First Impressions on the 2021 Vintage in the Northern Rhône
May 18, 2023
Raj Vaidya
I have just returned from a quick trip to the Northern Rhône to get a clearer picture of the vintage 2021, and wanted to share some thoughts and experiences with the Club. The ‘21 vintage in the region had some similarities with the conditions noted in Burgundy to the north and even to Champagne; there was a frost in April which had substantial effects on certain areas, especially Côte Rôtie and Sessyuel in the North, and the summer remained quite stormy with lots of rain, even significant hail in July and August. Rains arrived mid-summer and thanks to the wet, muddy conditions the vineyards were harder to work, especially at the steepest sites, and mildew became a big issue. The region dried out a bit in late August, only to have rain return right before harvest, leading many to worry about dilution in the wines. But despite all these tribulations, and the obvious difficulty of the work of viticulture that season, I have to say the wines that I’ve tasted on this trip were truly astounding in quality, reminding me of a hybrid of the 2010 and 2008 vintages.
2008 was mostly disregarded in terms of quality in its day, a rainy, dilute and yet somewhat acidic and austere profile of wine that was overshadowed by the two subsequent vintages, the heralded 2009s with tons of ripeness and richness and the elegant, more balanced 2010s. But I’ve found the ‘08s to be quite charming, if indeed a tad austere, as they have come towards maturity. They exhibit a certain restraint which is appealing after tasting the recent vintages of 2018-2020 and realizing that this kind of cool vintage profile is perhaps going the way of the Dodo. The 2010s were super impressive when young, bright and fresh while simultaneously being concentrated and dense. I much prefer most wines from ‘10 to the 2009s.
2021 seems to ride the fine line between these two. The concentration level is pretty high, achieved via the misfortune of reduced yield, first from frost and then from crop thinning and sorting at harvest due to mildew. Yet the coolness of the season is evident in the light color, low alcohols and floral, delicate nature of the palate. Jean-Louis Chave said to me that the region “needed a vintage and season like 2021, first because it teaches the young generation a lot about farming and making wine, but also because the recent hot vintages will need a lot of time to integrate and become delicious, and we’ll need some drinkable wines while we wait for those…”. He is likely right, the 2021s are already pleasurable (his are yet not bottled, but will be later this year) in their finesse and delicacy, and I don’t think it will be a vintage that needs 10 years in bottle before it is delicious.
A FEW NOTES ON SOME OF THE DOMAINES VISITED
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Saint-Joseph & Hermitage
The Saint-Joseph range of 2021s are stellar at Chave, no surprise, and are currently resting in tank prior to blending and bottling. This was the most open set of wines we tasted, given that they had been racked and are out of wood containers now, but have not been sulphured yet in preparation of bottling. The Hermitage range showed well, but a tad more shy, and are all structure at this stage as they are still in barrel. Colors are light and the wines show great lift and elegance.
Domaine Franck Balthazar, Cornas
Balthazar continues to reach new heights vintage after vintage, and the ‘21s are no exception, superbly long on the palate and maybe the most complex wines I tasted at the current stage. Thus far the barrels I’ve tasted have not been sulphured, so I imagine they’ll gain a bit of brawn before bottling. Also worth noting that the ‘21 vintage is the first which benefits from an additional year of ageing, so 6-8 more months in barrel, something Franck has been working towards for some years.
Domaine Pierre Gonon, Saint Joseph
Jean Gonon’s ‘21s are truly ethereal, and even though in the recent hot vintages Jean has always managed to maintain great balance his ‘21s are truly refreshing, with some pretty low alcohols (barely hitting 12 degrees) and tremendous tension. These will likely be amongst the longest lived wines from this vintage
Domaine Clusel-Roch, Côte-Rôtie
Always a favorite of mine, unsurprisingly the ‘21s are delicious already. Prepared now for bottling (some of the Vin de France and regional wines are already in bottle) the wines show pretty nice structure and a real forwardness and florality. The Vialliere will be one of the most memorable wines from this range.
