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?).

This is the second of the domaine’s signature cuvées (the other is Cornas Les Chailles). It comes from the old vines planted further up the slopes at altitudes ranging from 250-400m. The wine shows old vine intensity, twinned with the precision of the 2021 vintage.

This is Clusel Roch’s classic blend. Indeed, until recently it had been called ‘Classique’ rather than Les Schistes. It comes from a range of vineyards across the iron-rich soils of the Côte Brune, including Le Plomb, Montmains, and the bottom of Viallière. The blend is saline and taut, with a flash of fresh cherry running through the palate. Fragrant, with a little cool spice.

This cuvée is always the most powerful in the Clusel Roch stable, and even though the frame of all the 2021s is a little slimmer than recent warmer vintages, this still shows plenty of density and concentration. It comes from vines planted in 1935 by Guillaume Clusel’s great-grandfather. The parcel sits high up, above La Viallière, and makes a complex and structured wine.

La Viallière is one of the great sites of the Côte Brune. Its mid-slope position and high proportion of gravelly stones aid drainage and produce wines of great finesse and voluptuous depth. This was the highlight of the Clusel Roch cellar in 2021 - lovely notes of torrefaction give the sweet fruit a toasty charm. It is a warm site, and usually produces the roundest, richest wine here. In 2021 it is on song: the freshness and elegant balance of the vintage showing it at its best.

This vineyard was planted in 1945, and the old vines are treated with huge respect in the Courbis cellar. It has been aged in 60% new oak, and will demand more time in bottle than the other Courbis wines. There is a natural density to the fruit, and the wine shows its calibre in a long, powerful finish.

This is one of the finest sites of the Côte Blonde. Its depth of fruit is clear, even in the 2021 vintage that tends towards lighted, more restrained wines. Supporting new oak gives it spice and succulence. Of all the Garon cuvées, this will benefit the most from some time in the cellar, though it should drink well from just 3 to 4 years.

This tiny cuvée is the jewel in the crown at this estate. It’s tough for any young domaine to buy vines in Côte-Rôtie these days, and only the very brave attempt it. Graeme and Julie now have two tiny parcels, and this cuvée has already won them much praise as the new kids to get seriously excited about. The 2021 continues their strong form. It is restrained, tightly coiled, and serious. It will need more time than the rest of their wines to open up, but will unfurl in magnificent splendour.

Le Gréal is a unique wine, and one that has built up a loyal following for its decadent, statuesque style. 2021 is a departure from the norm. Unlike all previous vintages back to 2009 that have been made from 100% whole bunch fruit, this is 90% destemmed. It feels less massive than previous years, more juicy, bright, and balanced, though it has an echo of the wine’s signature spicy notes thanks to the 10% whole bunch Guillaume has kept in the blend. It harks back to a style Guillaume says was last found in the 1990s. It may be unlike the wines we’ve come to love from this domaine, but actually, is a delicious iteration in its own right. In spite of its slighter style, it should age fantastically. One thing that remains constant is the fruit’s origin: 90% is drawn from the lauded Le Méal parcel, at 10% from Les Gréffieux, on the Hermitage hillside, from vines dating back to the 1920s. A small amount of co-planted Marsanne amongst the Syrah adds freshness and mollifies the tannins.

This is usually a blend of two parcels, but in 2021 Bressands was hailed in August, meaning the yield here was decimated. So the heart of the wine is from Les Plantiers, just below Le Méal. Like the Crozes Hermitage, this was fully destemmed - a marked departure from the domaine’s usual style. It is sappy, salty, crunchy, and fresh. The floral tones make it more accessible than the Gréal, and mean it should start to open up a little earlier, too.

This comes from the northern part of the long appellation of St Joseph, in the part that borders Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie. It is dark and brooding, with notes of salty black olive tapenade and cassis fruit, with full, grippy tannins. It will need a little time.

This is arguably Côte-Rôtie’s most famous vineyard. In 2021, this magnificent Rostaing cuvée bursts with cranberries and nutmeg spice. Grippy little tannins give it a certain austerity in its youth.

This is one of the most sought-after wines in the Rostaing stable, and only produced in tiny volumes. In 2021, when no Côte Brune was produced, it will see even greater demand. It has structure, spicy, deep tannins and a density of fruit not easily found in the 2021 vintage. The natural freshness of the vintage sings through. Powerful, but poised.

This wine is a blend of fruit from various parcels in the southern part of the appellation, but the majority is drawn from the vineyards lying right next to Sylvain’s new cellars, perched at 350m altitude. It is always so fresh and lively, with impressive weight.

This cuvée was first bottled separately in 2019, but is actually the first vineyard that Sylvain rented when he struck out on his own in 2007, so it holds a special place in his heart. The vines are 50-60 years old on south-facing terraces. It has a salty grip, and a deep, rich dark fruit weight on the palate from the old vines.

This comes from a selection of 100-year-old vines in some of Stéphane’s best parcels, Champelrose, Eygats, and Combe. It follows in the same vein as the Cornas, but with greater presence of tannins and drive. It will therefore need longer in bottle to reach its peak. Hugely elegant, mouth-coating, and intense.

The 2021 Le Clos has a sumptuous nose of fresh fig, cassis, and blueberries as well as hints of flowers and leather. There is tremendous concentration, and a serious quality to its tannins. Aged in a combination of barrels and foudres, with 20% new oak, given a little time this is a classic St Joseph in the making.

Coming from a 65 year old parcel, on the all-granite soils of lieu-dit Les Bessards, the 2021 Le Pavillon displays cassis, blackberry and cracked black pepper notes. On the palate, the tannins are fine and swept along with fresh acidity, underpinned with a lovely, smokiness. This is a captivating Hermitage.

This parcel sits at the bottom of the Hermitage hill on alluvial soils. In 2021 it is fleshy and full, with notes of fragrant red and black fruit, game and cracked black pepper. It is detailed, pure, elegant and complex. Utterly charming.

This legendary wine comes from the vines situated right at the top of the Hermitage hill, near the St Christophe chapel, on very old, decomposed granite soils. In 2021, the 80-year-old vines produce a fresh, vibrant wine, with lots of pepper, smokiness and blue fruits on the nose, and fine yet spirited tannins. Needs some time to unfurl, yet with outstanding potential.

This excellent lieu-dit, south of La Viallière near Ampuis, produces a well-balanced wine, with fresh acidity and fine-grained tannins in 2021. It shows hints of violet on the nose and there is a long, pleasing, mineral finish. This should open up with a little time.

50-year-old Syrah vines grow in the high terraces of shingle and clay on the Hermitage hillside. The 2021 Méal has a rounded, voluminous texture and superb notes of dark fruits, black cherry, smoked meat, leather and a hint of dried rose petal. This already has plenty of complexit

The parcel is situated right at the top of the hill, just around the chapel, where the vines struggle in the poor, granitic soils, resulting in this quite astonishing wine. Full of intensity on the nose, there's mango, citrus peel and a lick of salinity. Precise and hugely energetic, with focused acidity and lots of salty minerality on the finish. Exquisite.

This comes from old vines in the southern part of the St Joseph appellation, on the opposite side of the river to Hermitage. The soils here are poor and stony. Plenty of classic, dark fruits, smokiness and herbal notes run through the palate, laced with ripe, silky tannins and a fresh, uplifting acidity.