THE VERDICT
A small field it may have been, but these maturing Rhônes left our three judges highly impressed, says Vahan Agulian. Crack open your Cornas, consider the Côte-Rôties, but hang on to your Hermitage
The 2010 vintage was one of the most hyped vintages at the time in the northern Rhône’, Matt Walls recalled. ‘It was the most impressive vintage I’ve ever tasted young.’ But, 10 years down the line, how has the evolution of these wines progressed? Are they ready to drink, to keep, or simply past their best?
Walls remembered that ‘for such a structured vintage, I didn’t know when the best time would be to drink them’, and Christian Honorez also had his doubts at first, believing this tasting might be ‘quite limited’. ‘For me, uniformly I thought the 2010 vintage was better in the southern Rhône,’ he said, ‘but today I’ve changed my mind – it’s just as good and exceptional in the north, or even possibly better.’
On this occasion, the results seem to speak for themselves, with an impressive one Exceptional and seven Outstanding from a relatively small sample size of 33 wines submitted. ‘Quantity is one thing, and quality is another, and the quality was there today – the ratio is the best I’ve ever had in a tasting,’ said Honorez. Tanguy Martin agreed, believing he had some of the best flights of wine in his Decanter tasting experience.
Walls emphasised it further, commenting: ‘The exceptional wines we tasted today were probably the best I’ve ever tasted in a Decanter panel tasting. Every wine was good and some were great, particularly in Hermitage, where the quality was greater than the other two appellations.’
Honorez concurred, believing that the Hermitage wines as a group ‘were just incredible’. He continued: ‘I’ve tried young Hermitage many times, and I’ve always struggled to find the level of quality that we had today. The consistency there was far greater than we found elsewhere.’
While there were only six wines from Cornas, Martin found them ‘focused and interesting’, although for Honorez the appellation seemed to be a bit of a ‘loose cannon’. Walls advised to ‘drink them now’ as they are already showing ‘full maturity, balance and real Cornas character’.
In Côte-Rôtie, the wines showed evidence of a certain up-and-down nature, but our judges nonetheless found them interesting. Walls explained that ‘this is something to be expected from all the young vines planted back then in the appellation’, however he was also keen to emphasise that ‘the Côte-Rôties are really hitting their stride and I think now is a good time to open them up’.
Hermitage is different, with Walls advising ‘don’t touch these for another 10 years’, and adding: ‘There were one or two that were so tannic, monolithic and intense that I don’t know what will happen to them – but it would be interesting to see.’ Overall, of the three appellations, Hermitage was the most appreciated by all three judges, who were impressed by the ‘quality and consistency’ across the flight of nine wines.
In an overwhelmingly positive tasting, the one criticism concerned the use of oak and its influence on the wines back in 2010. Walls stressed that the wines were ‘possibly over-oaked in all the appellations, which can be seen even in maturity’. However, he added: ‘This has since been dialled down, which I’m glad about as some of the wines out there are still showing too much, and always will.’
So, has the 2010 northern Rhône vintage lived up to the hype that was promised at the time? ‘Yes,’ asserts Walls, ‘particularly in Hermitage, where it is of historical greatness.’
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit any 2010 vintage reds from Cornas, Côte- Rôtie or Hermitage
‘Every wine was good and some were great, particularly in Hermitage’
Matt Walls