2021 Rhône Vintage (JLL / drinkRhone.com)
Summary
2021 was a complicated, demanding year throughout the Rhône Valley — a statistical outlier that harks back to vintages forty years ago, when ripening the grapes was a genuine challenge. Frost, rain, mildew, oïdium, and black rot kept growers on their toes, followed by tricky late-September storms. The result is a vintage of careful selection: interesting, not scaled up, capable of early pleasure, with degrees often 2 degrees lower than 2019 and 2020.
In the South, quality is up and down across appellations and domaines. It is “all rather chaotic” — not a racing certainty that all high-profile names have done well. The word is compromise, with medium-bodied, pretty fluid reds and whites that gained amplitude with raising.
Drinking outlook: A vintage that will really be an outlier between the structured 2020 and the drought-driven 2022. JLL bets the wines will give most attractive drinking around 8-10 years old and beyond, “as this so-called forgotten or ignored vintage serves its wares openly and honestly.”
Northern Rhône
Overview
Philippe Guigal: “very little, but very good 2021 Condrieu; too facile a year at Crozes-Hermitage.” The vintage delivered higher aromatics than the sunbaked vintages, potentially good access to true terroir, and clarity of fruit that doesn’t require much oak. But the lottery effect is real: how fast did a grower treat diseases? Did they discard enough grapes? Did they revert to hand harvesting?
Natural degrees were often just 11.5-12.5 degrees (with chaptalisation common), compared to 14 degrees+ in recent years.
By Appellation
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Côte-Rôtie — Guillaume Clusel: “the hardest year since 2009, not my best — similar to 2011 and 2012, better than 2014 and 2008.” Yields were variable; Johann Francois achieved 34 hl/ha (just above 2020’s 33) but had to fully destem some vats. Natural degrees just 11.5-12 degrees, with chaptalisation needed. Valerie Gallet at Domaine Gallet: “joli matter, and isn’t as light as it could have been, the degree 13 degrees.” Jean-Michel Stephan: “we had mildew first, then oïdium… it’s a glou, glou, glugging year.” Jamet’s classic blend rated four-to-five stars (“winning clarity”); Cote Brune five stars (“graceful, Pinot-like”). Rostaing’s Ampodium was “a rare w.o.w. Cote-Rotie.”
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Hermitage — Emmanuel Darnaud: hail on Les Bessards on August 15, then a rain warning of 110mm for September 18-19 forced early harvesting. “What to do? We couldn’t take the risk.” Degrees 12.8-13.1 degrees. Chave’s 2021 rouge: “Pinot-ripe cooked plum, cosy gras, tempting, finesse-led.” Sorrel’s Le Greal: “wide, simmered raspberry, very strong core.” Sorrel’s Rocoules blanc was exceptional — five stars, “sensuous,” aided by the low degree.
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Cornas — Johann Michel: “surprised and pleased with the colour.” Made just one wine (no Jana or Mere Michel). Jacques Lemenicier: “but for the last rainfall of 100mm, 2021 would have been an extra good year.” Degrees at 11.8-12.2 degrees. Harvest finished October 11. Allemand’s Reynard rated four-to-five stars (“gentle assurance, Burgundian”). Clape’s Cornas: five stars (“live dark red fruiting, raspberry, spiced plums, violet, perfume”).
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Saint-Joseph — Pascal Marthouret: “summer drinking wines, served a bit cool, the flavour like cherry that is only just ripe.” Christophe Blanc: “the reds won’t be long keeping — I vinified them with their first five years in mind, all on fruit.” Aurelien Chatagnier: “perhaps similar to 2012 and 2014 together.” Jerome Coursodon: whites ended at 13.5 degrees, “good, quite fresh.” Gonon Saint-Joseph rouge rated four-to-five stars (“stylish cassis coulis, discreet iron”); Les Oliviers blanc was five stars.
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Crozes-Hermitage — Philippe Guigal: “2021 is too diluted at Crozes; too many vinification accidents. A combination of higher rain, high yields, very large grapes.” Maxime Chomel: “very average; resembles wines made 20-25 years ago.” But Franck Faugier (Hauts Chassis): “if you harvested inside that window, you weren’t wrecked. It’s a year of freshness, gourmandise — they’re not Grands Vins.” Christelle Betton: the whites have “more acidity and a lower degree than recent years.”
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Saint-Péray — Sandrine Robert (Domaine du Tunnel): “more supple than the 2020.” Jacques Lemenicier: started harvest September 13 (vs August 24 in 2020); degree from Tourtousse: 16 degrees in 2020, 13.8 degrees in 2021.
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Condrieu — A 2-degree difference from 2020 (12.2-12.5 degrees vs 14 degrees+). Pierre-Jean Villa: “a year of freshness, low degree, high acidities, very high malic acidity pre-malo.” Guigal lost 55% from frost but achieved natural 14 degrees — the only appellation they didn’t chaptalise. Stephane Montez (Monteillet): “good purity of fruit, balance, harmony, a very beau potential.”
Southern Rhône
Overview
Daniel Brunier (Vieux Telegraphe): “2021 is not a Grande Annee” — the grapes didn’t need the mid-September rain for balance since it had already rained a lot. Pierre Perrin (Beaucastel) felt the whites were “a bit pommades” (smooth like an ointment), lacking natural richness.
The reds are medium-bodied, fluid, with enough fruit to please — a vintage for the restaurant trade. As a cool, rather Northern year, the reds gained amplitude and roundness with raising.
By Appellation
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Châteauneuf-du-Pape — Daniel Brunier: “the reds are beaus; it was a bit difficult to achieve maturity on the Mourvedre and Syrah, but we got there. During their first winter, I had the impression of a very average year, but around March, suddenly the volume arrived, making the wines beaus, rounded, velvet, balanced — a vintage full of fruit that reminds me to some extent of 2006.” Rayas blanc was declared a “Grand Vintage” by Emmanuel Reynaud — “bold, striking, really thorough, knocking at the door for six stars.”
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Tavel — Two speeds: wines from before the mid-September rains, and after. Even then, not all top names came to the fore.
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Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cairanne — Covered alongside Chateauneuf in JLL’s Southern reports.
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Whites — When good, “extremely good, with beautiful balance, natural freshness, elegant gras, and good length.” The late Andre Brunel’s Les Cailloux blanc 2021 was JLL’s choice for his son’s September 2022 wedding. But some whites lapsed into dilution with lower gras than anticipated. A search for gras to accompany the freshness was a recurring theme.
Top Wines
Northern Rhône (from JLL vintage notes data)
- Clape Cornas — five stars; “live dark red fruiting, raspberry, spiced plums, violet, perfume”
- Jamet Cote-Rotie Cote Brune — five stars; “graceful raspberry, blackberry, dried flowers; Pinot-like”
- Sorrel Hermitage Les Rocoules Blanc — five stars; “sensuous”; exceptional in the low-degree year
- Gonon Saint-Joseph Les Oliviers Blanc — five stars; “bright and appealing, cool white fruits”
- Jamet Cote-Rotie classic blend — four-to-five stars building to five; “winning clarity”
Southern Rhône
- Chateau Rayas blanc — “Grand Vintage”; near six-star territory
- Chateau Rayas Fonsalette blanc — “enjoyable, fluid richness, floral, very good structure and style”
- Clos des Papes red — Daniel Brunier comparison to 2006 vintage at top estates
Key Themes
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A vigneron’s vintage. 2021 rewarded skill and attentiveness disproportionately. How fast did you treat disease? Did you sort enough? Did you hand-harvest? The gulf between careful and careless producers is wider than usual.
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Degrees 2 degrees lower than recent vintages — a throwback. Natural degrees of 11.5-12.5 degrees in the North (with chaptalisation) and 13.5-14 degrees in the South recall the vintages of 20-40 years ago. This restored freshness and terroir transparency that had been obscured by the solar 2018-2020 run.
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Exceptional whites from an unlikely year. The 2021 whites — especially at Condrieu, Hermitage, and Saint-Joseph — are often magnificent. Low degrees and high acidity produced floral, enchanting whites with a freshness lost in recent vintages. Sorrel’s Rocoules, Gonon’s Oliviers, and Rayas blanc are all standouts. JLL called the Southern whites “magnificent” as a category.
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The forgotten vintage between two blockbusters. Sandwiched between the silken 2020 and the extreme 2022, 2021 risks being overlooked. JLL bets it will give “most attractive drinking around 8-10 years old” as the ignored vintage “serves its wares openly and honestly.” At Cornas, Clape’s five-star rating shows that even in a difficult year, the top sites delivered.
Sources
sources/articles/JLL/rhone_vintage_reports.json— “2021 Northern Rhone” and “2021 Southern Rhone” (JLL / drinkRhone.com)