BY JOSH RAYNOLDS |
Hot on the heels of the outstanding 2015 vintage, 2016 produced one of the strongest sets of white wines from the northern Rhône region in recent memory. The only issue will be actually finding them, as production in many cases was pitifully small.
Winemakers often lament that high quality and copious quantity seldom occur in tandem. In 2016 that dictum played out to varying degrees for the white wines of the northern Rhône Valley. In the Hermitage area a double whammy of springtime hailstorms and delayed flowering drove yields down, often dramatically. Fortunately, the fruit that made it through produced some of the best white Rhône wines of recent years, even decades. On the other hand, Condrieu avoided such weather travails and fared much better.
Although white wines comprise only about 2% of the Rhône Valley’s total production, they have become a point of pride for virtually every producer in the region. Quality has been on a steep upward curve over the past decade, and the wines, especially Condrieu and Hermitage blanc, now have a solid presence at high-end restaurants and in retail shops around the globe. Moreover, recent vintages have been extremely kind to the region. I can say with confidence that most of the finest white Rhônes that I have ever tasted came from the 2015 and 2016 vintages.
Saint-Joseph Paradis Blanc
