2009 Rhône Valley Vintage

Autumn 2008 and winter 2009 were very wet at Chateauneuf-du-Pape, letting soils rebuild their water reserves before summer, and in the north winter rains helped vineyards overcome the lack of summer rain. At Chateauneuf-du-Pape, spring was cooler and wetter than average, with 170mm of rain between mid-April and mid-June. Then the summer turned extremely dry there: less than 30mm of rain fell between 9 June and 14 September, beating the 2007 record of 35mm, against a 20-year average of 161mm. It was hot as well, with 24 days above 35C, 12 of them in August, making it the second-hottest August in 46 years after 2003, and the Mistral dominated the growing year. In the southern Rhone, September was notably hot but cooler at night, and the vines shut down until a 64mm downpour in mid-September, followed by a keen mistral, got them going again. In the north, the season was warm and dry with a heat wave after veraison, offset by cool nights; Wine Spectator's James Molesworth judged the heat less severe than 2003. At Cote-Rotie, Jean-Michel Stephan's vineyards had a July storm of only 20mm, then around 30mm in mid-September. Harvest came early in both halves: early in the north, and at Chateauneuf-du-Pape one of the earliest vintages of the early 21st century, where picking began at the end of August and ended in early October, unaffected by 53mm of September rain. Yields split by half: northern yields were normal, while Chateauneuf-du-Pape yields were estimated at 28 to 30 hl/ha against a 35 hl/ha maximum.

• Chateauneuf-du-Pape: less than 30mm of rain from 9 June to 14 September, against a 20-year average of 161mm
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape: 24 days above 35C, 12 of them in August
• North: warm and dry, with a heat wave after veraison and an early harvest
• Cote-Rotie (Stephan): a July storm of only 20mm, then around 30mm in mid-September

Decanter's Livingstone-Learmonth called the northern 2009s solar: rich, full and giving, with low acidity the only proviso. Comparisons with 1990 came from around Hermitage, where Jacques Grange of Delas said: "2009 is like 1990, with a full crop and excellent quality". At Cote-Rotie, generous yields often hover near 40 hectolitres per hectare, high for a hillside vineyard, and some young Syrah vines suffered from the heat at Crozes-Hermitage. Alain Graillot of Crozes-Hermitage said: "We needed rain, we got rain. We needed sun, we got sun." Wine Spectator's James Molesworth found the reds lush and velvety with ripe, polished tannins, rated the vintage 93 to 96 points overall pending blind tastings of the bottled wines, and judged that the whites generally failed to match the reds.

• Hermitage: Decanter called the wines punchy and effortlessly rich, with Chapoutier's Les Bessards and Le Meal leading
• Cote-Rotie: Decanter found tannins ripe and well integrated, and purity and cut from the schisty northern sector
• Cornas: Decanter found it on exuberant form, with many wines around 14% alcohol
• Whites: Decanter singled out Crozes-Hermitage and St-Peray; Wine Spectator found the whites generally round and soft, lacking definition

Grapes at Chateauneuf-du-Pape were extremely healthy, deeply colored and had substantial tannic structure; sorting was cut to the strict minimum and picking went ahead calmly. The federation's first tastings of finished wines placed 2009 in line with the great 2005 and 2007 vintages, as a wine for keeping. Jancis Robinson put average Chateauneuf yields below 28 hl/ha, the result of particularly small berries, and found that some wines lacked juice, with a dried-fruit character and rasping tannins, though not across the board. She found the fault less common in Gigondas, where many wines carried 15% alcohol. Vincent Avril of Clos des Papes put it this way: "2008 was the year of the vigneron but 2009 was the year of the winemaker."

• Avril began picking his red grapes on 25 September, while many other growers started much earlier, worried by falling acid levels
• Robinson found very few overripe wines among regular Chateauneuf-du-Pape bottlings and often preferred them to the Cuvees Speciales
• Robinson found the northern 2009s in general more relaxed, eloquent and convincing
• Robinson expected the riches of 2009 to be enjoyable all the way down to Cotes du Rhone level

Decanter's Livingstone-Learmonth advised drinking the St-Josephs and the simple Crozes-Hermitage within five to eight years, and said a rendezvous with the top Cornas, Cote-Rotie and Hermitage was still a good idea after 2025. Molesworth called yields the vintage's one weak point, warning that they might put the wines on a slightly faster track of evolution in the cellar. At Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the federation expects 2009 to be a vintage for keeping.

• St-Joseph and simple Crozes-Hermitage: Decanter advised drinking within five to eight years
• Top Cornas, Cote-Rotie and Hermitage: Decanter said a rendezvous was still a good idea after 2025
• Northern Vin de Pays and Cotes du Rhone: Decanter called 2009 a year to buy at that level