Welcome to what is undoubtedly one of our more eagerly awaited offers of the year, Rhône En Primeur.
This year we join the unanimous in declaring Rhône 2020 as having heightened elegance. Indeed, glorious wines were made across the region as was confirmed throughout our recent EP tastings. Which means that whether your penchant is for 100% syrah or a grenache-driven blend, you will find in both northern and southern Rhône appellations reds of remarkable freshness and poise for which a warm 2020 season yielded well balanced fruit that is both expressive and surprisingly lower in alcoholic content. Similarly, lovers of Rhône’s food-loving whites will rejoice in what is well defined, precise fruit character (in viognier, particularly), seductive aromatics and gratifying length. Above all, Rhône 2020 is a vintage with terroir shining brightly, where each appellation distinguishes itself with great clarity. Collectors therefore have the opportunity to indulge their preferences and savour all those unique, intrinsic qualities, whether they be from Cornas or Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Rhône 2020 Vintage Report
As early harvests become increasingly the norm, 2020 in Rhône was yet another. Beginning with a mild winter, this was soon followed by a warm, dry spring – quickening the growing cycle as typically it does. Budburst and flowering enjoyed a good head-start, and with an absence of spring frosts, led to an early summer of much-welcomed showers. Then, to a hot, dry summer, yet one still to afford crucial, cooler night-time temperatures that did much to allow vine respiration and the preservation of acidity levels that contribute to this vintage’s overall freshness. These ideal conditions remained as such well into August and allowed for an evenly paced harvest which was completed by mid-September. Syrah showed brilliance in both northern and southern Rhone, providing perfectly ripened fruit that contributed to consistently high-quality reds across pretty much all appellations. Northern cuvées enjoy greater structure and depth, with southern counterpoints rounder and fuller bodied. Perhaps most intriguing of all, despite the season’s enduring spells of generous heat and less generous drought, 2020’s whites show a beguiling freshness and fruitiness that you would expect from a cooler 2008, say. And with viognier, roussanne and marsanne also picked early, they give generously on aromatics, also providing wonderful grip, brightness, precision and length. Perhaps the freshest since 2014.