Northern Rhône

41 Viognier Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes 2009
Christophe Pichon

Grape:100% Viognier (13.5% alc.)

This comes from 20 year old vines planted at the top of a granitic slope south of Serrières. It was vinified in cuve, though 40% was given a two months elevage in two year old barrels to add a little texture. Christophe made just 2000 bottles of this delicious wine that will appeal to all lovers of Condrieu. Well balanced, refreshing and mineral, outstanding value for quality viognier. Available June. For drinking now to 2012.

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42 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge AC 2007 Vieilles Vignes
Domaine du Murinais

Grape:100% Syrah (12.5% alc.)

Luc Tardy took over the reins at this domaine in 1998 and is fashioning better wines every year. His Crozes is very supple and pure with lipsmacking liquorice, black cherries and a touch of spice on the palate, and the oak elevage now marries really well with the weight of the wine. For drinking now to 2012.

* Half bottles are available

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43 Crozes-Hermitage Blanc AC 2009
Domaine des Entrefaux

Grape:80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne (12.5% alc.)

François’ white Crozes is made from the classic mix of 20 year old Marsanne and Roussanne aged in 2/3 cuve and 1/3 oak (three to ten year old barrels). It offers hints of apricot, quince and mango on the nose, which follow through on the palate, where the controlling influence of limestone helps retain a freshness and dynamism. Available September. For drinking now to 2012.

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44 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge AC 2007
Domaine des Entrefaux

Grape:100% Syrah (12.5% alc.)

This excellent wine comes from 30 year old vines planted both in alluvial soil in Beaumont-Monteux and clay-limestone hillsides in Chanos Curson. Mid-red, it offers a gorgeous nose of mulberries and black cherries enhanced by a well judged elevage in a mix of old foudres, five year old barrels and cuve. For drinking now to 2012.

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45 St-Péray AC 2007 Les Pins
Bernard Gripa

Grape:80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne (13% alc.)

This comes from 40 year old vines in a limestone soil and is 50% cuve and 50% oak aged. Peachy with a hint of acacia, it has a lovely purity. For drinking now to 2013.

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46 St-Péray AC 2008 Les Figuiers
Bernard Gripa

Grape:60% Roussanne, 40% Marsanne (13% alc.)

This is Gripa’s top St Péray made from vines averaging 60 years. It has an extra dimension of richness, fine greengage and peach aromas, and retains the appellation’s characteristic freshness. For drinking now to 2015.

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47 St-Joseph Blanc AC 2008
Bernard Gripa

Grape:80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne (13% alc.)

Produced from 25 year old vines on hillside terraces between Mauves and Tournon, Fabrice’s St Joseph white is always a little richer than his St Péray, though he is very adept at ensuring that it remains fresh and balanced. For drinking now to 2013.

* Half bottles are available

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48 St-Joseph Rouge AC 2006
Bernard Gripa

Grape:100% Syrah (13% alc.)

The Gripas have a wonderfully sensitive touch with their wines and their red St Joseph generally opens up a little before that of Gonon. Their 2006 has an elegant framework, with black cherry fruit, spice and an irony relief on the palate. It is supple and accessible in its youth, rather along the lines of the 2004 though with more concentration. For drinking now to 2014.

* Half bottles are available

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49 St-Joseph Blanc AC 2007 Les Oliviers
Pierre Gonon

Grape:80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne (13.8% alc.)

Les Oliviers, just to the north of Mauves is an excellent vineyard for the production of rich whites. The soil here is ancient Rhône alluvium and some loess on a granitic bedrock. It is rich and opulent with apricot and quince fruit cosseted by an irony minerality derived from granite. For drinking now to 2015.

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50 St-Joseph Rouge AC 2006
Pierre Gonon

Grape:100% Syrah (13% alc.)

The Gonons destalked 40% in 2006 and trod the grapes down twice a day during the fermentation in open top wooden vats. They have produced a perfect example of northern Rhône syrah, with black fruits cut through with an irony grip from the granitic soil. The 2006 has delectable fruit and is already showing well. For drinking now to 2015.

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51 Cornas AC 2005 Empreintes
Eric & Joel Durand

Grape:100% Syrah (13.5% alc.)

Empreintes is the main cuvée from this very promising domaine. It comes from vines from Cornas’ top lieu-dits Chaillots and Reynards, and is aged in new to five year old barrels. On the nose there is a wonderful blast of black fruits, mint, liquorice, violets and irony stamp from the granitic soil. Ripe black cherries with a hint of spice and well-integrated oak mark the palate, and the wine is both balanced and elegant. Thrown a natural deposit, so carafing advised. For drinking now to 2014.

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52 Cornas AC 2005 La Geynale
Robert Michel

Grape:100% Syrah (13% alc.)

Another northern Rhône classic from vines dating back to 1910, on a very sheltered southerly facing hillside of granite. This is Robert’s top cuvée and has the hallmark Cornas backbone, depth of fruit and staying power – the 1985 was drinking perfectly in February 2005! For drinking now to 2020+.

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53 Côte-Rôtie AC 2004
David & Benjamin Duclaux

Grape:95% Syrah, 5% Viognier (13% alc.)

The young Duclaux brothers are pushing this domaine quickly through to the top of the Côte Rôtie hierarchy. This has a lovely, clear mid-red colour extending right out to the rim. Nicely stamped by a stony, irony flavour imparted by gneiss, 2004 is a supple, elegant wine more in a burgundy vein. For drinking now to 2012.

* Magnums are available

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54 Côte-Rôtie AC 2004
Domaine Clusel-Roch

Grape:96% Syrah, 4% Viognier (12% alc.)

Clusel-Roch’s Côte-Rôtie is primarily from Les Viallières lieu-dit, to the north of the appellation, on thin soils developed from underlying schist. The vines were grafted from their own massale selection of low yielding ‘petite sérine’ syrah from their 70 year old vineyard of Les Grandes Places. The 2004 is most attractive with a Burgundian texture, clear cut fruit, stony flavours from schist and fine grained tannins. For drinking now to 2014.

* Half bottles are available

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55 Hermitage AC 2007 Les Greffieux- Bessards
Bernard Faurie

Grape:100% Syrah (13.5% alc.)

Les Greffieux is a lieu-dit where the soils mix alluvial Rhone stones and decomposed granite over a granite base rock. Bessards, where the soil and mother rock are made of granite, provides structure and backbone. The vines average 80 years of age and produced a wine in 2007 with excellent texture, raspberry and black fruit, iron, hint of black pepper and fine grained tannin. For drinking late 2012 to 2020+.

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56 Condrieu AC 2007
Christophe Pichon

Grape:100% Viognier (14.3% alc.)

This wine comes from 10-40 year old vines in the three lieu-dits of Mève, Roches Coulantes and Colombier. A beautifully handled elevage helps the wine retain freshness and the decomposed granite, mica rich soil gives this apricot and peach rich viognier an added complexity. For drinking now to 2012+.

* Half bottles are available

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57 Condrieu AC 2007
Domaine André Perret

Grape:100% Viognier (14% alc.)

This comes from 20 year old vines (half from the famous Chéry slope). The unique soil, a sandy decomposed granite called arzelle helps give the wine its ripe pear aromas, followed by opulent exotic fruit palate - mango and apricot, with decent grip on the finish. For drinking now to 2012.

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58 Condrieu AC 2008 Verchery
Domaine Clusel-Roch

Grape:100% Viognier (14% alc.)

It is refreshing and increasingly rare to find a balanced, elegant Condrieu such as this. It originates from a vineyard that straddles the two fine lieu-dits of Côteaux de Vernon and Chéry, where the soil is derived from a granite mother rock. Using indigenous yeasts, aged and vinified in a mix of one to four year old barrels (2/3 ) and in cuve (1/3), this is lighter than Perret and Pichon’s Condrieu, with perfect balance, good acidity and mineral imprint. For drinking now to 2013+.

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Northern Rhône

Many of these beautiful wines are produced from tiny terraced vineyards that cling precariously to the hillsides bordering the Rhône between St Péray and Vienne. The physical work demanded by these hillside vineyards is so extreme (in the words of Hamish Anderson from The Tate, “Whoever thought of planting grapes here must have been on mushrooms!”) that it makes working in other viticultural areas look easy by comparison. It is physically practically impossible for a family to work a vineyard of much more than seven or eight hectares.

The Duclaux family in the southern sector of Côte Rôtie, where the thin, sandy, granitic and gneiss derived soil is very prone to erosion, spend on average 1000 man hours a year just repairing the walls lining the terraces. And at Clusel-Roch I have seen them hand ploughing the soil between vine rows on a 60? hillside. There has to be a degree of balancing compensation for all this effort. And it’s not in terms of a vast income – the Duclaux family have six full-time employees for 5½ hectares of vines, from which they produce 19,000 bottles only a year. Charging prima facie a relatively high price per bottle simply enables them to earn a very modest income. Instead, the compensation for Gripa, Gonon, Duclaux, Perret, Michel, Pichon and Clusel-Roch is that they produce some of the finest, most elegant terroir driven wines emanating from France today. I could not recommend them more strongly.

To give a brief overview of recent vintages 2004 gave supple, pure, attractive reds to drink in the short to medium term. 2005 produced excellent wines that will in many instances repay longterm keeping. According to renowned Rhône expert John Livingstone-Learmonth, it is the most long-lived vintage since 1978. The wines have plenty of everything – fruit, acidity, tannins, structure that are all in balance and just need time to come properly into focus. 2006 was once again a very successful vintage for reds. It has given wines with elegant, pure, fresh fruit with fine ripe tannins. Richer and with more depth than 2004 they have plenty of immediate appeal with the capacity to age. 2007 has given wines with very good fruit and upfront charm with relatively low acidity. Tannins are ripe and well integrated, making this a vintage that is drinking well in its youth (often better now than 2006).

As regards recent vintages for the whites, 2007 whites are promising throughout the region with well-defined fruit and more cut and acidity than 2005 or 2006. The growers featured in this section also made successful whites in the tricky 2008 vintage, helping to prove once again that a difficult vintage for reds often makes a good year for whites.