2018 Rhône Valley Vintage

The season started well enough, with a mild spring following a wet winter, which gave growers the opportunity to build back the soil's water reserve. A bit of rain nicked the flowering, but the initial fruit set was healthy overall; flowering in the Rhone went well overall, though coulure appeared on certain terroirs. A particularly wet June was the season's hardest test, bringing unusually high mildew pressure, with the Southern Rhone bearing the brunt of it. "At the end of June, the weather drastically changed, with solid sunshine," Jean-Louis Chave said. In the south, the summer and late season were dry and warm. By early August, temperatures had been very high in recent weeks, veraison was evident and harvest could come up to eight to 10 days early. September weather was excellent throughout, fairly cool and sunny with low humidity and an appearance from the Mistral, which helped the grapes ripen fully and kept them in excellent health. In the north, Chave started harvest on September 3 with white Hermitage. Early estimates put yields at the lower end of the five-year average but higher than in 2017, while in the south yields were significantly down, by as much as 50 percent in some vineyards.

The north saw a shorter harvest, as the region ripened quickly and evenly: all Guigal northern appellations were harvested during 22 days. Chave followed his white Hermitage right away with red St.-Joseph and red Hermitage, and the weather during harvest was particularly hot, so good cooling equipment was necessary to prevent early and quick fermentations. The south was more spread out, with varying microclimates dealing with extra humidity and more heterogeneous ripening. At Nalys in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, harvest lasted five weeks with many interruptions needed to reach full ripeness; the Grenache was very affected by mildew, but the Syrah ripened well. "The disease pressure was very strong," said Bastien Tardieu of Tardieu-Laurent, and spraying had to be very frequent to avoid losing too much crop. In the north, by contrast, Yann Chave, co-president of Crozes-Hermitage, said good yields had helped avoid the problems of over-concentration, and Condrieu co-president Christophe Pichon called his appellation's year "Quality and quantity!"

Alcoholic fermentations finished quickly and were often followed swiftly by malolactic, but acidity stayed very low, requiring remedial work in the winery. In the north, the early wines were black in color, and Chave said, "Malolactic will be a key factor as the pHs are a bit high." In the south, whites and roses were highly aromatic, with Roussanne and Clairette doing particularly well; reds were smooth and supple, and Inter Rhone called the Syrahs superb, with soft, gentle tannins. Grenache was already showing scents of raspberry and grenadine with peppery overtones. In the north, initial tastings pointed to dense, velvety tannins, whites with a wide range of aromas, and juicy, intensely colored Syrahs, despite potentially low acidity. Yann Chave called the balance "quite astonishing for such a warm year." Inter Rhone called 2018 the fourth in a series of outstanding vintages, and Wine Spectator reported that the hot streak of vintages that started with 2015 looked set to continue in both north and south.