1985 Rhône Valley Vintage

The year began with a severe winter frost that caused concern across France, but the Rhône recovered well. After a successful flowering, the Northern Rhône experienced a hot and dry summer, with some beneficial rain arriving in late August that aided final maturation. The Syrah ripened beautifully, though warm conditions during harvest posed challenges for growers without temperature-controlled winemaking facilities. In the south, the pattern was similar, with cold winter giving way to a warm summer. The principal drawback there was an unusually large crop that reduced concentration, particularly in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

• Severe winter frost preceded the growing season, raising early fears that were ultimately not borne out
• Hot, dry summer in the Northern Rhône, with helpful late-August rains aiding final phenolic maturity
• Syrah ripened beautifully under these conditions, delivering opulent, succulently fruited wines
• Southern Rhône warm summer was diluted in impact by large yields, reducing concentration in many wines

Côte-Rôtie was the clear standout of the vintage, delivering the finest red wines of the Northern Rhône with an opulence and succulence that set them apart. Hermitage also performed well but has aged faster, with most bottles now needing to be consumed. Condrieu produced notably aromatic whites in a year of good heat accumulation for Viognier. In the south, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was beautiful but uneven: the warm summer delivered ripe, generous fruit, yet the large harvest reduced concentration and consistency, with some producers making outstanding wines while others fell short.

• Côte-Rôtie: outstanding, the vintage's Northern Rhône benchmark, with Guigal wines still delivering great pleasure
• Hermitage: very good but aging faster; most bottles should be consumed promptly
• Condrieu: aromatic and generous, benefiting from the warm, dry conditions
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape: a beautiful year tempered by a large crop and resulting inconsistency across producers

Guigal's Côte-Rôtie wines are the undisputed stars of the 1985 vintage. Most significantly, 1985 was the inaugural vintage of La Turque, completing Guigal's celebrated trio of single-vineyard La La wines alongside the already established La Mouline and La Landonne. The 1985 La Landonne, in particular, drew praise for its remarkable concentration and power. From Hermitage, Paul Jaboulet Aîné's La Chapelle delivered complex, finesse-driven notes of coffee, dried meats, and plum, and has been praised as one of the more elegant expressions in the La Chapelle vertical. Decanter also highlights Hermitage from Jean-Louis Chave, Marc Sorrel, and Bernard Faurie as outstanding successes of the year.

• Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne: massive, concentrated, inky, with aromas of minerals, smoke, and truffle
• Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque: debut vintage, produced from five-year-old vines in a very small quantity of under 200 cases
• Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle: finesse-driven, complex, with coffee, dried meat, and plum; now at or past its peak
• Jean-Louis Chave, Marc Sorrel, and Bernard Faurie: praised by Decanter for delicious, benchmark Hermitage

The top Côte-Rôtie wines, especially from Guigal, remain at or near their best and continue to deliver stunning drinking experiences in the mid-2020s. Hermitage, however, has aged more quickly, and most bottles should be consumed now without extended further cellaring. The 1985 Hermitage La Chapelle was described as showing lovely, resolved fruit with a touch of dryness on the finish when tasted in 2019, suggesting it is at or past its optimum window. Southern Rhône wines from this vintage, including Châteauneuf-du-Pape, are unequivocally at the end of their useful lives and should be consumed immediately if any remain in cellar.

• Côte-Rôtie top wines (Guigal La La): still delivering pleasure, drink now through the late 2020s for the finest examples
• Hermitage: drink now or soon; wines are at or past their peak and should not be held further
• Condrieu 1985: well past optimal drinking; these should have been consumed many years ago
• Southern Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape: drink immediately; no further benefit from cellaring

The 1985 Northern Rhône wines are characterized by generous, opulent fruit allied with the savory, meaty, mineral complexity that defines great Syrah from the steep granite and schist slopes of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. The season's warm, dry summer produced ripe, aromatic, rich wines rather than tightly structured, austere ones, making them more immediately accessible in youth than some great Northern Rhône vintages. Over time, the aromatics have evolved from primary dark fruit and violet toward secondary leather, smoked meat, graphite, and truffle, a hallmark of fully mature Northern Rhône Syrah. The Guigal La La wines, aged 42 months in new French oak, have an additional textural richness and complexity built around formidable extract.

• Style: opulent and succulently fruited rather than austere or angular; more immediately accessible than some peers
• Aromatics evolved from dark cherry and violet toward leather, smoke, graphite, and truffle with age
• Guigal La La wines aged 42 months in 100 percent new French oak, adding textural depth to already concentrated fruit
• Southern Rhône wines were ripe and generous on release, though large yields in Châteauneuf-du-Pape limited complexity and longevity

In the broader context of the 1980s Rhône, 1985 was a solid and well-regarded vintage, though it sits below the celebrated run of 1988 through 1991 that defined Northern Rhône excellence for a generation. Robert Parker scored 1985 at 90 points for the Northern Rhône, behind the 92-point vintages of 1988 and 1989. The vintage's most lasting contribution to wine history is arguably the debut of Guigal's Côte-Rôtie La Turque, which completed the La La trio and cemented Guigal's position as the defining voice of the appellation. Paul Jaboulet Aîné, founded in 1834 and later acquired by the Frey family in January 2006, confirmed with the 1985 La Chapelle that the wine remained among the most complex and age-worthy Northern Rhône expressions. The Rhône's 1984 predecessor was widely regarded as a difficult, poor-quality year across Europe, making 1985 a welcome and important rebound.

• Parker scored 1985 Northern Rhône at 90 points, the third-best of the decade behind 1988 and 1989 at 92 points each
• Debut vintage of Guigal's Côte-Rôtie La Turque, completing the legendary La Mouline, La Landonne, La Turque trio
• Paul Jaboulet Aîné, founded in 1834, was acquired by the Frey family in January 2006; the 1985 La Chapelle remains a respected entry in the vertical
• 1985 followed the widely poor 1984 harvest and represented an important rebound year for the entire Rhône Valley