With Bordeaux wines from the widely-heralded 2009 vintage now hitting our shores, it is natural enough that the gaze of North American wine lovers should be focus on Bordeaux–which remains the world’s most important wine region. However, it would be a serious mistake to develop tunnel vision on Bordeaux, since this would result in overlooking the remarkable wines now headed our way from the Rhône Valley.
Rhône wines are now significantly more prominent in export markets 
than they were 20 years ago, but they remain under-appreciated by almost any standard. They also remain under-priced in my opinion, though that means different things in the northern and southern portions of the Rhône.
In the south, prestige cuvées of Châteauneuf du Pape (and, to a lesser degree, Gigondas) have become quite expensive, but standard-issue wines remain quite affordable by comparison to their qualitative equivalents from Bordeaux. Even more attractive values can be had from appellations such as Vacqueras and Rasteau, and there are lots of excellent bottlings of Côtes du Rhône that offer amazing quality at prices in the mid-teens.
Wines from the northern Rhône are notably more expensive than their brethren to the south, but they are also much, much rarer, as the AOCs in the north produce less than one-tenth of the AOCs in the south. Appellations such as Côte-Rôtie, Cornas and Condrieu will eventually be priced as high as tiny Bordeaux appellations such as Pomerol (mark my words), and savvy consumers and collectors would do very well to buy these wines from strong vintages now, before the party is over once and for all.
And guess what? Two terrific vintages are headed our way, with early wines from 2009 already on hand in many cities, and scores of really
amazing wines from 2010 due to arrive before long. I recently sat down to talk and taste with Bastien Tardieu, a 27 year-old wunderkind with trained at Montpellier who helps guide the superb Rhône negociant firm of Tardieu-Laurent, who offered reflections on the 2009 and 2010 vintages.
Tardieu spoke of the 2009 vintage as quite good in the south but wonderful in the north, where growing conditions were akin to 1999, which produced scores of terrific wines. The south experienced some difficulties due to heat, which affected the vines during the summer and into September. Some fermentations stopped and re-started, but the wines are marked by ample sugars and full phenolic ripeness, and will be generous and full of flavor. In the north, the relatively high temperatures made for rich, opulent whites, but they may be a bit lacking in freshness and aromatic expressiveness. The reds, however, are, again, “wonderful,” with balanced alcohol and lively, layered flavors.
He spoke with even more enthusiasm for 2010, which immediately drew descriptions as a “great, outstanding vintage.” Perhaps a bit better in the south, the wines of the entire region are marked by exceptional acidity (a characteristic also shown by 2010 wines from Bordeaux). They will likely show great capacity for ageing as a result, but with deep color, fine tannins, and “perfect balance,” many of them will be very enjoyable while young.
If the prospect of these wines is whetting your appetite before the wines are actually here to wet your whistle, Tardieu-Laurent has some exceptional wines already for sale here in the USA, including Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2008 ($30, 90 points); St. Peray 2008 ($38, 91 points); Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2008 ($83, 93 points); Vacqueras Vieilles Vignes 2008 ($42, 91 points); Crozes-Hermitage Vieilles Vignes 2008 ($44, 90 points); Cornas “Coteaux Rouge” 2007, $69, 93 points), and Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge “Cuvée Speciale” 2007 ($88, 95 points).
I’ll have full reviews of these wines in next week’s issue of WRO, and will follow those up with profiles of the Rhône’s other negociant powerhouses, Chapoutier and Guigal. But for now, please don’t spend your wine budget savings on newly-arrived Bordeaux without considering the river of delicious Rhônes that’s flowing in our direction!
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