Southern Rhône 2023: The connoisseur's guide

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Southern Rhône overall vintage rating: 3.5 / 5 A juicy, ripe vintage, relatively soft in tannin and acidity, but nonetheless displaying detailed terroir expression. Châteauneuf more mixed; some excellent, others overripe. Consistently good vintage for whites throughout the region.

Red wine of the vintage: Domaine Santa Duc, Clos des Hospices, Gigondas, 2023

White wine of the vintage: Domaine de Beaurenard Boisrenard, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2023

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Scroll down for Matt Walls’ top-scoring 2023 wines from the southern Rhône [subscriber-content] Starting at the beginning The story of a vintage really begins once the last of the previous year’s grapes have been harvested – so for 2023, we need to start by looking at the last quarter of 2022. Thankfully, this period was very wet, with rain replenishing water reserves ahead of what turned out to be another parched growing season. January to March 2023 was exceptionally dry, which is unusual for this time of year. From the 21 January to 21 February, not a drop fell from the sky. ‘We don’t have climate change here – we have a deregulated climate,’ says Vincent Avril of Clos des Papes. In other words, when it does rain it all comes at once, and scorching heatwaves are now common. The lack of rain continued into April, coupled with a harsh, drying mistral. The water situation continued to be troubling until mid-May, when it finally started raining, with frequent small showers until the end of June. It didn’t amount to much, but it was enough. Damp periods and warmth are perfect conditions for downy mildew and black rot, but it wasn’t as widespread or virulent as 2018. It affected yields more than quality. See all 400 Rhône 2023 tasting notes and scores Turning up the heat July and early August were very warm, but it was nothing like 2022 (the hottest year on record in France); 2023 was beginning to look like an excellent vintage. Then temperatures took off like a rocket. The week from 19-26 August was scorching, with temperatures over 40 ̊C. ‘It was like a microwave, like an oven,’ says Frédéri Férigoule of Le Sang des Cailloux in Vacqueyras. His vines were grilled to the point that the young plants dropped their leaves. ‘But the old vines – no problem.’ Most white varieties could be picked before the end of the heatwave, and whites and rosés are delicious across the southern Rhône . The reds weren’t yet fully ripe, so they had to run the gauntlet. Instant drinkability On the plus side, ripeness is not an issue in 2023 – the region is awash with crowd-pleasing, approachable wines, with a fairly high baseline for quality. But a proportion are a little too juicy and easy, with low acidity, high alcohol and soft structure. Keep an eye out for wines with Mourvèdre in the blend; it brings some welcome sinew in a year like this. Comparing 2023 to recent vintages isn’t easy; 2022 is probably the closest, but the wines of 2023 have less-angular tannins and high alcohol levels. It’s comparable in terms of quality, but 2022 is probably fractionally better. But the 2022s will take time to soften, whereas the 2023s will give pleasure immediately. Read Matt Walls' full vintage overview Top southern Rhône producers in 2023 Château de Beaucastel Château de Nalys Château de St Cosme Château Rayas Clos des Papes Domaine de Beaurenard Domaine de la Janasse Domaine de la Solitude Domaine des Bosquets Domaine l'Anglore [/subscriber-content] Top-scoring southern Rhône 2023 wines: Highest scoring wines are listed white, then red in score order. [wine-collection] Related articles Walls: A Côte-Rôtie with a Burgundian flourish Walls: A vertical of a great Cornas cuvée Walls: How to find value in the Rhône