Best Rhône 2016 wines: The top scorers

Here are Matt Walls' top scoring wines from the Rhône 2016 vintage, all rated above 95 points.

Below is a sneak preview of what Matt Walls has to say about the Rhône 2016 wines and his top picks from the vintage.

Many Rhône winemakers had a tough act to follow in 2016, following a 2015 vintage that was considered to be among the best in recent memory – especially in the northern appellations.

But, Walls judged that 2016 has largely delivered, describing the best wines of the vintage as ‘having it all’ and ‘not to be missed’ for collectors.

Southern Rhône 2016 vintage report in full

Northern Rhône 2016 vintage report in full

All of the wines below are rated above 95 points and have been chosen by Matt Walls after several weeks of scouring the region, from Côte Rôtie to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, tasting 1,500 en primeur wines in the process.

‘Before I arrived in the Rhône in October 2017 to taste the 2016 vintage, I already had an inkling it was going to be special,’ writes Walls in his full report, to be published for Premium members on Decanter.com later this week.

‘When tasting the 2015s the previous year – itself a very good vintage – some winemakers couldn’t contain their excitement about what they’d just picked,’ writes Walls.

‘”Yes, the 2015s are great, but try this!” said Vincent Avril of Clos des Papes, as he thrust a cloudy glass of freshly fermented 2016 into my hand.

‘Since then I’ve tasted nearly 1,500 wines from the 2016 vintage, and it’s clear that this is a very good year in the northern Rhône – and truly great in the South.’