHILIPPE PICHON who sadly died recently, gave me this summary: “I like 2022 Condrieu a lot; it’s a bit less fresh than 2021, has a belle aromatic. I don’t go for opulent Condrieu, the apricot school. I like almost a bit strict, very linear/droit, along with the aromatic side. Roche Coulante is very precocious, always very ripe but always has a cool, fresh angle. It was an early harvest, 27 August, the second earliest after 2003 which was 16-17 August.”
CHRISTOPHE BONNEFOND expressed contentment with his crop, informing me: “we started the Condrieu harvest at the end of August, the grapes magnificent and 13.8°, perfect. It has a belle freshness. I let the malo happen this year because the acidity wasn’t really low. The malic acidity I have never seen so low, so I let the malo happen naturally. Vinifications were tricky this year.”
MORE RESTRAINT EXERCISED BY GROWERS RECENTLY
Across the 2022 vintage, it was noticeable how restraint is the order of the day now, far removed from the opulence of yore. Bouquets are pretty clear, and there are floral, spring flowers, jasmin notes around the most restrained, a different version to the more musky acacia flowers of the past. There are wines that need a little cellaring, those with really firm central richness, an example being the STÉPHANE MONTEZ Chanson, the YVES CUILLERON Verlieu and the PICHON Roche Coulante from a precocious, hot vineyard.
FRANÇOIS MERLIN remarked on this last group by style, when telling me: “2022 is more gras, rich and typical than 2021; it’s a beau vintage, with a bit less minerality than 2021 which was on elegance. The 2022 is rather large, broad as a wine. I like the vintage, it has typicity.”
I am encouraged by the appearance of the adjective “elegant” in a good number of the wines, while for the top level, “silken” comes into play – two ***** wines the proof of that delight. The CUILLERON Vernon and the PERRET Chéry show the truth that experience matters, both domaines long established as sources of top class whites.
Among the ****(*) bracket, note that the CUILLERON Essence d’Automne is a late harvested wine, 2022 the first vintage since 2018, another solar year. It comes from Viognier, average age 20 years on Muscovite granite on Les Eyguets and La Côte at Chavanay, harvested in several goes until mid-November, its crop according to the label "sorted from noble rot and dried-up, raisin-style grapes", the term "liquoreux" used by YVES. Its fermentation is stopped by cold with 90-100 gm of residual sugar. It is suited to “fruit desserts, cheese, Roquefort blue cheese, to drink in its first three to four years on fruit aromas, or mature from 10 years on.” Its degree is a lowly 11.5°. The 2022 has a firm but still unctuous richness, with a good handshake of length, a wine to drink over the next 25 years, perhaps.
There are further wines that I will be tasting in the spring of 2024, notably the trio of GEORGES VERNAY cuvées – wines that are not shown pre-bottling, with the GUIGAL duo also on the agenda.
LEADING CONDRIEU 2022s
| ***** | Yves Cuilleron Vernon | 2035-37 | 10/23 | stylish, silken, purity, authority |
| ***** | Dom Grges Vernay Coteau de Vernon | 2040-42 | 04/25 | harmony, interest, silk, grace |
| ****(*) | Domaine des Amphores La Côte | 2028-29 | 02/24 | suave, serene, detailed, floral, ace |
| ****(*) | M Chapoutier Coteau de Chéry | 2038-40 | 10/23 | real grounding, inner sap, finesse |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Essence d’Automne | 2046-48 | 10/23 | unctuous gras, well centred, firm |
| ****(*) | E Guigal La Doriane | 2037-39 | 02/24 | serenading, fresh, old vine sap |
| ****(*) | François Merlin Jeanraude | 2033-35 | 10/23 | well judged gras, gd interest, delve |
| ****(*) | Stéphane Montez Chanson | 2038-40 | 05/23 | firm gras, grippy, mineral, progress |
| ****(*) | Rémi Niéro Vernon | 2034-36 | 04/24 | precise, snug, refined, v joli flow |
| ****(*) | André Perret Chéry | 2038-40 | 04/25 | fine tuned, joli clarity, delicacy-depth |
| ****(*) | André Perret Clos Chanson | 2032-34 | 10/23 | v silken gras, fab discretion, appeal |
| ****(*) | Domaine Julien Pilon lône | 2028-29 | 02/24 | suavely full, delicious, neatly fresh |
| ****(*) | Dom G Vernay Les Chaillées de l’Enfer | 2033-35 | 02/24 | feathery, distinguished, calm, subtle |
| ****(*) | François Villard Villa Pontciana | 2035-37 | 02/24 | juice finesse, silky flow, joli length |
| **** | Romain d'Aniello | 2030-31 | 04/24 | well struck, serious, v clear, neat gras |
| **** | Château Le Devay L’Annexe | 2027-28 | 09/23 | bonny depth, precise, fresh |
| **** | Domaine Barge Tradition demi-sec | 2029-30 | 02/23 | posed, grapey, nice density |
| **** | P & C Bonnefond Côte Châtillon | 2030-31 | 05/23 | close knit, solid, good steel |
| **** | Domaine Martin Clerc | 2030-32 | 09/23 | fuelled, nicely grounded, character |
| **** | Martin Clerc La Roncharde | 2029-31 | 09/23 | joli free delivery, elegant, natural |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Les Chaillets | 2031-33 | 10/23 | elegant fruit, bright, precise |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Verlieu | 2032-34 | 10/23 | chunky, deep, solid gras, time |
| **** | Bryan Deleu Proème | 2032-33 | 02/24 | mineral, articulate, elegant |
| **** | François Dumas | 2030-32 | 02/24 | calm depth, interest, character |
| **** | Lionel Faury La Berne | 2029-30 | 09/23 | tight richness, crystalline, smooth |
| **** | Lionel Faury Le Mornieux | 2031-33 | 09/23 | restrained gras, clear, interesting |
| **** | Domaine Pierre Gaillard L’Octroi | 2029-30 | 03/23 | agreeably fluid, stylish gras |
| **** | Mathilde & Yves Gangloff | 2034-35 | 10/23 | enticing gras, structure, timeless Cond |
| **** | Xavier Gérard Côte Châtillon | 2036-38 | 04/24 | creamy feel, firm gras, good juice-oak |
| **** | Jean-Michel Gérin Les Eguets | 2032-33 | 02/23 | bright, calm, cool, balanced |
| **** | Jean-Michel Gérin La Loye | 2030-31 | 02/23 | neat gras, nice length |
| **** | E Guigal | 2033-35 | 02/24 | bonny fruit, good oily texture, |
| **** | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Les Cassines | 2027-28 | 09/23 | tuned, en finesse, floral, w.o.w. |
| **** | Domaine Jamet Vernillon | 2032-34 | 02/24 | cosily rounded, squeezy gras, tuned |
| **** | François Merlin Chanson | 2031-33 | 10/23 | mineral spine, elegant, filled |
| **** | Stéphane Montez Grandes Chaillées | 2032-34 | 05/23 | style, cool, belle finesse |
| **** | Stéphane Montez La Grillette | 2040-42 | 04/25 | floral, sound balance, potential |
| **** | Domaine Mouton Côte Châtillon | 2034-35 | 03/24 | stylish gras, fresh spine, gd length |
| **** | Rémi Niéro Coeur de Roncharde | 2033-34 | 04/24 | textured; sunny richness, together |
| **** | Rémi Niéro Les Ravines | 2031-33 | 04/24 | supple gras, gd minerality |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier La Combe de Malleval | 2031-32 | 03/24 | flowing fruit, light gras, detail, clarity |
| **** | Domaine Christophe Pichon Caresse | 2033-35 | 10/23 | refined, droit, fresh, sure length |
| **** | Maison Pichon Roche Coulante | 2034-35 | 10/23 | inner muscle, tannin-grip, nerve |
| **** | Domaine Julien Pilon Vernon | 2033-34 | 02/24 | coated, firm gras, structure, patience |
| **** | Domaine Rostaing La Bonnette | 2032-34 | 10/23 | centred gras, unctuous, stylish, musky |
| **** | Dom Christophe Semaska Lys d’Or | 2030-31 | 10/23 | good restraint, stylish, subtle |
| **** | Les Sept Pierres | 2027-28 | 02/24 | fruit purity, trim richness, elegant |
| **** | Dom G Vernay Terrasses de l’Empire | 2031-33 | 02/24 | suave early, tangy late, inside glow |
| **** | Pierre-Jean Villa Jardin Suspendu | 2028-29 | 05/23 | mineral accuracy, clear, neat |
| **** | François Villard De Poncins | 2033-35 | 02/24 | elegant, cruising, airborne quality |
| **** | François Villard Le Grand Vallon | 2030-32 | 02/24 | refined, flowing, balanced |
| **** | Maison Bruyère & David Gdes Terrasses | 2028-29 | 09/23 | serene, well tuned, good oiliness |
| ***(*) | Dom Christophe Billon Les Matisses | 2028-29 | 04/24 | ample setting, light freshness, trad |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Boisseyt Les Corbonnes | 2030-32 | 02/24 | compact, gd clarity, nicely tuned |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Invitare | 2030-32 | 10/23 | discreet spice, mineral threads, reliable |
| ***(*) | Domaine Barge La Solarie | 2027-28 | 02/23 | bright, mid pal richness, gd shape |
| ***(*) | Christophe Blanc Les Vallins | 2029-30 | 03/25 | joli gras, tasty, authentic, nicely trad |
| ***(*) | Dom de Bonserine Les Trois Lieux | 2030-32 | 09/23 | oily content, solid, digs in |
| ***(*) | Domaine Bernard Chambeyron Vernon | 2027-28 | 09/23 | stylish, natural, soft gras |
| ***(*) | Domaine du Chêne | 2027-28 | 09/23 | fat, broad, ripe, mature style |
| ***(*) | Martin Clerc Côte Bellay | 2029-31 | 09/23 | broad, savoury, trad, genuine |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron La Petite Côte | 2027-28 | 10/23 | cool fruit, mid richness |
| ***(*) | Ferraton Les Mandouls | 2028-29 | 02/24 | firm heart, richness, bonhomme |
| ***(*) | Bernard & Nicolas Garayt Janrôde | 2029-30 | 02/24 | soft gras, smoky tang, supple |
| ***(*) | Xavier Gérard L’Arbuel | 2034-36 | 04/24 | juice intensity, de la terre, solid |
| ***(*) | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Grands Amandiers | 2029-30 | 03/24 | soft richness, supple, bit mainstream |
| ***(*) | Jacques Lemenicier | 2028-29 | 02/23 | savoury, fresh hints, sure length |
| ***(*) | Vignobles Levet | 2029-30 | 10/23 | comfy, textured, musky, generous |
| ***(*) | Gabriel Meffre Laurus | 2030-32 | 09/23 | generous, substance, firm, table |
| ***(*) | François Merlin Les Terroirs | 2029-30 | 10/23 | varied, softly rich, slight solar |
| ***(*) | Domaine Mouton Côte Bonnette | 2034-36 | 03/24 | nicely furnished, grounded, genuine |
| ***(*) | Rémi Niéro Chérytage | 2035-37 | 04/24 | luxurious, supple, weighty, sipping |
| ***(*) | Cédric Parpette Piaton | 2030-31 | 04/24 | firmly rich, linear couch, genuine, table |
| ***(*) | André Perret | 2030-31 | 10/23 | relaxed, plump, inner firmness |
| ***(*) | Christophe Pichon Pur 100 | 2027 | 10/23 | compact gras, firm grip, zero SO2 |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Rosiers | 2032-33 | 02/24 | gentle, measured, fine, late tang |
| ***(*) | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2027-28 | 09/23 | fluent, floral, late drift |
| ***(*) | Maison Stéphan Le Tinal | 2030-32 | 02/24 | grippy, interesting length, fine gain |
| ***(*) | Saint Cosme | 2031-33 | 07/23 | ripe, rolling, textured, plenty |
| ***(*) | Hugo & Pauline Villa | 2027-28 | 03/24 | restrained, fine freshness, aperitif vin |
| ***(*) | François Villard Les Terrasses du Palat | 2029-30 | 02/24 | rolling richness, furnished, sound |
| *** | Cave Saint-Désirat | 2029-30 | 09/23 | close-knit, cool tang, oak |
| *** | Domaine Boissonnet | 2028-29 | 10/23 | plump moments, safe Condrieu |
| *** | Degache Frères Le Bois Lombard | 2031-32 | 04/24 | firm gras, compact, bit neutral |
| *** | François & Fils Veauvignère | 2033-34 | 04/24 | tenacious, solid, doughty, table |
| *** | Bernard & Nicolas Garayt Pigeonnier | 2031-32 | 02/24 | clear fruit, linear, not expressive |
| *** | Julien Merlin La Coursière | 2027-28 | 02/24 | early appeal, saline, taut, bitter end |
| *** | Maison Christophe Pichon | 2028-29 | 10/23 | pared back, arrow-like |
| *** | Domaine Vallet Les Rouelles | 2026-27 | 09/23 | compact richness, low-key, dull |
| *** | Domaine Verzier Authentic | 2028-29 | 02/24 | clear stream fruit, New Wave |
| **(*) | Vidal-Fleury | 2028-29 | 09/23 | low profile, trundles, firm content |
10. 2022 CÔTE-RÔTIE
MATÉO & DAVID DUCLAUX, DAVID AMAZED AT HOW THE WINES TURNED OUT AFTER THE HIGH HEAT, DROUGHT
2022 is shaping up as a very promising, stirring vintage for Côte-Rôtie. The wines are well balanced, well-fruited, with discreet levels of tannin neatly on the inside. They convey an immediate charm, and their fluid nature is bound to appeal. Less dense than the cavalier 2019s, they will offer extremely enjoyable drinking. Pressure on supply and prices will remain firm, though.
2022 is full, without overt concentration, and I consider the fact that there is not an additional 1° to 1.5°, as was the case in 2019, to be extremely important this year, opening the door marked pleasure.
A summary of the growing season is uncomplicated, since the real action only occurred late on, after a very dry, very hot summer. GAETAN LAFOY gave me this account: “2022 is magnificent; it started with a good budding, very belle. There was not a drop of rain from July until mid-August, and the prospect of dried raisins for grapes was in view.
VITAL MID-LATE AUGUST RAIN
From mid to the end of August there was 117 mm [4.6 in] of rain in two falls, which re-expanded the grapes, and brought acidity. It was too late for any young vines under 10 years’ old, though the young Syrah handled the dry conditions better than the young Viognier for my Condrieu, where there was a loss of 50%. I started the Côte-Rôtie harvest on 9 September, and ended on 14 September. Vinifications went well. My 2022 Côte Rozier is between 2016 and 2017, is juiced, but also has a lot of finesse, with a powerful side as well. The average degree this year is 12.8°.”
The August rain was the pivot around which the vintage turned. The organic DOMAINE CLUSEL-ROCH’s GUILLAUME CLUSEL explained: “I had a yield around 40 hl/ha in 2022 against 32 hl/ha in 2021. It could have been very complicated, but the August rain saved the vintage. There were 55 mm (2.2 in) at Verenay here, 45 mm (1.8 in) at Ampuis just south, and only 15 mm [0.6] at Tupin in the south of the appellation.
The grapes would have exploded with more rain, but in the event, they expanded and gave back life to the canopy, unblocking the ripening. It’s a joli year, with Verenay [northern sector] especially favoured, with an enhanced balance. The wines were firm at first, but 10 months’ raising has eased that so far. It’s bit more like 2020 than 2019, is less marked by the heat than 2019.”
AFTER LOW YIELDS IN 2021, A BETTER LEVEL IN 2022
PATRICK JASMIN gave a similar summary: “after a yield of 20 hl/ha in 2021, it was a relief to have 37 hl/ha this year. 2022 is less solar than 2018 and 2019, the acidities a bit better, and people will like the wines, which are a bit more facile and less on that high degree of 14.5° than in 2018 and 2019.
It’s a belle year; the season went well. I would have liked a kind rain in July, early August, while the mid-August rain of 20 mm [0.8 in] made no real difference. I started the harvest on 26 August, and with a team of 25 to 30 people, we completed in eight to 10 days.”
SKINS NOT AS THICK AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED
YVES GANGLOFF remarked upon the moderated degree given the context of a solar summer, telling me: “I lost 25%, but am super happy – there’s good balance, alcohol not in excess at 13.5° to 14°, which is good for a solar year. As it did with the Viognier, the vegetation’s growth blocked, we did only one trimming/shearing on the flat ground, the hillside vines didn’t need it.
By the time of the harvest in early September, we’d had 320 mm [12.8 in] of rain all year against 750-800 [30-32 in] mm normally. This year there were two falls from mid-August until early September, a total of 50 mm [2 in] that allowed the grapes to expand once more. The skins weren’t as thick as you might have expected.”
VINES DEFIED THE VERY HOT, VERY DRY CONTEXT IN 2022
DAVID DUCLAUX gave an enthusiastic bulletin on the vintage: “2022 was an easy year, similar to 2020, 2019 and 2018 with the heat. 15 mm [0.6 in] of rain and 25 mm [1 in] on 26 August, with no storm, fell at good times, and was more than they had at Cornas and Hermitage.
We started the harvest on an early date, at the end of the first week of September, the harvest ripe, with 13°, good balance – it’s a super year, the yield the same as usual, 43 hl/ha. Tupin emerged well. There was hail in the north of the appellation, chez GÉRIN.
The wine is quite concentrated due to the small size of the grapes. The canopy kept going well during the summer; we don’t sow grasses between the rows, but do hoe the soils. There was no blockage detected. It’s incomprehensible that the wines have turned out as they have in that very hot and very dry context.”
ALÉXIS GÉRIN is striding along with brother MICHAEL at DOMAINE GÉRIN, and he checked in with this appraisal: “2022 is superb – it was hard going outdoors because it was extremely hot and very dry. We had no real rain from January until mid-August; then we had a rainfall of 20 mm on 22 August, and started the Rôtie harvest on 26 August, ending on 7 September [in 2021 we ended in October]. The rain allowed a regain of a bit of volume.
MUCH REDUCED RAIN READINGS ON KEY SITES SUCH AS LES GRANDES PLACES
The vines had been suffering, and on the plateau there had been a loss of leaves at the start of August – the rain gave them peps. Taking some specifics, Les Grandes Places has a usual annual rainfall of 750 mm [30 in]; in 2022, that was 496 mm [just under 20 in], spread for example 30 mm [1.2 in] in May, 50 mm [2 in] in June, zero in July, 80 mm [3.2 in] in eight days in August. We now have a big deficit of reserves. In 2022 there were a lot of bunches, equivalent to 50 hl/ha in theory, but with little juice, which brought it down to 35 hl/ha, and I am happy with that. If rain had fallen before August, we would have been at 44 hl/ha.
The wines are not high in degree given the conditions, a range between 12.5° and 13.5°. On certain hillsides, there was a blockage in early August. The skins were quite fine, with the suggestion of rot by the end. There was a miniscule window to harvest, only two weeks, eight days ideally. As an indication of how things have changed, in the past ten years we have harvested in August in 2022, 2020, 2019, 2017 and 2015; before there were just two years, 2009 and 2003.
The 2022 vinifications didn’t demand any intervention, and Dad has called it a “dream vintage”. I would say that with another three rainfalls, it would have been an angelic vintage! 2022 is hyper balanced, doesn’t have the hot side to it that 2019 and to some extent 2020 carried. It’s a year of pleasure.”
GOOD BALANCE SIGNALLED BY MANY
CHRISTOPHE BONNEFOND is at the northern end of the appellation, like the GÉRINS. He reported: “the 2022s are very beaus, with balance, fruit, freshness, and not too rich – they please me certainly. They don’t have the power of recent years, but their balance levels are very interesting. We are between 13.5° and 13.9°. I included 30-50% whole bunches for all the Côte-Rôties.
Before the rain, the grapes had started to pucker, after it, they re-expanded without diluting. We had left a full canopy, and the majority of the vineyard still had good leaf cover. The rain allowed us to delay the Syrah harvest, so we started on them 7-8 September, a week after the Condrieu. My major satisfaction since I started is to have set up a domaine that has stayed at the human size: I haven’t planted in the last 10 to 15 years, and we have not become too large to be hard to handle, just enough to earn a living. Now that Léa is here, that is good.”
PIERRE BURGAUD is similar to PIERRE ROSTAING, in coming to the family domaine after a career elsewhere. He has taken well to his new métier, and gave me this rundown: “there was 110 mm [4.4 in] of late August rain, and rainfalls in September. I started the harvest on 1 September, ended on 16 September. I started on the hillsides of Leyat and Brosse, then waited two weeks, when there was a gain of 1°. All wines were 12.5° to 13.5°.
The wait paid off because the grapes were very concentrated, and enlarged in volume by 10-15 mm – the juice had been very feeble, so that was a good result. The most complicated moment in 2022 came with the thunderstorms that lurked; people harvested on 25 August with that worry, some on Les Grandes Places at 11.5°. Hence the date of harvest was particularly tricky.
Dad has compared 2022 to 2011 – a joli degree of 12° at the start of September, but the charge of crop high. In 2021 we had had 1,000 mm [40 in], so the vines were OK during the drought. One old vineyard on shallow soils on Leyat suffered, while one other suffered from competition from clovers for the remaining moisture. Yield is 40 hl/ha, against the 35 hl/ha allowed in 2021.”
PIERRE ROSTAING echoed the BURGAUD view of the benefits of the August rain, telling me: “it was so dry that the vegetation didn’t rise above the wooden stakes, in fact it only reached half way up them. There were virtually no weeds to deal with, while we did a green harvest at the end of June, instead of a month later. The lack of canopy meant we had to act because there was an imbalance between the bunches and leaves, the photosynthesis was affected.
We were lucky to have rain of around 100 mm [4 in] between 12 and 20 August, not too violent, and that saved the vintage – it was two weeks before the harvest, so the rainfall integrated over those two weeks, and helped to develop the polyphenols and produce a gain in juice, the thick skins rendered a little softer. We lost 20%, the same as 2020.
Vinifications went well, the degree 13.5° to 14°. There is balance in the wines, which are coloured, have structure, cut and profile. They are live, more so than 2020, have a belle concentration. A year on, 2022 is discreet for now. I estimate that in 10 to 15 years’ time, 2022 can really come through and express a lot.”
VERY REASONABLE DEGREES IN 2022
JEAN-PAUL JAMET’s cellars are up the road from BURGAUD, and he also gave an upbeat report on 2022: “it’s exceptional to have only 13° on the Côte Brune 2022; it has freshness, fruit, elegance, magnificent tannins – I give thanks to the rains that made those tannins. You thought the land would explode from the heat, but all the wines in 2022 are fresh, not too high degree. The very last picking was 13.75°.” As JEAN-PAUL is a noted late harvester, this was excellent news.
JEAN-PAUL added: "the 2022s demand time, a bit of extra raising, extending from July to November 2024 – we don’t do that violently, by rackings, we prefer to go along quietly, especially when it’s a 100% whole bunch wine. If you go too fast, you can actually introduce a vegetal tone into the wine.”
AGNÈS LEVET also commented on a favourable degree this year, in contrast to the 2019 vintage: “2022 was hot, precocious; we started the harvest 29 August with Chavaroche, the degree 13.5°, with very feeble acidity, so we had to go on the picking, and avoid excess ripeness. By 15 August, the degree was already 11.5° to 12°. There was no significant rain at Ampuis, and we were also fearful of early September storms. We started 2003 on 27 August, by the way. 2022 is more elegant, less massive than 2019, when the degree on Maestria was 14° to 14.5°, the 2022 Maestria was 13.5°.”
EDGAR CUILLERON, who is now well installed on the family domaine and responsible for the vineyards, was another to remark on the reasonable level of alcohol, telling me: "there is a lot power, profound depth with solar notes, but the alcohol isn't too high. We lost crop from the August hail on the schist which gives our Madinière cuvée."
JULIEN BARGE is determined to lower his carbon footprint, and has a flock of sheep grazing in his vineyard over the winter. He suffers from a pollen allergy, so life is not straightforward in the hot months. He worked actively to restrain the degree this year, informing me: “in 2022 I did a pre-harvest sorting of grapes, but no green harvesting in July, which would have led to higher degree, more alcohol. Between 15 and 29 August, I took out all the unripe or burnt grapes, then left the vineyard eight to 10 days to really get there. I started the harvest on 27 August, ending on 15 September.
It’s complicated to harvest over six or seven days in one go with my size of domaine. The big names such as CUILLERON can harvest over 30 days straight. 50 mm [2 in] of rain fell on 15 August, taking a route from Lancement to Moutonnes and into central Ampuis; Chavanay only received 5 mm that day.
Then a vast storm of 80 mm [3.2 in] came from Saint-Etienne on 26 August, and fell on the Brune and the Blonde, with 30 mm at Tupin [1.2 in] and 30-50 mm [1.2-2 in] on Verenay and the northern sector of the appellation. That left matters uncertain, pumped up the grapes, so I commenced the harvest soon after, with my degree this year 11.6°-12°.
I am very happy with 2022 – it’s a year that reassured me about our work, good and bad, over the years. People are moving to a less oaked Côte-Rôtie and on to an organic Côte-Rôtie. There’s often excess ripeness and extraction, with Brett still around, though.
I prune longer than I used to these days; I have five people doing pick axe work across four weeks in June around the time of flowering. It helps in a very hot year. I also have a flock of 12 sheep, brebis, for the vineyard during the winter, until the vegetation starts growing. Their compost during the night is especially essential.”
DORIAN STÉPHAN, on the domaine at Tupin in the south which is now called MAISON STÉPHAN since 1 September 2022, told me: “2022 is super, has aromatic complexity. There was a lack of juice, and the grapes were about to burst, with thick skins, but a bit of August rain, 10-15 mm [0.4-0.6 in], saved the leaf system, without necessarily aiding the grapes. We harvested from 29 August to 15 September, the degree 12° to 12.5°.”
His dad JEAN-MICHEL added: “2022 is very rich and elegant, silken at the same time, also has skeleton and character, and will take on structure with raising. The wines were a little hard at the outset, but they have gained depth. There is gourmandise, juice, and is not like a recent year. I think of 2006, perhaps.”
The STÉPHAN family now has a large new cellar and reception area beside the road, across which STÉPHANE OGIER has his empire. STÉPHANE gave this quick overview: “the 2022s have a lowish degree, both red and white. The reds weren’t as easy to vinify as 2021; their harvest was early, but not as much as in 2020. The key was not to be in a hurry to harvest, since the phenolic ripening only came right at the end. Given the high heat-canicule and drought, I expected more powerful wines in the line of 2015 and 2019, but they are perfumed, balanced, hold a certain delicacy, and while tannin is present, it’s fine. I like the 2022 whites a lot – their degree was 13° to 13.5° against 12.5° in 2021.”
Gourmandise was a term that cropped up in CORENTIN PICHON's realistic appraisal of the year, when he made reference to 2020: "2022 doesn't have the complexity of 2020, but will please because the wines are highly coloured and very gourmand, with no aggressive tannins. It's a flattering vintage. People can talk up 2022 too much because it followed 2021, but it's not near the level of 2020."
A comparison with 2020 also came from CHRISTOPHE BILLON, who remarked: “2022 resembles 2020; they were both harvested at about the same time, and their level of concentration is about the same, too. It’s a gourmand, well perfumed year with good colour, too. It has always tasted openly, has never had a quiet phase”
EMMA VERNAY is now at full speed ahead on the DOMAINE GEORGES VERNAY, a very good duo formed with mother CHRISTINE. She found 2022 very appealing: “the colour is pretty, and it’s a vintage a bit more like 2020, with appealing fruit and nice filling,” she commented. “There is a tannic structure present, without being over the top, unlike 2018. Vinifications lasted two+ weeks, and were easy, the malos occurring under the marc. The degree is 13° to 14°, aided by the mid-August rain to be manageable.”
JULIEN PILON has extended his business into a large warehouse beside the Rhône at Chavanay, now a neighbour of PIERRE-JEAN VILLA, CHRISTOPHE PICHON, YVES CUILLERON, and others. For his Côte-Rôtie, he told me: “I harvested Bassenon [south, Tupin] at 12.5° on 3 September, and Rozier [Brune sector, just south of Ampuis] at 13° on 7 September, with a full yield. The wines have better acidity than my Saint-Joseph red, and will require some waiting time. The vines on the hillsides are doing better than the old oak trees near them – the oaks are starting to fail after several very hot summers, while the vines are keeping going.”
Growers continue to work around the challenges of high heat and dry conditions; there is no One Big Thing, but a series of incremental changes occurring, with the overriding objective one of securing finesse in the wines.
For example, STÉPHANE OGIER has changed his approach to new oak, a noteworthy development given that in 2005 I wrote in “The Wines of the Northern Rhône”: “I would, however, make a formal bet with Stéphane that he will be using less oak new oak, and will be seeking less obvious scale in his wines in 10 years’ time. One hundred dollars or Euros should do the job.” BINGO!
On my most recent visit, STÉPHANE recounted: “since 2018, I have used no new oak on the reds, replacing the 228-litre casks with demi-muids of 600-litres. The only new oak is for the whites now, then they can be used for the reds. The larger size of 600 litres helps the finesse in the reds; over 600 litres, and the wines reduce too much. I can leave them in the demi-muids for a year and not have to rack them – the larger size I have to rack. My idea is to have a first year in 600-litres and a second year of raising in 12 to 15 hl barrels.”
Cognet is an interesting lieu-dit,” he continued; “the soils are mica schist. Not many growers work it, but JEAN-PAUL JAMET has a lot of vines on it. For me, it gives the archetype of a belle Côte Brune. I vinify with the stems which brings a lot of character – the crop can handle the vegetal side. It’s a very good example of the Côte Brune in the vein of Côte-Rôtie of the 1980s and 1970s when there was always a vegetal side to the wines. I would not drink Cognet under 10 years’ old.”
Another grower with whom I have a close engagement is STÉPHANE MONTEZ, of DOMAINE DU MONTEILLET, whose Grandes Places is a leading Rôtie. I got on to one of my hobby horse subjects, namely the disaster of working with cultured yeasts that serve to homogenise so many wines, especially whites.
THE TALE OF WHY CULTURED YEASTS SHOULD BE AVOIDED: LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE
STÉPHANE told this story: “from 1997 onwards, I have never yeasted Les Grandes Places. In 2015, with the degree reading 16.1°, the laboratory (no oenologue used by him, note) said I should use cultured yeasts. As I never had, I didn’t want to. If the fermentation stopped, then I would use the lees of other finished vats – and if that didn’t work, then I would reluctantly yeast.
It fermented softly, with some cap punching, and by the end of one month, I had it analysed, and it didn’t even produce high Volatile Acidity. So the lab asked me “where did you get hold of that yeast”?
A €5,000 analysis of one litre was then done for the greater good, and it found that it was a wild yeast after all. We added 26 gm of sugar to test, see what happened, and it fermented until 17.5° dry – remarkable. My reds ferment at low temperature, 18°C, and to end the fermentation to enrobe and extract tannins I go up to 30°C. The yeasts in each domaine bring the typicity of the domaine. They are created by years and years, decades, of yeasts in the cellar.” Hear, hear. It can be done, but the caution of oenologues who don’t want to screw up, and to lose a contract, works against this - a disaster if character is to be preserved across wines from a noble terroir, dammit!
There follows a group of 2022s tasted so far across 2023. One message will remain, n’importe quoi, and that is that 2022 is a vintage to buy at Côte-Rôtie.
LEADING CÔTE-RÔTIE 2022s
| ****** | Ben & David Duclaux Cotx de Tupin | 2052-54 | 02/23 | crisp fruit, tannic energy, brilliant |
| ****** | Jean-Michel Gérin Côte Brune | 2053-55 | 02/23 | notably complex, fine, juicy, Burgundian |
| ****** | Domaine Jamet Côte Brune | 2056-58 | 02/24 | elegant perfume, complexity, mystery |
| ***** | Jean-Michel Gérin Grandes Places | 2051-53 | 02/23 | striding content, energy, persistence |
| ***** | Jean-Michel Gérin La Landonne | 2052-54 | 02/23 | running fruit, balance, most convincing |
| ***** | Domaine Jamet Côte Brune | 2056-58 | 11/22 | gd heart, aromatic, depth, structure |
| ***** | Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy Côte Blonde | 2051-53 | 02/23 | fluent, fluid, flair, persistence |
| ***** | Stéphane Ogier La Belle Hélène | 2056-58 | 02/24 | driving intensity juice, serious quality |
| ***** | Stéphane Ogier La Côte Blonde | 2053-55 | 04/24 | purring, effortless, balance, velvet |
| ***** | Stéphane Ogier La Viallière | 2054-56 | 04/24 | stardust, complexity, wide, cool |
| ***** | Domaine Rostaing Côte Blonde | 2056-58 | 11/24 | silk caress, velvet tannin, pure, fine |
| ***** | Domaine Rostaing La Landonne | 2054-56 | 11/24 | sexy coasting, inky, energy, STGT |
| ****(*) | Domaine Barge Coeur de Combard | 2048-50 | 02/23 | iron clad, persistent, complex |
| ****(*) | Dom Christophe Billon La Brocarde | 2050-52 | 04/24 | tasty, juicy heart, finesse, class |
| ****(*) | Christophe Billon La Côte Rozier | 2049-51 | 04/24 | crisp, stylish, handsome fruit, quality |
| ****(*) | P & C Bonnefond Les Rochins | 2050-52 | 10/24 | authentic, character, complex, nr 5* |
| ****(*) | Graeme & Julie Bott Fongeant | 2048-50 | 10/23 | bursting fruit, rocky energy, genuine |
| ****(*) | Bernard Burgaud | 2048-50 | 11/22 | wholesome, stylish, secure couch |
| ****(*) | Dom Bernard Chambeyron Chavaroche | 2048-50 | 04/24 | classic structure, droit, cool, energy |
| ****(*) | Nicolas Champagneux Grandes Places | 2048-50 | 04/25 | rich flow, savoury, grounded, STGT |
| ****(*) | Clusel Roch Bonnivière | 2046-48 | 02/23 | crystalline, iron, Burgundy, harmony |
| ****(*) | Clusel Roch Fongeant | 2050-52 | 02/23 | varied prompts, iron, spice, true |
| ****(*) | Clusel Roch Les Cinq Lieux | 2050-52 | 04/25 | intricate fruit, interest, intensity |
| ****(*) | Clusel Roch Les Grandes Places | 2053-55 | 04/25 | typical of LGP, tight, will be stylish |
| ****(*) | Clusel Roch La Viallière | 2050-52 | 02/23 | naked, balanced, discreet intensity |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Lieu dit Bonnivières | 2047-49 | 10/23 | penetrating fullness, spine, STGT |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Lieu-Dit La Viallière | 2047-49 | 10/23 | scale, thrust, richness, unbridled |
| ****(*) | Ben & David Duclaux La Germine | 2046-48 | 02/23 | fruit persistence, balance, graceful |
| ****(*) | Ben & David Duclaux Maison Rouge | 2052-54 | 02/23 | rich, emphatic, much potential |
| ****(*) | François & Fils Les Rochins | 2048-50 | 04/24 | subtle, authentic, streamline tannins |
| ****(*) | Pierre Gaillard Rose Pourpre | 2047-49 | 03/24 | intricate, fruit drive, long, sure bet |
| ****(*) | Domaine Garon Lancement | 2051-53 | 04/24 | purrs along, impressive, close to ***** |
| ****(*) | Domaine Garon Les Rochins | 2050-52 | 04/24 | fruit freshness, ferrous, v terroir |
| ****(*) | Xavier Gérard La Landonne | 2050-52 | 04/24 | stylish, confident, purity nose + pal |
| ****(*) | Jean-Michel Gérin Côte Bodin | 2047-49 | 02/23 | immediate fruit, genuine, expressive |
| ****(*) | Jean-Michel Gérin La Viallière | 2048-50 | 02/23 | gourmand fruit, posed, neat tannin |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jamet | 2051-53 | 02/24 | silky, good directness, precise, long |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jamet La Landonne | 2054-56 | 02/24 | iron & lead, Lando darkness, STGT |
| ****(*) | Domaine Jasmin La Giroflarie | 2049-51 | 10/24 | de la terre, genuine, rocky |
| ****(*) | Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy Côte Rozier | 2048-50 | 04/25 | joli, cruising, inner intensity, fresh end |
| ****(*) | Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy Fongeant | 2047-49 | 04/25 | immed impact, genuine, interest |
| ****(*) | Stéphane Montez Bons-Arrêts | 2049-51 | 04/25 | stylish, Burgundian, much potential |
| ****(*) | Stéphane Ogier Lancement | 2054-56 | 04/24 | nicely decisive, sparked, grad gainer |
| ****(*) | Dom Stéphane Pichat Grandes Places | 2051-53 | 04/24 | easy tune fruit, fresh spark, STGT |
| ****(*) | Domaine Julien Pilon la porchette | 2040-42 | 02/24 | v tasty fruit, calm, detail, Burgundy |
| ****(*) | Saint Cosme | 2046-48 | 07/23 | firm juice, cool, vitality |
| ****(*) | Dom Christophe Semaska Lancement | 2048-50 | 10/23 | juice refinement, long, classy, true |
| ****(*) | Maison Stéphan La So’Brune | 2045-47 | 02/23 | bright fruit, cool depth, length |
| ****(*) | Dom G Vernay Blonde du Seigneur | 2043-45 | 04/25 | iron freshness, discreet class, style |
| ****(*) | Pierre-Jean Villa Fongeant | 2047-49 | 05/23 | mystery, potential, iron, bustle |
| **** | Domaine Barge Les Côtes | 2046-48 | 02/23 | gd ensemble, Nordic, perfume, iron |
| **** | Dom Christophe Billon La Viallière | 2046-48 | 04/24 | light tread, soft, inner fibre |
| **** | P & C Bonnefond Colline de Couzou | 2047-49 | 10/24 | brisk flow, dentelle, floral, energy |
| **** | P & C Bonnefond Côte Rozier | 2049-51 | 10/24 | steady richness, padded tannin, round |
| **** | Léa Bonnefond Vignes de mon Père | 2045-47 | 10/24 | gentle, calm, pleasing, neat together |
| **** | Graeme & Julie Bott | 2043-45 | 10/23 | v naked, potential, clear drinking |
| **** | Dom Bernard Chambeyron L'Angeline | 2046-48 | 04/24 | firm content, tenacious, STGT |
| **** | Dom Bernard Chambeyron Chavarine | 2045-47 | 04/24 | belle structure, fruit flow, frank |
| **** | Nicolas Champagneux La Dédicace | 2045-47 | 04/25 | graphite influenced, bingo genuine |
| **** | M Chapoutier La Mordorée | 2046-48 | 10/23 | savoury, deep, grounded, rather swell |
| **** | M Chapoutier Neve | 2045-47 | 10/23 | gentle fruits, iron, clarity, finesse |
| **** | Dom Clos de la Bonnette Bassenon | 2045-47 | 04/24 | tightly mineral, ferrous, cool, suave |
| **** | Dom Clos de la Bonnette Prenelle | 2046-48 | 04/24 | grippy, naked, firm juice + tannin |
| **** | Clusel Roch Le Champon | 2048-50 | 04/25 | gd ferrous presence, tight, deep |
| **** | Clusel Roch Leyat | 2049-51 | 02/23 | tasty fruit, gd intensity, concentrated |
| **** | Clusel Roch Montmain | 2048-50 | 02/23 | sun ripeness, iron-rock tannin |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Bassenon | 2045-47 | 10/23 | calm, crystalline, pure, gradual evolver |
| **** | Degache Frères Maisons Blanches | 2046-48 | 04/24 | good core, juiced, authentic |
| **** | Bryan Deleu Anagramme | 2042-44 | 02/24 | linear appeal, precise gras, authentic |
| **** | Ben & David Duclaux La Chana | 2039-41 | 02/23 | bright, sprightly, measured substance |
| **** | Ferraton L’Églantine | 2045-47 | 02/24 | gourmandise, perfume, naked, crisp |
| **** | Ferraton Montmain | 2046-48 | 02/24 | fruit linger, nice freshness, stylish |
| **** | Pierre Gaillard Esprit de Blonde | 2046-48 | 03/24 | soft gras, mineral line, purity |
| **** | André François Gerine | 2043-45 | 05/23 | iron, well clad, seductive, STGT |
| **** | François & Fils Rozier | 2047-49 | 04/24 | concentrated juice, brooding, local ID |
| **** | Domaine Gallet | 2044-46 | 04/24 | gd Blonde wine, aromatic, fine length |
| **** | Yves & Mathilde Gangloff La Barbarine | 2043-45 | 04/25 | direct fruiting, crisp tannins, calm |
| **** | Domaine Garon Le Combard | 2048-50 | 04/24 | lightly aromatic, firm, close-knit |
| **** | Domaine Garon La Triote | 2045-47 | 04/24 | well composed, authentic, free, floral |
| **** | Xavier Gérard | 2047-49 | 04/24 | style, flow, dark fruit, freshness |
| **** | Xavier Gérard Le Mollard | 2048-50 | 04/24 | knit, resolute, juice finesse, time |
| **** | Domaine Jasmin Olea | 2048-50 | 10/24 | structured, slow burn, dense |
| **** | Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy Prélude | 2045-47 | 04/25 | gd momentum,. ferrous, well juiced |
| **** | Vignobles Levet Maestria | 2050-52 | 10/23 | rich, full, thrust, grounded, dark |
| **** | Vignobles Levet La Péroline | 2050-52 | 10/23 | rich, resounding, big, vintage masked |
| **** | Domaine François Merlin | 2042-44 | 10/23 | life in fruit, iron, firm tones |
| **** | Rémi Niéro Eminence | 2046-48 | 04/24 | elegance, some mystery, interest |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Bertholon | 2053-55 | 04/24 | deep gras, thick tannins, character |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Cognet | 2051-53 | 04/24 | juice intensity, inner drive, fresh, STGT |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Côte Bodin | 2049-51 | 04/24 | supple, spiced, fine tannin, workmanlike |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Fongeant | 2048-50 | 04/24 | pinpoint iron, floral, calm, promising |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Montlys | 2049-51 | 04/24 | firm clench, cool, upright, de la terre |
| **** | Stéphane Ogier Mon Village | 2045-47 | 03/24 | mineral droiteur, authentic, v steady |
| **** | Cédric Parpette Delta | 2046-48 | 04/24 | sure soft gras, profound, stately |
| **** | Cédric Parpette Le Plomb | 2046-48 | 04/24 | cool, upright, v clear, balanced |
| **** | Dom Stéphane Pichat Champon's | 2046-48 | 04/24 | cosy fruit, gourmand, late freshness |
| **** | Domaine Stéphane Pichat Löss | 2049-51 | 04/24 | fluid, pure, ferrous, pedigree fruit |
| **** | Domaine de Rosiers Besset | 2047-49 | 02/24 | well together, cool, iron, spinal |
| **** | Domaine Rostaing Ampodium | 2046-48 | 11/24 | joli juice, floral, pretty open |
| **** | Domaine Rostaing Côte Brune | 2050-52 | 11/24 | firm, extensive, ferrous, charm |
| **** | Domaine Rostaing Viallière | 2053-55 | 11/24 | close-knit, droit, intricate, time |
| **** | Christophe Semaska Elixir d'Ariane | 2050-52 | 10/23 | deep, structured, tight, new oak |
| **** | Christophe Semaska Fleur Montlys | 2044-46 | 10/23 | perfumed, gentle gras, oily Vio feel |
| **** | Dom Christophe Semaska Harmony | 2042-44 | 10/23 | dance, expressive, naked, accurate |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Cotx Bassenon | 2046-48 | 02/24 | firm gras all along, intensity, terroir |
| ***(*) | Christophe Billon Les Elotins | 2045-47 | 04/24 | close-knit, ferrous, grippy, naked |
| ***(*) | Graeme & Julie Bott Lancement | 2043-45 | 10/23 | fruit surge, savoury, cool fruiting |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Les Bécasses | 2042-44 | 10/23 | attractive, joli fruit flow, harmony |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Quatuor | 2044-46 | 10/23 | well knit, hangs together effectively |
| ***(*) | Clusel Roch Les Schistes | 2046-48 | 04/25 | upright, cool, naked, pared back |
| ***(*) | Yves Cuilleron Madinière | 2044-46 | 10/23 | up front, copious, obvious density |
| ***(*) | Domaine Degache Frères | 2040-42 | 04/24 | aromatic, down the line, clear |
| ***(*) | François & Fils | 2053-55 | 04/24 | cool fruit, iron presence, sound depth |
| ***(*) | Domaine Garon Sybarine | 2041-43 | 04/24 | cosy flow, mineral hint |
| ***(*) | J-Paul & Loïc Jamet Fructus Voluptas | 2040-42 | 02/24 | gentle fruit, steady depth, wholesome |
| ***(*) | Vignobles Levet Améthyste | 2045-47 | 10/23 | easy flow fruit, genuine, timeless |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Montez Fortis | 2046-48 | 04/25 | restrained, regular, bit in the crowd |
| ***(*) | Rémi Niéro Vires de Serine | 2044-46 | 04/25 | ripe, squeezy content, upholstered |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Ogier Champon | 2050-52 | 04/24 | close-knit, fibre, crunch, doughty |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Ogier Mon Village | 2045-47 | 04/24 | conservative, open fruit, fluent, orderly |
| ***(*) | Domaine de Rosiers Drevon | 2045-47 | 02/24 | firm juice, bit rugged, downhome |
| ***(*) | Christophe Semaska Ch de Montlys | 2041-43 | 10/23 | soft gras, refined, lead pencil, oak |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Tartaras | 2045-47 | 02/24 | classic structure, careful, fresh |
| ***(*) | Maison Bruyère & David Déclive | 2038-40 | 09/23 | savoury, easy flow, harmonious |
| ***(*) | Maison Stéphan Les Binardes | 2043-45 | 02/23 | grapey insistence, depth to advance |
| *** | Famille Pierre Gaillard | 2043-45 | 03/24 | easy access, elegant, simple |
| *** | Yves Gangloff La Sereine Noire | 2044-46 | 04/25 | early caress, but tough finale |
| *** | Bernard & Nicolas Garayt Valdebert | 2041-43 | 02/24 | cool clarity fruit, modern, bit technical |
| *** | Cédric Parpette Montmain | 2043-45 | 04/24 | emphatic, oak influenced, butty, iron |
| *** | Domaine Vau'Ro'Zier Serenum Rhodanum | 2038-40 | 04/25 | crunchy, trad, honest, grass roots |
2022 is an exciting vintage at Cornas, if only for the fact that the vines displayed the utmost adaptability to shrug off the excesses of a very hot, very dry summer, even when their growth was stunted. The fact that there is balance this year - the alpha and omega of any wine - is remarkable and laudable. Terroir will out.
I have visited a range of domaines since the harvest and tasted across a decent amount of wines into the spring of 2024. I receive the impression that some of the wines are a little quiet, those especially where growers have sought to harvest early to avoid excess degree, and then pursue a light vinification to achieve cool fruit, cool fruit without great substance in some cases.
Another possible angle is a sense of ripeness, of sun rays, in some wines, something that is being revealed after about 18 months. Freshness is not necessarily a given in these. It's therefore a vintage in a state of flux, with further visits to occur in the first half of 2024.
DESPITE CONDITIONS, 2022 NOT AN ARCHETYPAL HOT VINTAGE
Degrees are reasonable, mostly below 14°, so 2022 is not an archetypal heated year, even though OLIVIER CLAPE gave me an interesting view in July, 2023, when commenting: “after a year or so, the wines have become a bit more powerful, heated. Post vinification, I related them to 2020, but now, with more power, they are more like 2017 for me. The vineyard managed the weather very well – the grapes were full, if small, and the degree good. The 15 mm [0.6 in] on 16-17 August slowed down the vines, aided acidities, turned things in our favour. 2020 and 2022 are Cornas in the sun style, whereas 2021 is true Cornas.”
OLIVIER’s overall take on the growing season ran as follows: “it was very hot and dry from 1 January until 14 August, only 260 mm [10.2 in] of rain altogether. A total of 25 mm [1 in] fell on 15 and then 17 August, with Mauves having more rain. We started the harvest on 23 August; we were going to pick very fast, having waited a touch to see if the rain had helped – it actually only really helped the low lying areas.
FEW TREATMENTS, LITTLE VINE GROWTH AFTER MID-SUMMER
Because the winter was quite cold, the vineyards didn’t get going early, so it was a more normal date, with tying the shoots in early May, for example. There was a very fast development of growth at the start, with temperatures towards 30°C during May. There were six weeks of action, then the vines slowed down. Treatments were few, while the growth wasn’t high enough for making a bridge between the vines [linking the vegetation above the height of a person from one vine to the next].
Usually the vineyard team are off work on 14 July, but this year I said to them “there’s no more work for you” on 21 June. Flowering went well, and the vegetation was pretty. In the first two weeks of July, we had two falls of 20 mm [0.8 in]; there were no weeds, and the growing was even. Then we had the extreme heat of 38°-39°C, the nights at 21°-22°C.
The skins weren’t too thick. We made sure to keep the vegetation, and didn’t touch the vines because we didn’t want to disturb the bunches. Historically, the grapes in 1989 [a firm, tannic vintage] were smaller than those in 2022. The low lying vines did well this year.
Vinifications ran as usual, except we did less in the cellar, less cap punching, especially at the end. The big surprise was the degree, 13° to 13.7°, not higher. Before the first rain, the degree was 13.5°, which dipped a bit after it. Acidity levels dropped fast post rain. The 2022 yield was 29 hl/ha, against 33 hl/ha in the frost hit 2021. Overall, degree this year will be 13° to 13.5°.
The stunted growth of the vines was remarked upon by several growers, including LIONEL FRAISSE of DOMAINE ALAIN VOGE: “the low zones gave a good yield in 2022, but the higher hills suffered for quantity, our harvest 27 hl/ha this year. We had 3 mm of rain from the end of April until the 15 August, when 15 mm [0.6 in] fell - which wasn’t enough, and was too late for the hillside vines.
The drought and high heat did not bring a grilling effect, it’s just that the vines stopped growing past the height of their wooden stakes, so we were left with little Bonsai plants, with very little juice per vine. There isn’t a lot of wood to prune in 2023.”
CLASSIC 10,000 PLANTS DENSITY NOW TOO HIGH
LIONEL also pointed to an issue in the wider context, stating: “we are now in an era where the old hillside density of 8,000 to 10,000 plants per hectare, especially on the historical plots, has to be questioned, because there is too much competition for what little moisture there is. We aren’t replacing all the dead vines now.”
PLIGHT OF YOUNG VINES, DESPITE IRRIGATION
FRANCK BALTHAZAR likewise told me about how low his canopy had been in 2022, with a kicker about the plight of young vines under such conditions: “I irrigated the young vines I planted on Chaillot, replacement vines, in the spring, 10,000 litres three times, between the end of April and 6 August, and lost 95% of them.”
T ALLEMAND VIEW ON IRRIGATION
THIÉRRY ALLEMAND also made observations about current challenges, focusing on the vexed subject of irrigation: “it’s better to irrigate down below near the village than it is to plant at altitude. The high vines are trained on wires and have the width of 2.5 metres to allow a tractor to pass between the rows.
At altitude, the costs are €6 per litre of Cornas, whereas my costs on the hillsides are €33 per litre. Across three months I have 15 people doing the attachment of the vine shoots – summer work is our main expense. Irrigation is good-OK in the first three years of a plant, but the problem is excess irrigation – in 2020 there were vast grapes produced.”
On the vintage, he stated: “2022 was difficult – it was very dry, but it was a burnt form of dry, not like an old fashioned drought. There was very little vegetation growth, and a blockage of ripening in the vineyards. The first juice of the harvest gave 15 hl/ha. Any South facing old vines on stony soils had very little volume. We ended with 22 hl/ha. Degrees were similar to 2021, 13° to 14°.”
MICKAËL BOURG, whose viticultural skills are recognised by his fellow growers, managed to avoid arrested growth this year, informing me: “I adore 2022 Cornas. Flowering was in early June (against mid-June in 2023). Because I have no real high slope vines – they are on Mazards and the chemin de Coulet – I wasn’t so hit by the stunted growth of vegetation in 2022 as was experienced by growers like Voge and Balthazar in 2022.
STUNTED GROWTH AVOIDED BY M BOURG BECAUSE NO REAL HIGH SLOPE VINEYARDS
When I returned from holiday in Brittany on 10 August, the grapes were tiny, and I was worried, and thought we were really in it. The rain of around 60 mm [2.2 in] towards 15 August properly saved us, both for Cornas and Saint-Péray. Then the 4-5 mm every two to three days in early September helped the vines up high on Saint-Pierre. The pH is 3.5 against 3.8 usually, so that is good.
The wine is fresh and hyper balanced. 2019 is essentially less balanced. I rate 2022 a Grand Vintage – it’s good all over Cornas. I tasted quite a few at the Marché de Cornas in December, 2022, and they were all very good. Cornas is a sketch – everyone working well. People are working the soils a lot more, and there are fewer weedkillers being used as well.”
THE MAGIC EFFECT OF THE AUGUST RAIN
GUILLAUME GILLES felt that the vineyard had drawn back from a precipice in August, commenting: “the vine resembled dried tobacco leaves in July, but resisted very well. The mid-August rain was less than at Mauves and Tournon, but its 60 mm [2.4 in] had an almost instantaneous effect – the pale, yellow leaves regained their green colour and by the 15th you could only see green leaves everywhere. The grapes were revitalised and aromatic, while the degree wasn’t high. I started the Chaillot harvest on 24 August, and picked Les Rieux high up between 10 and 12 September.”
LAURENT COURBIS of DOMAINE COURBIS, has vineyards right in the centre of the appellation, notably part of the ex NOËL VERSET La Sabarotte: “2022 is beau,” he told me. “We had a big slice of luck thanks to the 35 mm [1.2 in] of rain on 16 August – that helped obtain more juice, so the wines are jolis, rich enough, without the rather extreme ripeness of 2019, meaning they are well balanced.
It’s perhaps not as good as 2020, but I like the vintage, which has gras, with freshness. We didn’t do any trimming up high, since the growth of the canopy was limited, while there was no pressure from blights. We harvested the whites from 23 August, reds from 27 August, and ended the whole harvest on 6 September. The Cornas yield was 37.5 hl/ha.”
2022 IS APART FROM 2019
The veteran, retired but wise ROBERT MICHEL also set 2022 apart from concentrated years such as 2019, commenting: “2022 is a joli year, a bit less generous than the hot and very dense years such as 2019 – it’s more fluid.”
ROBERT’s nephew VINCENT PARIS, who works the vines on 0.9 hectare on Genale for me and fellow owners, filed this report: “2022 was easy next to 2021. The yield on Genale was very low, 18 hl/ha, because of the dry conditions. The grapes were very small, as they were across the Rhône, but held very good quality. There was a lot of sun, and colours are very intense, the aromas strong, the tannins dark. It’s very, very beau, marked by drought, but there was a good budding, so the yield was OK.
Fermentations went well; I don’t extract much now, just pumping overs – I haven’t done any cap punching since 2009. The colour is, the darkest of recent years, and the tannins are harmonious. The degree is classic – 14° for La Geynale, 13° for Granit 30 from Patou down low and Saint-Pierre up high, 12.5° for the St Jo red.”
BALANCE REMARKED UPON
MATTHIEU BARRET, who works his DOMAINE DU COULET biodynamically was another grower to refer to the vintage’s balance, reporting: “I started the 2022 Syrah harvest on 1st September; the level of acidity is actually OK, and there’s fruit, the degree OK at 12.5°. There is balance, too, though the tannin could have a touch of dryness. It’s aromatic and very gourmand as a year, almost too gourmand. I started my whites on 23 August.”
LAURE COLOMBO uses organic practices at DOMAINE DE LORIENT for her Saint-Péray and Cornas and gave this summary: “it was a very tiring year, five months at over 30°C; vinifications went well, and it’s stunning that the reds are quite fresh, not high in degree – 13°, against 15° in previous hot years, the vineyards adapting to the work in them. We don’t work the soils like we used to, and sow seeds, and preserve organic matter which retains the moisture.”
A PERFECT YEAR FOR ORGANIC YIELDS
LUDOVIC IZÉRABLE of the organic DOMAINE LIONNET also fared well with crop in 2022, which was a perfect vintage because of low blight levels (unlike 2023 with mildew): “I had a nearly full yield on the Syrah this year, but my white harvest for the Saint-Joseph was hit by oïdium,” he told me.
GILBERT SERRETTE keeps himself busy still for the family domaine DUMIEN-SERRETTE, and was another person relieved about harvest size, recounting: “after losing 40% from the frost in 2021, we had both quantity and quality in 2022. We also went back to including all the stems in the 2022 vinification, after using 50% of them in 2021.” In passing, I mention their Vin de France Syrah Le Moulin, made from Syrah (2014) on galet stone covered soils next to the Rhône – an absolute ripper in 2022, ****(*) wine, wholesome, full of heart and persistence.
THOMAS SCHMITTEL of EQUIS, the mini merchant business he runs with MAXIME GRAILLOT, buys the harvest of ELIE BANCEL, whose forte has always been the vines more than the vinifications. His summary ran thus: “2022 was a lot harder on the hillsides than the plain. We lost 50% at Cornas – there was little juice in the grapes, which were very small. There wasn’t a blockage as such, and the acidity levels are belles; the vines adapted, and the tannins do not resemble those of 2003 and 2005, aren’t dry. We ended up with 2,400 bottles instead of 4,000. “
J LEMENICIER: 2022 VERY GOURMAND, MAY NOT LIVE LONG
JACQUES LEMENICIER was one grower who struck a note of caution about the keeping possibilities for 2022: certainly the fruit early on is flattering, but I feel there is structure behind that, so we will see. His resumé ran as follows: “half our plants are up high, on Saint-Pierre, for example, so we had vivacity from them. The degree is lower than 2020 which was 15° to 16°, the 2022 at 13.5° to 14°. The photosynthesis didn’t perform that well due to the high heat.
We harvested Saint-Pierre on 23 September two weeks ahead of usual. There was no blockage of ripening in the vineyards up high or near the village, though there was a blockage on Chaillot and Genale. The 2022s are powerful, come with the concern about a lack of acidity; they have less degree and acidity than 2020, are very gourmand, may not live long. The yield was 30 hl/ha.”
STÉPHANE ROBERT of DOMAINE DU TUNNEL also referenced 2020, telling me: “2022 Cornas is between 2020 (round, facile, quite concentrated, rich) and 2019 (more austere, hard, but a year when you could use more stems, even though I don’t go for it on them, my max being 30% - it’s better to include less than too many).”
One of the interesting threads to follow with this vintage will be whether it takes on a more obvious sun-fuelled depth as it ages, whether the content will tighten and become more dense. The very acceptable level of acidity and the avoidance of grilling in the fruit from excess sun should allow a measured evolution, although the fact that there were blockages in some parts does not guarantee total harmony as the wines settle down. It will be fun to monitor them over the next five years or so.
LEADING CORNAS 2022s
| ***** | Thiérry Allemand Reynard | 2052-54 | 10/24 | broad, v inviting, pitter patter |
| ***** | Franck Balthazar Chaillot zero SO2 | 2037-39 | 11/22 | pure fruit, flow, balance, spine |
| ***** | Domaine Clape | 2052-54 | 10/24 | tasty fruit, stylish content, energy |
| ***** | Dumien-Serrette Henri | 2050-52 | 02/23 | convincing, flair, class, stylish |
| ***** | Vincent Paris La Geynale | 2047-49 | 09/23 | life, energy, balance, purring content |
| ****(*) | Maison Les Alexandrins | 2044-46 | 09/23 | gd structure, streamlined, fresh, long |
| ****(*) | Franck Balthazar Chaillot | 2048-50 | 10/24 | juice appeal, silk tannins, orchestral |
| ****(*) | Franck Balthazar Hommage wh label | 2047-49 | 10/24 | silky, relaxed, classy, Swiss watch |
| ****(*) | Franck Balthazar zero SO2 | 2039-41 | 10/24 | calm, refined, fleshy, fine rockiness |
| ****(*) | Yves Cuilleron Les Côtes | 2044-46 | 10/23 | rich, prolonged, vivid, Rock n'Roll |
| ****(*) | Dumien-Serrette Patou | 2048-50 | 02/23 | inky, fuelled, ferrous, clear fruit |
| ****(*) | Equis | 2046-48 | 05/23 | stylish, balanced, high quality |
| ****(*) | Ferraton Patou | 2044-46 | 02/24 | belle concentration, Cornas vigour |
| ****(*) | Guillaume Gilles Chaillot | 2050-52 | 10/24 | gd ensemble, iron, spine, true |
| ****(*) | Domaine Lionnet Pur Granit | 2048-50 | 10/24 | suave content, classic tannins, Rocker |
| ****(*) | Vincent Paris Granit 60 | 2044-46 | 09/23 | well juiced, filling, balance |
| ****(*) | Domaine du Tunnel Pur Noir | 2045-47 | 09/23 | pretty, precise juice; stylish, calm |
| ****(*) | Domaine du Tunnel Vin Noir | 2046-48 | 09/23 | firm structure, floral, serious |
| ****(*) | A & Emmanuelle Verset Signature Verset | 2050-52 | 02/23 | grounded structure, cool, long |
| ****(*) | Alain Voge Les Vieilles Fontaines | 2046-48 | 09/23 | poised, velvet-like, harmony, silk gras |
| **** | Thiérry Allemand Chaillot | 2046-48 | 10/24 | firm juice, gourmand, pleaser |
| **** | Franck Balthazar Casimir Balthazar | 2042-44 | 10/24 | stylish, pleasing, pitter patter |
| **** | Franck Balthazar Juliette | 2043-45 | 10/24 | discreet spine, calm, floral, joli |
| **** | Mickaël Bourg Les p’tits bouts | 2042-44 | 10/24 | fine tuned, streamlined tannins, ****+ |
| **** | Maison Bruyère & David Saint Pierre | 2042-44 | 09/23 | appealing flow, authentic, style |
| **** | Cave de Tain Arènes Sauvages | 2040-42 | 09/23 | free juice, easy gras, exuberant, local |
| **** | Julien Cécillon Saint-Pierre | 2044-46 | 05/23 | exuberant, floral, ensemble, STGT |
| **** | Dom Chaboud-Cellier Pur Sang | 2044-46 | 09/23 | liberal fruit, structure, balance, oak |
| **** | M Chapoutier Téménos | 2045-47 | 10/23 | elegant richness, gd mineral, balance |
| **** | Yves Cuilleron Le Village | 2040-42 | 10/23 | youthful vigour, bonny, appealing gras |
| **** | Domaine Durand Confidence | 2043-45 | 09/23 | harmony, perfumed, Burgundian |
| **** | Ferraton Les Eygats | 2045-47 | 02/24 | intricate, mystery, taut iron, rocky |
| **** | Paul Jaboulet Aîné Grandes Terrasses | 2044-46 | 09/23 | raw, elemental, intrinsic vigour |
| **** | Jacques Lemenicier | 2045-47 | 02/23 | fruit intensity, verve, length |
| **** | Jacques Lemenicier Père Laurier | 2046-48 | 02/23 | coated, polished, smoky drive |
| **** | Domaine Lionnet Terre Brûlée | 2047-49 | 10/24 | grounded, dark, mysterious, time |
| **** | Domaine Mucyn Hypsos | 2041-43 | 09/23 | juicy appeal, fruit forward, scope |
| **** | Rémy Nodin Coteau des Eygas | 2044-46 | 09/23 | grounded, unbridled, tannic drive |
| **** | Vincent Paris Granit 30 | 2041-43 | 09/23 | juicy, round, vivid, v easy to like |
| **** | Julien Pilon l’élégance du Caillou | 2039-41 | 02/24 | measured content, savoury gras |
| **** | Dom des Remizières Les Remizières | 2045-47 | 09/23 | modern, swish, fruit drive, local |
| **** | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Les Côtes | 2043-45 | 02/24 | energy, drive, zap, authentic |
| **** | Domaine du Tunnel | 2044-46 | 09/23 | fruit flow, iron flecked, tempo |
| **** | Domaine Alain Voge Vieilles Vignes | 2046-48 | 09/23 | Cornas darkness, snap, length, brio |
| **** | Maison Bruyère & David Saint-Pierre | 2042-44 | 09/23 | quality fruit, iron, style, authentic |
| ***(*) | Domaine Chaboud-Cellier | 2042-44 | 09/23 | cool, flowing fruits, neat, easy |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Les Arènes | 2043-45 | 10/23 | close knit, fruit length. polite |
| ***(*) | M Chapoutier Saint-Pierre | 2046-48 | 10/23 | direct, linear, spiced, close to cellar |
| ***(*) | Domaine Durand Empreintes | 2041-43 | 09/23 | agile juicing, fresh, sound Cornas |
| ***(*) | Domaine Durand Prémices | 2044-46 | 09/23 | soft furnishing, gains depth |
| ***(*) | Domaine Farge Harmonie | 2040-42 | 09/23 | immed juice, bright, straightforward |
| ***(*) | Ferraton Les Grands Mûriers | 2041-43 | 02/24 | mobile content, iron line, local imprint |
| ***(*) | Guillaume Gilles Les Rieux | 2042-44 | 10/24 | fruit sweetness, savoury, peppery |
| ***(*) | Stéphane Montez Dom du Monteillet | 2046-48 | 04/25 | streamlined, discreet fruit, oaking |
| ***(*) | Les Sept Pierres | 2038-40 | 02/24 | snappy content, vigour, rocky length |
| ***(*) | Jean-Baptiste Souillard Saint-Pierre | 2045-47 | 02/24 | iron couch, upright, snap tannins |
| ***(*) | Alain & Emmanuelle Verset | 2045-47 | 02/23 | crisp-crunch, lithe, firm |
| ***(*) | Vidal-Fleury | 2044-46 | 09/23 | bustling, propelled fruit, bit wild |
| *** | Delas Chante Perdrix | 2039-41 | 09/23 | jumbled, fibrous, ?? sample |
| *** | Famille Pierre Gaillard | 2042-44 | 03/24 | lucid, pristine fruit, New Wave |
| *** | Dom P Jaboulet Aîné Dom Saint-Pierre | 2044-46 | 03/24 | steady, mild, pristine, can grow |
| *** | Pic & Chapoutier | 2033-35 | 02/24 | easy offer, floral, bistrot, low-key |
| *** | Domaine Alain Voge Les Chaillés | 2040-42 | 09/23 | low-key, functional, life in fruit |