France’s wine growing “Rhone Valley” in reality covers two very distinct wine growing regions, separated by a vine-free gap of approximately 30 miles. Up and down the quality scale the Rhone stands out today for offering serious wines made by small quality conscious growers at very reasonable prices. A stellar run of recent vintages (barring the obvious 2002) and a wider pool of quality wine making talent than ever before has see the Rhone in recent years very much regaining its position front of mind for many of the world’s great wine collectors.
We have always adored the Rhône Valley in all its luminous, lavish, multi-faceted splendour. It is, though, an uncomfortable truth that the Rhône has fallen out of favour to the sorts of “precise”, “vivid”, “mineral-driven” wines that are easy to appreciate but hard to access.
For the charm, balance and youthful beauty of its wines, 2020 is an unmissable vintage. Overall, it was a sunny year characterised by drought and a good-sized crop (for the majority of producers), with less extreme heat and higher yields than its predecessor, 2019. As a result, the wines feel less powerful, but more immediate and even-keeled. Make no mistake, though, the best 2020s have sufficient depth and the right balance to ensure excellent ageing potential.
Like 79, 89, 99 and 2009 before it, the Perrins consider 2019 to be another in a line of ’9s that “regularly mark the memory of winegrowers.” This is very aptly worded. For the 2019 season conditions certainly made an impression right across the Rhône valley.
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