I had one a couple of weeks ago:
The soft tanins kind of convinced me this would be better young…
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My bottles of '21 Clape Cornas just arrived and I was very surprised to see them labeled at a mere 12% ABV.
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It’s just that kind of vintage!
JLL on Clape:
In the run of hot years from 2017 to 2020, harvest dates were installed in late August for the top names, but this year mid-September was the starting point for domaines such as CLAPE, whose OLIVIER took me through the year from his perspective.
MARKED CONTRAST BETWEEN 2021 AND 2022
“2021 is the opposite of 2022,” he related. “The winter was mild with not much rain. The growth started early, but then we had frost even on the well exposed hillsides such as Reynard. From mid-May it was rain, identical conditions to 2008, low heat, black rot, oïdium, mildew, and eight to nine treatments.
During the growing season this year over 600 mm [24 in] of rain fell from April to September [in sharp contrast, 1 Jan-14 August 2022, only 260 mm [10.2 in]. Our harvest this year ran from 14 September until 25 September. Overall, the rainfall from 1 January until the start of harvest on 14 September was 658 mm [26+ in], and then post harvest another 250 mm [10 in] fell."
Btw JLL gives the 2021 Clape Cornas five stars and this brief note: “cool gras, mega tasty, Pinote, fresh”
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Posted this on my IG a while back, but might also be fitting for this thread:
Freshly pressed concentrated acidic blackberries. I really like the fruit profile in this colder vintage. Intense olive notes! A stony mineral feel and some liquorice. All of it surrounded by a pinch of freshly grounded pepper. Fine approachable tannins, rather high acidity and 13% abv. Great balance, lovely stuff.
You feel the colder vintage, but it is not lacking in concentration.
In this vintage the pepper notes are not as dominant as it can sometimes be in Balthazar’s Cornas wines. In 2021 the olive notes are more noticeable.
These wines are often drinking very well at a young stage.
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I have been staying in Valence this last week and most vineyards are dealing with mildew in the Rhone Valley
I was in Valence for the first time recently and was the only town in France I didn’t really love… how are you liking it?
France has over 35,000 municipalities. It was really the only one you didn’t love?
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Yes, but I only stayed in 5 other of those 35,000
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Slightly off topic but has anyone had a 17/18 sorrel Greal recently? Would love to know how they’re doing.
Curious what people’s experience of the vintages are like now, a year later - particularly the 2021, which was seen as pretty weak. But there are many ways to be weak. Was it weak like 2011 Napa or weak like 2013 Bordeaux or something else? The wines seem to sell at a discount from the other vintages, so I’m wondering if there’s a reason other than perception.
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Hi Henry. Just coming across your question. I had the 2017 Hermitage (not Greal) a few weeks back. I like 2017 in the Northern Rhone quite a bit, the same way I like 2011. This is a very good wine that is certainly approachable, and enjoyable. I think the wine will fill out a bit more, but I really like the “cut” here and the wine really shines with dry-aged beef.
Thank you! I have about 6 cases to drink at some point
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The only 2021 Rhone I’ve had this year is 2021 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis and I thought it was great and better than when I tasted it a year prior. It was very wild.
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I’ve only had Gonon (St Joe and Iles Feray) and Rousette, and dig it. I happen to like these less ripe years. Some are more aromatic.
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The wines are not big - the alcohol is lighter (closer to 12-13% in a lot), and they show less tannin and lighter fruit than I’ve found in other N Rhone vintages. But I really like what I’ve opened lately. Gallet Cote-Rotie and Allemand Cornas ‘C’ were both terrific; fruit more dialed back but very red fruited/elegant, very aromatic. Neither were really tannic (I was surprised at how accessible the Gallet was), but both were the type of wine where a lot more of the structure comes from the acidity. Small sample size here, but count me as a big fan of the vintage.
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Agreed, I would not call it a ‘weak’ vintage from what I’ve tasted. Just a different style. But I’m also working on smaller sample sizes concentrated around the better producers. And despite your words of encouragement, reluctant to open the few bottles of 2021 Levet that I have.
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I’ve had very little so far, but the Gonon Les Ile Feray was excellent. Less burly than other recent vintages but floral, fruity and deep. If indeed this vintage is discounted it will be a gift to the more attentive lovers of Rhone Syrah.
How does it compare to some of the 2014s I’ve seen you speak positively about?
Sorry Ryan, have not had enough of 21 to really make that type of comparison. What I can say is, for my palate, if Salil likes the vintage, I generally will as well. We both like the more red-fruited vintages with crisp acidic structure for freshness.
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AKA the unripe vintages.
Alain