Northern Rhône: Where Diversity Ignites the Senses

BY NICOLAS GREINACHER | MARCH 28, 2024

Traveling up and down the Northern Rhône Valley always paints a highly diverse picture. These vineyards stretch across a distance of over 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the northernmost to the southernmost points. Depending on the individual appellation, the stylistic expressions can be worlds apart. Using Syrah as the same single-grape variety, light- to medium-bodied, delicate, floral Côte-Rôties line up against full-bodied, tannic, occasionally rustic Cornas. Bold and ambitious Marsanne Hermitage Blanc has little in common with crisp and lean Saint-Péray. Within Condrieu alone, there is a vast range of Viognier styles across different producers. Writing about the Northern Rhône is like putting together a detailed puzzle. Generalizations can be drawn, yet exceptions often lurk nearby. Based on my personal observations during an extensive two-week trip last autumn, winemakers and vines exhibit a remarkable degree of adaptability, a quality that is becoming ever more crucial in the face of climate change. And despite a softening global demand for fine wine, appellations here are either expanding or, in cases where the potential is already maximized, maintaining their current size.

Christine Vernay of Domaine Georges Vernay gets a warm hug from her daughter, Emma Amsellem.

Following a wet 2021 growing season that led to frequent quality inconsistencies, the warm and dry 2022 vintage presented its own set of challenges. As mentioned in this report, the devil is in the details. Firstly, 2021 is characterized by its high variability, both in reds and whites. While there are a few surprising 2021 reds across all the appellations, the most promising offerings hail from Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Cornas. In select appellations, such as Hermitage or Condrieu, some 2021 whites shine spectacularly. By contrast, 2022 paints an entirely different picture. The reds often range from very good to outstanding, if falling slightly short of the recent benchmark set by 2020. As for the 2022 whites, they generally exhibit more ripeness, body and alcohol than their 2021 counterparts, yet they generally manage to achieve balance without veering into excess. While 2022 largely favors reds, there are exceptional whites worth seeking out, particularly those from Hermitage.

Although this broad report covers 652 wines from 72 different producers, my future aim is to expand coverage by including smaller and emerging wineries. While my primary focus here was to uncover insights into the 2022 and 2021 vintages, I seized every opportunity to address occasional gaps in the Vinous database from prior years, such as 2020. After delving deeply into the overarching conditions of the 2022 vintage, this report zooms in on the most renowned Northern Rhône appellations: Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Cornas. To complete the puzzle, Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Condrieu, Saint-Péray and Château-Grillet are also examined, while a market update brings in some commercial perspective. Lastly, readers seeking detailed information on the 2021 growing season are encouraged to refer to Josh Raynolds’ earlier report, Never a Dull Vintage in the Northern Rhône.

The 2022 Growing Season…

The year commenced with a relatively cool January, followed by a gradual rise in temperatures. In Tain-L’Hermitage, average March and April temperatures were 9.7°C and 12.8°C (49.5°F and 55°F), respectively, with the May average almost hitting the 20°C (68°F) mark. Consequently, flowering began fairly early – around the 20th of May. Despite rising temperatures, rainfall remained scarce, other than much-needed exceptions in April and June. Some growers conducted green harvesting to align potential yields with the limited vegetative growth.

Early July marked the start of veraison, with temperatures occasionally reaching the 40°C (104°F) mark. Indications of hydric stress began to appear, leading some vines, particularly younger ones with less established root systems, to shut down. Nonetheless, occasional heat spikes, even with complete shutdowns, can have their advantages, as pointed out by Caroline Frey, proprietor and winemaker at Paul Jaboulet Aîné and Domaine de la Chapelle: “In my experience, it's sometimes advantageous for the vines when temperatures rise above 40°C (104°F) rather than having extended periods at, let’s say, 35°C (95°F), because then, the vines don’t shut down, and there’s excessive evapotranspiration.”

Mid-August finally brought relief with ample precipitation, proving a blessing for the hydric-stressed vines. “We experienced a combined rainfall of 100 millimeters in August, and this truly saved the harvest,” Pierre Rostaing explained. “There was still time for ripening to restart and proceed. If the rain had come later, the end of the growing season would have been too near, and there wouldn’t have been enough time to achieve sufficient fruit ripeness.” Clément Bärtschi, head winemaker at Chapoutier, returned from his summer vacation surprised that the potential alcohol levels in the grapes hadn't soared. “This allowed us to be patient and wait for more advanced phenolic ripeness. Compared to 2003, when alcohol and sugar levels skyrocketed, forcing us to harvest without achieving full phenolic ripeness, the slightly lower alcohol levels of 2022 supported balance. However, the hydric stress the vines experienced during summer meant that the tannins never reached perfect maturity,” Bärtschi admitted.

The harvest of white grapes began in the second half of August, with additional, much-needed rainfall arriving towards the month's end. This provided many producers with additional time to ripen the remaining grapes gradually. Loïc Jamet noted the relatively small berry size when harvesting his red grapes at the end of August. “Normally, we fill one vat a day, but it took two days to fill the first vat simply because the grapes were so tiny. What saved 2022 was that the vines were able to progress thanks to a few selected summer rain showers. Interestingly, we almost finished our 2022 harvest at the same time we started it in 2021,” Jamet added. Overall, the 2022 harvest occurred under favorable conditions and was largely finished by the end of September. Despite concerns about potential alcohol level increases due to abundant sunshine and elevated summer temperatures, most wines I tasted for this report – both red and white – ended up between 12.5% and 13.5% alcohol.