2010 Southern Rhône Vintage

The 2010 growing season in the southern Rhone was very similar to the northern Rhone's, with coulure cutting the crop to one of the lowest in recent memory. A useful amount of rain fell in winter and spring, but July and August were drier than almost any recent year other than 2007, and reportedly the ninth driest since records began in 1871. In Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the year was rated cooler and wetter than average. The early months there brought 46 frost days, against an average of 31. From October 2009 to September 2010, rainfall ran 23 percent above average, close to 800 mm against a median of 642 mm, but July and August were drier than normal. The first two ten-day periods of May were cooler than normal, as was early June, while the first ten days of July were among the mildest known; by 30 June the heat sum above 10C stood at 629C, against 831C in 2003 and 785C in 2007. The year also counted 55 days with average temperatures above 30C. Coulure on Grenache in spring and the water deficit of July and August explain the low Chateauneuf-du-Pape yields, and the rainy spring and dry summer produced extremely healthy grapes. Cool August nights delayed the start of picking there, sorting was kept to a strict minimum, and apart from a storm in early September the harvest went calmly. Growers keen to avoid the dry tannins of 2009 tended to leave grapes on the vine until the phenolics were fully ripe. Between the dry summer and coulure, yields were severely restricted, averaging only 27 hl/ha throughout Chateauneuf-du-Pape, against the 35 hl/ha its rules allow.

• Southern Rhone: coulure cut the crop to one of the lowest in recent memory
• Southern Rhone: useful winter and spring rain, then a July and August drier than any recent year except 2007
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape: 46 frost days early in the year (average 31); rainfall 23 percent above average from October 2009 to September 2010
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape: cool August nights delayed picking; only an early September storm disturbed the harvest

The growers' federation expects 2010 to be remembered as one of the appellation's lowest vintages for volume and one of its highest for the quality of the grapes and wines. The average yield was 27 hl/ha, against 35 hl/ha allowed, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape produced 84,777 hl in total, 78,964 hl of red and 5,813 hl of white, from 3,165 hectares in production. The rainy spring and dry summer produced extremely healthy grapes of fine tannic structure, and the cool August nights favored the build-up of anthocyanins and polyphenols. Fermentations went well, the last vats were run off in early November, and malolactic fermentations dragged on a little in the cool autumn. The federation says first tastings of the finished wines place 2010 in line with the very great 2001 and 2007 vintages. According to Vincent Avril, yields at Clos des Papes were a mere 18 hl/ha, and he likened 2010 to a blend of the richness of 1990, the elegance of 2005 and the power of 2007.

• Average yield 27 hl/ha against 35 hl/ha allowed
• 84,777 hl produced: 78,964 hl red and 5,813 hl white, from 3,165 hectares
• Malolactic fermentations dragged on a little in the cool autumn
• Clos des Papes: a mere 18 hl/ha

Jancis Robinson found a much wider quality gap between 2009 and 2010 in the southern Rhone than in the north. In blind tastings, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras 2009s turned up many wines with drying tannins, while the 2010 southern Rhone wines showed much riper tannins and, thanks to the unusually cool summer nights, much more freshness and acidity. Alcohol levels, especially in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, seemed even higher than in 2009: among the reds whose producers supplied a strength, a small handful of regular Tradition bottlings cited 14 percent, the average was 15 percent with many at 15.5 percent, and several special cuvees cited 16.5 percent. Marc Perrin of Chateau de Beaucastel said the 2010s are like the 1990s, just as the 2009s remind him of the 1989s.