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. These are sun-kissed but juicy, harmonious wines with less alcohol than the 2019s, a difference in some cases of up to half a degree. Producers across the length and breadth of the Rhône extol the vintage’s virtues, with Domaine Clusel Roch describing 2020 as like a balance of 2018 and 2016 but better than either; or Jolivet who considers it “juicy and elegant”, whilst in the south Barroche compare it to the great 2012 in that the ‘20s are “similarly round but fresher”. Beaucastel go the whole hog and call it “one of the all-time classics,” referencing the great 1990 and 2010 vintages as comparisons.