2017 and 2018 Northern Rhône: Birds of a Feather...with a Difference

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | JULY 18, 2019

Producers in the northern Rhône Valley endured a crazy, wholly unpredictable growing season in 2017. This included an abnormally dry and warm winter that caused a fast start to budbreak, followed by an extended cold spell, including sometimes severe frosts that delayed and stunted flowering. Beneficial rains occurred through May, and then an often brutally hot, dry summer advanced ripening at a dizzying pace and caused acidities to drop. Finally, rejuvenating rain at the end of August set the stage for a harvest that was two weeks earlier than that of 2016. Luckily, the weather held and growers were able to harvest at their leisure into the second half of October, with no more loss of acidity and a very steady sugar accumulation in the fruit. The grapes and clusters were small, meaning that the wines are well-concentrated, offering abundant dark fruit character and somewhat lowish acidity that will allow most of them to be enjoyed on the relatively young side. The wines’ concentration notwithstanding, 2017 is an early-drinking vintage. In my experience wines like these lose freshness at an increased pace compared to those from more bright, well-balanced growing seasons, so my preference is to err on the side of youth in hot years. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong!

Young vines in the granitic soils of the highly esteemed and high-altitude Les Eygats lieu-dit in Cornas

Nature Culls the Crop