Northern Rhône 2021

In a year blighted by extremes of bad weather, truly great wines are few and far between. Expert guidance is crucial in this tough vintage, so here are 40 recommendations selected from the small number of excellent wines which made the best of the 2021 conditions

- MATT WALLS

How do you define a bad vintage? If you’re a grower, you might say it’s a year of poor weather, disease and pests. Low yields, even if quality is acceptable, means producers will be out of pocket. Wine lovers aren’t quite so concerned about conditions or quantity, however – it’s the quality in the bottle that matters most to us.

From anyone’s point of view, therefore, 2021 will not go down as a good Rhône vintage. ‘It’s the year you never wish for,’ said Jean Gonon of Domaine Gonon, with a degree of sangfroid, ‘but it happens.’

The difficulties can all be traced back to the night of 7 April, when temperatures dropped to -7°C. ‘Even my father never saw a frost this bad,’ said Pierre Rostaing of Domaine Rostaing in Côte-Rôtie, where the last serious frost episode was in 1938. In 2021, he lost 50% of his crop.

So far, so bleak. But in the darkness, there are glimmers of light. Certain frosted parcels carried lower crop loads as a result of the frost, helping them reach full ripeness.

Against the odds, there are some excellent wines. For those producers who made a success of the vintage – and ultimatley there were more than I expected – the style is one that many will find appealing: light, lean and fresh, with high acidity, refreshingly low alcohol and strict tannins – a counterweight to the rich and opulent 2018s and 2019s.

For white wine, it’s an exceptional, unmissable vintage in the southern and northern Rhône: one of great freshness, precision and longevity.

GOOD IN PARTS