Rhone 2011 & other vintages: The North

The sunshine and warmth still holds out as I travel north, and its approaching mid October.  The 2012 crop is all in, from Hermitage to Cote Rotie, and successfully bubbling away in the cellars.  After the stress and hard work growers experienced during the summer it is fair to say they are pleased as punch with results that, a few months prior, they did not think possible.  It should be a very good vintage, though at this stage it seems the south has the edge over the north.  However there is a long way to go, a lot now depends on fermentations and elevages. 

Back again to 2011.  My first tasting in the North was with the garrulous and affable Mathieu Barret of Domaine du Coulet.  Cornas for breakfast might not be everyone’s cup of tea however Mathieu’s increasingly refined style made tasting young Cornas from barrel at 9.00 in the morning an absolute breeze.  It was a sheer pleasure to sample these wonderfully fine, precise and intense wines, they must be pretty unique in the appellation. He is a seriously talented and dynamic winemaker, his 2011s are irresistible.

Meandering further north to Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage chez Faurie, Domaine du Colombier, Pochon and Delas.  The wines here were exquisite, fruit sweetness, power but with the finesse and smoothness that seem to characterise this vintage.  Hermitage seems an excellent match for 2011.

There are some very smooth, attractive Cote Roties in 2011.  Clusel Roch’s for me were the pick of a good solid bunch. One perhaps expects rather less of St Joseph, being a large and highly variable appellation in all but the most consistent of years, though it must be said when you hit on one from a good producer its quality, value and sheer drinkability is second to none.  I found the 2011 St Joseph reds at Perret and Villard highly successful, the latter producer has refined his red winemaking style over the last three years, his ‘11s seem to be the culmination of these efforts – thoroughly moreish, seductive Syrahs that mix ripeness, elegance and a Rhone typicity.  They bear little resemblance to the bigger versions of his early years.

Many of these 2011 Northern Rhone reds gave me immense pleasure, I found them a notch above the Southern Rhone wines and considerably more consistent.  It was potentially a large crop here, as with their cousins further south, so limiting yields was important but unlike Chateauneuf and the Southern villages, alcohol levels were restrained, averaging 13 degrees natural.  The resultant wines offer ripe, fresh flavours, round textures and tremendous overall balance. They will be very enjoyable in their youth over 3-5 years after bottling, though i suspect the top wines will still be drinking well from 7-10 years after, best normally to avoid the 4-7 year hole after bottling when some vintages can go into a closed phase.  Producers compare 2011 to 2004 (a vintage drinking exceptionally well now) or 2006 but with a little less structure and acidity than the latter.  Other Northern Rhone vintages drinking well now are 2008, 2001 and 2000.  In Hermitage they recommend the 2006s already, whereas in Cote Rotie they are a little more tentative about the readiness of this very fine vintage.  

Rhone 2011 & other vintages: The South

The sun has been shining gloriously in the Rhone this week.  I spent Monday and Tuesday tasting in the South under bright skies and there was the distinct air of optimism and contentment amongst the growers, all of whom seem delighted with the 2012 harvest.  It has been a late vintage, not helped by an extremely dry season that resulted in vines shutting down.  As soon as a little rain arrived at the end of August ripening continued in brilliant conditions.  The crop is a small one but promises much, we will see.

My main purpose here, of course, is to taste the 2011s.  This is a very different vintage to 2012 and to any other Rhone vintage of recent years, for that matter.  Spring and early summer were unseasonably fine and hot, flowering was therefore very successful and the potential crop high.  This was one of 2011's challenges, limiting the crop.  The other was a heat wave at the end of August that resulted in grapes increasing in sugars and therefore potential alcohols very quickly, two degrees in a matter of days as one grower quoted me.  Summer had been mixed, there was not the drought that characterised the last two vintages. There was enough rain so ripening the grapes was no issue, limiting the ripeness and alcohol was the key as well as reducing yields enough to ensure a sufficient level of depth in the wines.

The results can be very good, they are not as concentrated as the 2010s or 2009s, in fact they are more supple in texture than any vintage since 2000, certainly no bad thing when the cellars are full of concentrated Rhone vintages such 2010 or 2009.  The best wines have lovely ripe red fruit flavours, great aromatic qualities, soft tannins and the glycerol sweetness you expect from the Southern Rhone.  The most successful wines are those that are not too ripe or alcoholic.  Chateauneufs with a good proportion of Mourvedre or Counoise, that temper the ripe Grenache with their freshness, have done well - such as Beaucastel or the Felix from Versino. Higher cooler areas have been successful, namely Gigondas, particularly those from the high Dentelles vineyards like Clos des Cazaux's Tour Sarrazine; Vinsobres or way up high in the Dentelles the better than ever wines of Chene Bleu.

2011s will be ideal to drink young in the first 5 years after bottling and will give lots of pleasure in the process.  This is good news, as there are few other vintages that look like being ready any time soon.  2010s and 2009s are too young.  2007s have gone into that typically Rhone mid-life crisis, they have shut down  and should be left in the cellars for a good 5 years.  If you are looking for something to drink now then the initially maligned 2008s are very attractive and "digest", while still in the flush of their youth.  If it is something older you are looking for then, after a closed phase, 2004, a Chateaneuf vintage we have always championned, is starting to show quite brilliantly.  This is a vintage of tremendous balance.  Otherwise head for the ripe, seductive and complex 2000s

News from the North at the end of the week.

Elio Altare's 2012 harvest

Silvia Altare from Elio Altare wines shares with us their prosperous Harvest of 2012, and what to expect from the vintage. 

"Harvest 2012 started Thursday the 6th September, with some juicy delicious dolcetto grapes. The weather has been pleasant to us, apart from two large hail storms that randomly hit some vineyards; one in late July and one in early August. Other than the storm we have had a regular season.

We spent August cleaning berry by berry from the hit vineyards, like for Cannubi I can promise you I know every single grape there!!

We have finished barbera picking and getting to the end of the nebbiolo. We also did the vineyard Cerretta in Serralunga yesterday, an amazing location for amazing grapes.

The nebbiolo grapes started flowering in the 
end of May, and as my dad has taught me, like his father Giovanni taught him - nebbiolo needs more or less 130 days. During which, will allow the plant to go through all the phases of growing to ripening. So there we are, “math is not an opinion” as we say in Italian! The nebbiolo harvest started at the end of last week. It might sound like a joke, but it’s not, you know already in spring when harvest will start.

We are experiencing in general, with all the varieties, lower level of sugar, which will offer us lighter alcohol wines, but still with all the fruitiness and freshness that you need.

The staff at Altare hasn’t changed; we all know each other very well and have been working together for years. We always bet at the beginning of the season who is going to gain more weight, since we all know that we are going to gain at least 3 kg because of my mom’s lunches, in spite of all the exercise that we do!! So far it looks like my boyfriend Massimo is going to be the winner…

Another great Piemonte vintage is on the way!

Saluti da La Morra

Silvia Altare"

Bruno Clair on 2012 Burgundy - Aout Fait le Mout?

If this addage rings true then 2012 has the potential to be an excellent vintage in parts of Burgundy, despite bad weather from flowering through to August. The weather turned for the better from August onwards, perhaps getting a little too good in the third week with a mini heat wave, and lasted right the way through to the end of September.  There was mildew early in the season and flowering and fruit set were poor, which means 2012 is a tiny crop.  Hail in localised parts of the Cote exacerbated the naturally small quantities.  However, rather like in 2010, it looks as if the small crop has helped ripen grapes and produce good quality.  

Bruno Clair, one of Burgundy's most skilled and experienced viticulturists, shares the following thoughts on 2012:

The good weather has not left us alone (only one passage of rain 26/09). Also quality is with some return. In addition to the efforts of vines, that of us vignerons has made this prize well deserved.  

Yields are small, Dominode has produced 18hl/ha and Clos St Jacques 22 hl/ha.  In terms of the quality of the reds there are several certainties.  The sugar content is excellent as well as the malic acid tartaric report/ratio acid. These parameters ensure us of a beautiful balance.

The indigenous yeasts behaved well. No fermentation problems and tanks which go up quietly to 32° - 34° (excellent for the extraction of the colour and the fixing of the tannins). The berries, this year, contain more pulp than of juice. It is necessary to go back to the year 1971 to find similar concentration. To summarize, the colour and the tannins are very present and I think that the wines will be well constructed with the supplement of plenty of fat. I am as extremely satisfied with the qualitative results as much as I am to see the end of the season, it has been a complex one!