Vintage report: Southern Rhône 2016

Ideal growing conditions have delivered one of the best vintages of the past decade. Matt Walls takes a closer look at each appellation and recommends some exceptional wines

A ‘truly great’ vintage says Matt Walls, who goes through each commune and selects his favourite reds and whites

BEFORE ARRIVING IN the Rhône in october 2017 to taste the 2016 vintage, i had an inkling it was going to be special.

i’ve since tasted nearly 1,500 wines and it’s clear this is a very good year in the northern Rhône – but truly great in the south.

Conditions were ideal in the southern Rhône – hot and dry, but without extremes, and a long growing season. The resulting wines have it all: ripeness, concentration, freshness, acidity and plenty of firm, ripe tannins.

Many of the whites had already been picked by the time welcome rain and cooler conditions arrived on 15 September. The harvest for red varieties began on 12 September and lasted into october. Those who waited until after the rain had several weeks of warm, dry weather and could pick each parcel and variety at perfect ripeness. for Jacky Bernard of Domaine la Ligière and president of AC vacqueyras, ‘it was an exceptional year: lovely quality, healthy, no rot, no degradation, no dried grapes’.

one potential challenge that producers face in hot, dry years with generous yields is achieving full ripeness, which can lead to green flavours and astringent tannins. This wasn’t a problem in 2016. Rodolphe des Pins of Château de Montfaucon in Lirac was ‘amazed by the softness of the tannins’, and during harvest noted ‘lots of berries, not much juice, but amazing balance’. This concentration has led to notably high acidity in the wines. This component, along with intensity of ripe,

‘The wines have it all: ripeness, concentration, freshness, acidity and plenty of firm, ripe tannins’ Matt Walls