2016 Southern Rhone

For any true lover of Southern Rhone the 2016’s reds are unmissable. An outstanding vintage has resulted in rich concentrated wines that show great freshness and structure, one that Michel Chapoutier says has the potential to be better than 1990. Arguably the world’s premier Rhone wine critic, Jeb Dunnuck sums up the vintage as follows:-

“The 2016s are on another level. The vintage started with a mild spring resulting in a large even crop set. This was followed by a dry, hot summer featuring numerous days over 95° Fahrenheit and less than 3 inches of total precipitation. However, while hot and dry, the driving characteristic of this vintage was the incredibly cool nights which helped maintain acidity in the grapes as well as resulted in terrific aromatics and freshness in the final wines. Harvest occurred from the middle of September through the early part of October. The large crop, even, hot daytime temperatures, little precipitation and cool night resulted in a beautiful vintage that comes closest in style to 1990, or even a hypothetical mix of 2010 and 2007. The wines are beautifully concentrated and structured – on par with 2010 – yet have a more open, sexy, voluptuous style due to the larger yields. The tannin quality is beautiful, the wines have notable freshness and purity, their alcohol is integrated, and quality is incredibly high across all the regions. In fact, the biggest surprise was the consistency of the vintage, which is even more homogenous than 2015. This is truly an extraordinary vintage.”
Jeb Dunnuck – jebdunnuck.com