2017 Southern Rhône Vintage

The southern season got off to an early start after a mild winter and a postcard-perfect April. May turned colder, and heavy rain during flowering left a high level of coulure (shatter) on Grenache. The coulure was severe: it hit Grenache hardest and Syrah to a lesser extent, while the later-ripening Mourvèdre and Carignan were unaffected. The rain petered out by early June, and from there the season was warm and dry, with no rain until mid-November. Vines on clay soils performed best thanks to their water retention. At Domaine de Beaurenard in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 5.4 inches of rain fell over the six-month vegetative cycle against an average of 12 inches, yet the vineyard showed no real stress; Château la Nerthe had just 60mm of rain from May to the end of September. The first whites were picked on 21 August and the reds on 28 August, a full two weeks earlier than in 2016. The season stayed early through harvest, with most picking done by the end of September, and ripening was even and easy, helped in part by the reduced crop. Coulure and a long spell of intense dryness cut yields hard: Laurent Brusset of Domaine Brusset put the drop at 30 to 50 percent depending on the appellation, while Wine Spectator reported 30 to 65 percent or more depending on the sector.

• Early start after a mild winter and a postcard-perfect April
• Cold, rainy May at flowering brought heavy coulure on Grenache
• Warm and dry from early June to mid-November; clay soils performed best
• Whites from 21 August, reds from 28 August, two weeks ahead of 2016

Gigondas was hit particularly hard. Domaine des Bosquets, in the part of the appellation most damaged by coulure, finished with 45 percent less than in 2016. In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine de la Vieille Julienne's yields were about 50 percent lower, and at Château de Beaucastel Grenache was down 50 percent, Syrah 20 percent and Mourvèdre normal. The varietal mix of some southern cuvées was likely to shift to make up for the lack of Grenache, as in 2013, and the reduced yields were bound to have an economic impact on growers, particularly in the Southern Rhône. Jacky Bernard, president of AOC Vacqueyras, said volume shortages could lead to increased prices.

• Gigondas: hit particularly hard; Domaine des Bosquets down 45 percent on 2016
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Beaucastel's Grenache down 50 percent, Syrah 20 percent, Mourvèdre normal
• Some southern cuvées likely to carry less Grenache, as in 2013
• Vacqueyras: the AOC president said shortages could lead to higher prices

Wine Spectator's verdict was that yields were way down but quality remained high. Jean-Paul Daumen of Domaine de la Vieille Julienne called the quality of the grapes perfect, with both ripeness and freshness, and Marc Perrin of Château de Beaucastel described an extremely healthy harvest that hardly needed sorting, with great color and good acidity, and wines that were very balanced and very elegant with no feeling of heat. Ralph Garcin of Château la Nerthe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape called it "an atypical year" and described the wines as "precise, straight, fleshy, with a very strong tannic imprint". Laurent Brusset described bunches with small berries, thick skins, ripe yellow stalks and brown pips, which let him include more stems in his ferments; with such concentrated must, he favored gentle pumping over rather than punching down. Decanter judged that the reduced yields would leave little of what looked like a very good, ageworthy vintage to satisfy demand.

• Wine Spectator: yields way down, quality high
• Vieille Julienne reported grapes with both ripeness and freshness; Beaucastel reported good acidity
• Garcin (Château la Nerthe): "precise, straight, fleshy, with a very strong tannic imprint"
• Decanter: little of what looked like a very good, ageworthy vintage to satisfy demand