2015 Northern Rhône Vintage

Jean-Louis Chave summed up the year: "A perfect spring followed by a perfect drought-like summer." The growing season was warm and dry, with cooler nights that let the grapes keep their natural acidity, and growers found it as hot as 2003 at times. The northern Rhône was hotter than the southern Rhône for two to three weeks in mid-July, with temperatures rising to 39°C at Côte-Rôtie, and some cool August nights added freshness. Ripening slowed or stopped in some vineyards under hydric stress until rain in late August and early September restarted it, with small rains falling on 24 August and 1 September. The drought had given the grapes thick skins, and Michel Chapoutier reported no disease pressure. Most producers waited for the rain before picking, and nearly all harvesting was finished by mid- to late September. Wine Spectator reported yields in the normal range; Decanter called them almost full, and Livingstone-Learmonth wrote that at harvest barely one bunch was thrown away anywhere.

• Mid-July: north hotter than south for two to three weeks, up to 39°C at Côte-Rôtie
• Cool nights kept acidity; cool August nights added freshness
• Rain on 24 August and 1 September eased hydric stress
• Harvest nearly all done by mid- to late September; Wine Spectator put yields in the normal range

Decanter's John Livingstone-Learmonth called it an immense year at Côte-Rôtie, with excellent balance, great length and alcohol higher than usual at 13.5% to 14.5%; in an earlier Decanter piece he found the Côte-Rôties rich, leaning towards the south, perhaps a little like 1999, and said they will live long. He called Hermitage reds a mighty vintage, with Le Méal king this year, and Jean-Louis Chave put it as "2015 is a bit like 1990, when everything was good." In Cornas, rain in early June and mid-August was perfectly timed, and he found very ripe, almost prune fruit with fresh tannins. He described Saint-Joseph as more of a mixed bag: wines from Mauves and Tournon were full and graceful, while some from the northern sector around Chavanay showed excess extraction. Crozes-Hermitage wines were open and generous, in red and white, and Saint-Péray gave rich, substantial wines.

Marcel Guigal said, "2015 is on the level of 1929, 1947, 1961," and Philippe Guigal said the maturity of the tannins reached impressive levels. Livingstone-Learmonth wrote that 2015 was the only vintage since he started in 1973 that tasted so well at such a young stage, and called it an excellent vintage on every level. Louis Barruol said white Hermitage has more balance than Condrieu, probably because Marsanne copes better with heat than Viognier. Decanter found the Condrieus generally robust and solid, with packed-in content and at times heady alcohols, in marked contrast to the better-balanced 2014, while the Hermitage whites were complete, large and full of glycerol. For Saint-Joseph, Livingstone-Learmonth advised leaving many of the Syrahs until 2019.