2010 Northern Rhône Vintage

After a cold winter, spring 2010 was usefully wet, but it was a difficult spring, with wet, cool weather leading to an uneven flowering. The flowering in June was unusually extended in changeable weather, so an exceptionally low proportion of potential grapes formed fully on each bunch. For Jean-Louis Chave, whose domaine is based in Hermitage and St.-Joseph, "the difficulty with '10 was the coulure": his old vines were very heterogeneous, some with many bunches and others with a few or none. The summer was reasonably but not uncommonly dry, and much cooler than 2009's, especially at night. Early September rains usefully propelled vines towards full ripeness. Ripening was heterogeneous from parcel to parcel, and the harvest did not really get rolling until the end of September, stretching into October, but the fruit did get ripe. It was an easy harvest in late September and, in many cases, early October, and the loose bunches, with their reduced number of berries, staved off rot and disease, so the grapes picked were very healthy. Coulure above all brought much lower yields than usual, and many growers saw yields reduced by 30 to 50 percent, depending on their parcels.

• Cold winter, then a wet, cool spring and an uneven flowering
• June flowering unusually extended in changeable weather; coulure cut yields well below usual
• Summer much cooler than 2009, especially at night; early September rains helped the vines ripen
• Harvest from the end of September into October; many growers down 30 to 50 percent

Coulure made 2010 a year of uneven crops. Chave pointed out that some producers might look at a parcel's low overall average yield and leave it, but his domaine still green harvested the vines that had too much fruit to ensure ripening. He found managing that inconsistency from vine to vine tedious, but the season ran late and the vines easily ripened what they had. His Hermitage white was reduced by half in 2010, down to just 665 cases. The crop was not thinned in summer, and while average yields were low, some younger vines were left overloaded with berries and short on flavor, color and tannins.

• Coulure left old vines very uneven, some with many bunches and others with a few or none
• Chave still green harvested the vines with too much fruit to ensure ripening
• Chave's Hermitage white was halved, to 665 cases
• Some younger vines were left overloaded and short on flavor, color and tannins

Wine Spectator's James Molesworth found the 2010 season very, very consistent from domaine to domaine and appellation to appellation. He rated it 94 to 97 points, a step ahead of 2009 for its freshness, delineation and balance, with richness and depth in the reds, and whites he called easily the best since 2006. Alcohols were a full degree higher than in 2009, but many vignerons felt the more substantial acidity and better tannins gave the wines better overall balance. Chave sums up the pair this way: 2009 in the northern Rhône was dominated by the sun, while the 2010 wines are dominated by the soil. Jancis Robinson found the 2010s devoid of puppy fat and better at expressing terroir, ripe but fresh and silky, and named 2010 the best vintage she can remember for northern Rhône whites, with Condrieu showing real structure and attack. Jean-Marc Jamet called 2010 'really perfect'. Stéphane Ogier of Côte-Rôtie compared 2009 and 2010 to 1990 and 1991, and suggested that, as with the 1991s, 2010 could come to be valued for its freshness and minerality. Jean-Luc Colombo, whose domaine is based in Cornas, found 2009 had more volume but less minerality and was not as tight as 2010.

• Rated 94 to 97 points by Wine Spectator's James Molesworth, ahead of 2009 for freshness, delineation and balance
• Alcohols a full degree above 2009, with more substantial acidity and better tannins
• Jancis Robinson: ripe but fresh and silky, and the best northern Rhône whites she can remember
• Chave's shorthand: 2009 dominated by the sun, 2010 by the soil