2020 Southern Rhône Vintage

Across the Rhone Valley, 2020 was a sunny vintage, but not a scorching one. The rainy autumn of 2019 restored water reserves after a scorching summer, and a mild, dry winter produced early bud break, which left the vines particularly sensitive to the last spring frosts. Powerful sunshine and high summer temperatures raised potential alcohol levels, though not to the rates seen in 2019. Drought and heat were a worry in early summer, when maturity blockages occurred in certain sectors, but dry, sunny and slightly windy weather kept the vineyards healthy and led to excellent sanitary conditions at harvest. Overall the vines did not suffer from drought and reached maturity. Inter Rhone President Philippe Pellaton called the harvest conditions optimal, particularly for southern white wines. In the south, climatic episodes caused great differences in harvest volumes. In Tavel, despite spring weather hazards the vines suffered less than in 2019, which was heavily impacted by the heat, and a slightly later harvest allowed the berries to ripen well, with more acidity than the year before. In Ventoux, the complicated spring did not affect harvest quality or quantity and the vineyard withstood the drought well, mainly attributed to the day and night temperature amplitudes that let the vines recover from strong daytime heat at night. On volumes, surveys by AOP Cotes du Rhone and AOP Cotes du Rhone Villages showed a drop of around 8 percent compared to 2019 and 10 percent compared to the ten-year average, with harvest forecasts of 1,540,000 hl, including 270,000 hl for the Cotes du Rhone Villages. In Cotes du Rhone Villages Suze la Rousse, the harvest was very heterogeneous in quantity, but within the average for the appellation.

Southern reds showed beautiful color and good structure, with tannins that are present and melt in the mouth. Thanks to a beautiful maturity, Syrah stood out with hints of ripe fruit and sweet spice, while Grenache had a harder time reaching full phenolic maturity and did not show as much color intensity as usual. Inter Rhone found the first wines tasted supple, balanced and very elegant, rich and fruity, qualities it saw particularly in the early primeurs for 2020. In Suze la Rousse, Vincent Boyer found the vintage very satisfactory in quality, with wines of beautiful color and concentration. Alain Aubert, President of Plan de Dieu, said: "the wines are pretty, delightful, it will be a good vintage." In Cairanne, Samuel Montgermont called the harvest lovely and the wines elegant and delicious, adding that "2020 joins the string of fine vintages over the past 5 years".

Across the Rhone Valley, white and rose wines reflect the diversity of the harvest, with acidity varying by grape variety and zone, giving profiles that are sometimes very aromatic and fresh, sometimes rich and more complex. Philippe Pellaton described the southern whites as lively and tense and expected their ageing notes to be very interesting. Tavel co-president Thomas Giubbi called 2020 a vintage of remarkable balance, combining aromatic finesse with the color intensity typical of the cru. For Ventoux, Sebastien Vincenti found the wines balanced, with a very good acidity to pH ratio, and called it a vintage that stands out for its finesse.