2021 Northern Rhône

Alain Graillot has long reigned as Crozes-Hermitage’s most respected grower. His sons Maxime and Antoine now run the ship and are making Crozes par excellence. Their Crozes is sweetly fruited, with excellent depth. It always sits in the red spectrum of fruit, where all the best Crozes find themselves. It has structure, but also an effortless tenderness, thanks perhaps to its whole bunch fruit (the influence of Alain’s training at Domaine Dujac?).

Alain Voge’s pithy sparkling wine, Les Bulles d’Alain, is unlike anything else we have on our list. It is lively, dry, refreshing, and refined. If you’re in the mood for bubbles, but don’t want the weight of a Champagne, this is the perfect option, and a smart price too. It’s a very good example of why Saint-Péray has built its renown for sparkling wines.

This is one of two signature reds at the domaine (the other being Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes). Les Chailles is tight and firm in its youth, but floral aromatics open up with some aeration, promising this will start drinking well from early on.

This domaine only makes one wine from across the Côte Blonde and Côte Brune, and they throw everything they’ve got at it. In fact, they are the only domaine still producing just one blend in Côte-Rôtie, and when you taste the wine, you know they are fully justified in continuing this tradition. Bernard has recently retired, and his son, Pierre, is clearly hitting his stride. He says 2021 was a difficult year in the vineyard: frost, rain, disease… it had it all, and required a huge amount of work. But in spite of this, he says he’d take a ‘21 every year for the rest of his career, so pleased is he with the final wine. It is fresh and juicy, with some of the most fondant, supple tannins we tasted in the 2021 vintage. Don’t miss.

This has become a firm favourite, not only for its outstanding value for money, but also for its sweetly-fruited, supple and delicious style. It’s everything we look for in a Crozes. The vines are all clustered in the northern sector of the appellation on granitic soils at high altitude (between 120-300m). This resulting wine has charming red fruit, with a juicy, bright drinkability. Highly recommended.

The south-facing schist-terraced Les Picaudières vineyard produces age-worthy, expressive, sumptuous wines. As usual, this wears a little more oak than the straight Crozes-Hermitage, and as a result has a richer depth that will require some patience. It is focused and vibrant, with a wonderful depth of fruit.

André Perret saw some of the heaviest losses from the spring frost of any grower we work with. As a result there is no village Condrieu this year, and a much smaller amount of the magnificent Coteaux de Chéry available. These vineyards are west facing, and therefore get the morning sun a little later than the south/east facing slopes, meaning they weren’t as badly exposed to the morning frost. The wine is truly wonderful - fresh and flowing, with excellent acidity giving it such a pleasing saline/bitter edge. It’s a highlight in any context, particularly this year in a cellar so depleted of its normal volumes. The epitome of tension and precision.

This Coteaux du Lyonnais, which is made from Gamay, has earned a huge following for its upfront peppery blue fruit and soft tannins. The vines grow on decomposed granitic soils that lie south of Lyon, and it’s made by one of Côte-Rôtie’s most accomplished winemakers, Guillaume Clusel. In 2021 it feels crunchier and tighter than some recent vintages, with a sour cherry bite keeping it lively and energetic. As always, it is great value.

In 2021 this has a delightful herbal freshness entwined with the red berry fruit. It comes from granitic slopes in the heart of Cornas. It has no new oak and is always the most floral and forward of the Courbis Cornas wines.

For those seeking sleek Cornas that has the body and structure to age but the open fruit to approach from youth, this is your wine. It is the most refined of the Courbis Cornas wines, and with a well-judged 40% new oak wrapped around the sweet fruit, giving it savoury, toasty depth.

Sometimes there is a marked difference between this and the Grand Vallon and Deponcins cuvées from Villard. But in a vintage like 2021 where the quality is so high, it sits side by side with its cellar siblings: all three fabulous in their different characters. The grapes come from various parcels around Chavany and Vérin. It displays wonderful tropical citrus notes: yuzu and kumquat. Nice mineral length.

This 2021 shows great energy. Bursting with pineapple fruit and mineral depth. It comes from a single vineyard in the south of the appellation, in St Pierre de Boeuf. The east/north-east aspect makes this site cooler than many, and its granite and gneiss soils results in superb mineral tension in the wine.

This site is in Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, just south of Château Grillet, where the quartzite mica-schist soils make wines of length and finesse. It is bright and vibrant with impressive tension derived from its freshness. The pinnacle of the Villard cellar.

Sybarine comes from the vines that surround the Garon cellar, nestled at the bottom of the Côte Blonde. Its granite soils make for an open, refined, and silky Côte-Rôtie. This was bottled before the other Côte-Rôties, and is easily the most approachable of the four cuvées, drinking well from early on. No new oak is used, with the emphasis on Syrah’s peppery and sappy style.

This fantastic site on the Côte Brune is shared between just three growers. The Garons’ vines were replanted in 1980 and 2001, and their youthful vigour produces a juicy wine, with a rounded balance. 30% whole bunch and 30% new oak add silkiness and depth.

This comes from four neighbouring lieux-dits on the Côte Blonde: Lancement, La Triote, Le Combard and Le Mollard. They share a high proportion of white schist in their soils, making for an intense and savoury expression. It is glossy, black-fruited, with a fresh, tense length.

A first swirl of this in the glass and you’ll fall for it. It’s a juicy, pure, light-footed, and expressive Syrah that comes from vines planted just beyond the limits of the Côte-Rôtie appellation. The 2021 is fragrant and open, with vivid cherry and cranberry notes. There’s a deliciously leafy freshness, with the scent of peonies woven through the fruit. Fresh, bright, and appetising. Stock up. This has fast become a Lay & Wheeler favourite.

This is Syrah wearing its Pinot cloak. The Kamaka is the wine that needs the most explanation in the Bott cellar. Seyssuel, on the other side of the river to Côte-Rôtie, is an appellation on the march. There are hopes that it will be elevated to full cru status within a matter of years. Here, the schist and gneiss soils glisten in the sunlight; there’s no granite on this side of the river, The Syrah that grows here is floral and pinot-esque, with an elegant texture and a spicy, salty undertow. Kamata is the Maori word for rock or stone, and a nod to Graeme’s Kiwi origins. Much more than a curiosity

The young vines planted by Graeme and Julie in l’Aleau have produced a miraculous wine in 2021. It’s only released in tiny quantities, but is well worth tracking down. There’s a step up in concentration and tension on the straight Condrieu. And the story behind the wine is one of the most charming we know. When winemakers talk about tending their vineyards like their gardens, we understand what they mean, but take it with a pinch of salt. In this case, these vines literally are Graeme and Julie’s garden, which sits between Coteau de Chéry and Château Grillet, below their house in Vérin. They bought the house a few years ago, and on discovering their garden was in fact prime AOC Condrieu, they not only decided to plant it with vines, but also to start their own domaine. So it’s where their story really begins.

Each year we see the Botts refine their style, and this Condrieu is a contender for most exciting wine of their 2021 vintage. They like to keep freshness in their Condrieu, rather than seeking richness and weight. And so 2021 plays right into their hands: the style is exactly that which they pursue. It is poised and energetic, vibrant and lively, with beautiful aromatic appeal. The granitic soils of Condrieu give the wine minerality and freshness alongside natural ripeness. It should be superb after a year in bottle.

This fresh, bright, early-picked Viognier encapsulates Graeme & Julie’s skill at handling this grape. Where their Condrieus are emerging as some of the most interesting in the appellation, this ‘First Flight’ is a great value window onto their style. The vines are grown in granite soils at 300m altitude. This zips across the palate with the natural freshness of the 2021 vintage, with an attractive almond bite on the finish.

2021 is the greatest vintage for northern Rhône whites since 2014, and this is the best Rocules we can remember tasting. Unlike recent warmer vintages that have lent into the honeyed, nutty, tropical richness of Marsanne, this is fresh, precise, and has its old vine concentration on full display not in high alcohol, but in profound length.

Guillaume Sorrel's whites are as interesting and profound as his reds. This wine from Crozes is a little more forward and floral than the Hermitage wines, making it delicious in its youth. 2021 is an outstanding vintage for northern Rhône whites, and this is a prime example. It is apple-scented, fresh, bright, and with wonderful energy.

This is grown in kaolinite soils, a clay-limestone soil that only accounts for around 1% of Crozes-Hermitage. These white soils result in highly mineral wines. In 2021 Guillaume lost 40% of his crop to frost here, and unusually, applied full destemming to the fruit (the domaine is usually associated with whole bunch fermentation). The result is a fresh, crunchy, and vigorous Crozes, saline rather than spicy, and driven by a sappy minerality.

Although Domaine Ogier is based in Ampuis in the Northern Rhône, Stéphane has made a very savvy investment in the South. From a site near Cairanne he produces this brilliant value Côtes du Rhône. It delivers fantastically juicy, lightly grippy length, with an abundance of sweet red fruit flavours, thanks to the 60% Grenache in the blend, which is filled out with 40% Syrah. It is pleasingly rich and ripe for 2021, with vibrant freshness. Early drinking and full of joy.

2021 is a vintage of extremes in Condrieu: drastically small quantities (frost) yet soaring quality. This example from Ogier is bright, balanced, lithe and complex. At 12.5% ABV it is fine and refreshing.

This Vin de Pays comes from vineyards situated just behind the hillside of Côte-Rôtie, on the same granitic soils as the famous slope, but with a south-west exposure. It is dark, leafy, and svelte. It’s a great introduction to Stéphane’s Northern Rhône range. A mini-Côte-Rôtie.

This is the emblematic cuvée of the Rostaing domaine, which blends 15 lieux-dits from around Côte-Rôtie. It showcases the Rostaing signature style: rich, dense fruit, with bold tannin structure. The 2021 has wonderfully open fruit, and this will drink well from early on. Savoury and highly appetising.

Viognier in Condrieu was hit hard by the April frosts, and as a result, only a tiny amount of this popular, characterful Condrieu has been made in 2021. As usual, it was vinified and aged in stainless steel, rather than oak. It comes from a granitic south-west facing parcel, and in 2021 is floral, fine, and shows the minerality that Condrieu, in a cooler vintage, is capable of.

This comes from many parcels dotted around the central and southern part of the appellation. Sylvain intelligently handles his fruit: the young vine bunches are destemmed, while the older vines’ stems are kept intact, combining them to produce a highly juicy, perfumed style. It's a spicy Syrah, with the freshness of the 2021 holding it in balance.

There is something magical here: it is at once aromatically precise, and energised with a wildness, reminiscent of garrigue herbs. As usual, it is a blend of 15 different parcels around Cornas, which Stéphane vinified separately, only blending at the final moment before bottling. Great freshness and balance.

This cuvée flies out the door, so much so that we have to be early to confirm our allocation or it all goes well before the en primeur campaign. Pithy, expressive, and with a supple freshness. It’s beautiful to drink in its youth, but will develop well with some time in bottle.

This comes from a single parcel of very old Marsanne vines in the heart of the village. It shows incredible focus, balance, and length. It’s worth ageing for a while to admire what it can do.

A nutty, waxy wine from one of the masters of white wine in the region. It comes from the vines planted above the winery (an old railway tunnel that burrows through the hillside). It has drive, volume, richness, and a long peach aromatic length. Stéphane is one of just three winemakers in the appellation to bottle a 100% Roussanne.

Ermitage De l'Orée comes from 60-70 year-old Marsanne vines from lieu-dit “Les Murets” at the top of the hill. Perfumed with white flowers, stone fruit and quince, the palate is wonderfully textured, with zippy acidity and a chalky, mineral finish. Expertly-judged.

From 50-year-old+ Marsanne vines, whole-bunch pressed and fermented half in 600l oak foudres, half in vats. The vineyards are south facing, and are always the first to be harvested. This is full-bodied, concentrated, powerful and intense on the palate with notes of fresh pear, honey and hazelnuts. Yet a lean, freshness prevails. Incredibly impressive.

A blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah, the grapes are hand-harvested then undergo a long, slow maceration to gently extract flavours and aromas. Ageing takes place separately, during a period of 18 months - in vats for the Grenache and in large foudres for the Syrah, after which the final cuvée is assembled. The result is a wine packed full of expressive dark and red fruit and garrigue herb aromas. The palate is rich and concentrated with silky, ripe tannins and a long, spicy finish.

Les Varonniers comes from Chapoutier's oldest vines (60+ years) in Crozes, grown on south-eastern facing granitic soils. The elegant palate is packed full of cassis, black pepper and smoky notes and despite the cooler nature of the vintage there is wonderful ripeness of fruit. Drinking beautifully now, but with the capacity to go on.

Made from a selection of their oldest Marsanne vines in St Joseph. Superb apricot, white flower and orange blossom aromas combine on the nose, while the palate is mineral and fresh, with a hint of spice on the finish. This shows the classic, focused style of the vintage.