CRITIC’S CORNER | Matt Walls
Based between Avignon and London, Matt Walls is the author of Wines of the Rhône, and has been specialising in the region for over a decade, notably in his role as contributing editor to Decanter magazine. He also writes for timatkin.com and Club Oenologique, and serves as a wine judge, speaker and consultant. He tells us why Côte-Rôtie is the appellation to look for in Rhône’s 2023 vintage…
When you hear people talk about the merits of ‘the Rhône vintage’, it’s always worth asking which part of the Rhône they’re talking about. Some growing seasons are very similar across the Northern and Southern Rhône. Take 2020, for example; hot and dry but not parched, the wines are excellent throughout the whole of the Rhône Valley, in a ripe but fresh style.
Other years see very different conditions between the north and south. It’s hardly surprising given the sheer size of the region: Côte-Rôtie is as close to Beaune as it is to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The 2016 vintage is a case in point; grandiose and lavish in the Southern Rhône, but relatively compact and classic in the Northern Rhône, which saw a cooler, wetter spring.
‘Côte-Rôtie is as close to
MATT WALLS
Beaune as it is to
Châteauneuf-du-Pape’
There are certain vintages that witness even more localised climatic events, meaning some individual appellations perform considerably better than their neighbours. And that’s just what happened in 2023, whose wines recently came onto the market en primeur.
For most of the Rhône, this was a challenging vintage, a year of extremes. In the north, after a dry start to the year, the whole region faced repeated small rain showers throughout late spring and early summer. The water was welcome; the mildew less so (though it wasn’t as severe as in Bordeaux or the Loire). Then in August, the heatwave arrived. So far, so similar.
The decisive factor was the storm that arrived in Tain L’Hermitage on the evening of 18th September. The forecast predicted 30mm of rain, but over 100mm fell that night, tearing ravines down the pathways that snake up the hill of Hermitage and damaging the vineyards. Though still largely a good vintage, some wines at the southern pole of the Northern Rhône can lack concentration as a result.
In Côte-Rôtie, however, 50km further north, they received just 20mm of rain. It was this lucky escape – coupled with some welcome wetter weather earlier in the spring – that made the difference, and is the reason that Côte-Rôtie is the AC to look for in 2023. Here, the style is detailed, charming and refreshingly drinkable – in short, beautifully balanced.
In my vintage report for Decanter (available on Decanter Premium or in the February edition of the magazine), I pick out such domaines as B&D Duclaux, Garon, JP Jamet and Ogier as worthy of consideration. Ogier’s Lancement cuvée is my red wine of the vintage in the north, with an unbelievably aromatic nose and a full-bodied yet fine, silky palate. A wine of utter perfection, with perfect balance and such energy, tension and freshness, it’s one of the finest young Côte-Rôties I’ve ever tasted.
Matt Walls will be hosting Rhône Roots on 30th April 2025, where over 40 leading estates – and a hand-picked selection of producers from outside France – will be pouring their wines at Lumière in Central London. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.rhoneroots.com
WHAT
I’VE
LEARNED
Prue Henschke
IN
THE
VINEYARD
Domaine des Tourelles
ON
THE
ROAD
The London somms in Madeira