Rhône Vintage Chart — Best Years to Buy

Read by appellation

Northern Rhône · Syrah

One grape, Syrah, on steep granite terraces. Structured, ageworthy reds that run from the floral lift of Côte-Rôtie to the tar and iron of Cornas.

Côte-Rôtie. The perfumed benchmark of the north, and priced like it. Two vintages stand above the rest, the Exceptional 2015 and 2019, both built for the long haul, while only frost-hit 2021 slipped to Good. The current release is the Very Good 2022; the incoming 2023 and 2024 are still years from the shelf.

Hermitage. The hill of Hermitage makes the north’s most reliable grand vin, and the record shows it: four Exceptional vintages in six years, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, all built to age twenty. The 2022 is the current release; 2023 and 2024 are still in the cellars of Chave and the rest.

Cornas. The north’s dark, tar-and-iron corner, and the first of its serious names to reach the shelf: the 2023s from Clape and Allemand are arriving while Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie of that year sit in barrel. 2020 is Exceptional, and the flagged 2019 buys grand-vin structure below flagship money. Those benchmark names have themselves climbed into three figures, so the value now lives in the mid-tier: Colombo, Voge, Balthazar, Durand.

Crozes-Hermitage & Saint-Joseph. The value heart of this page. Crozes-Hermitage brings the fruit, Saint-Joseph the stony structure, and both hold Very Good almost every year of the decade, a consistency the flagships can’t match. Two years carry the flag: the 2019, a truly great northern vintage at $30 to $60 against the icons’ $150 and up, and the current-release 2022, already on shelves from Graillot, Coursodon, Alexandrins and Thalabert. For a step up, Gonon and Chave’s Offerus set the Saint-Joseph benchmark.

Southern Rhône · Grenache blends

Grenache-led blends with Syrah and Mourvèdre, across warm and stony ground. Generous, garrigue-scented reds, from grand Châteauneuf-du-Pape down to everyday Côtes-du-Rhône.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The south’s grand wine had a golden run: 2015, 2016 and 2017 all Exceptional, with 2016 the summit — Michel Chapoutier said it could be “better than 1990.” That vintage drinks well now and holds into the 2030s, and the accessible benchmarks (Vieux Télégraphe, Beaucastel, Janasse, roughly $90 to $130) are fair value for a mature legend, even as the icons like Rayas and Pégau’s Capo climb out of reach. Mildew pulled 2018 down to Good; the current 2023s are mostly made to drink young, while the collector cuvées stay in barrel.

Gigondas & Vacqueyras. Châteauneuf’s near neighbors and its natural value alternative: the same Grenache-led blends and much the same vintage pattern, for less money. 2016 was Exceptional here too; higher, cooler Gigondas gives structure to cellar, while Vacqueyras is the rounder, earlier drink. Both fell to Good in mildew-struck 2018 and frost-thinned 2021, and both sit at Very Good in the current 2022 and 2023.

Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. The everyday end of the south, and dependable: Very Good in most years, rarely a misstep. The flagged 2023 is the one to buy now: juicy, ready, and widely on shelves around $16 to $18. It’s also the single corner of the chart where 2024 has already arrived, a sound Good for weeknight pouring.

The whites. This chart rates the reds, the Rhône’s calling card, but the region’s whites keep their own clock: aromatic Condrieu, from Viognier, is best drunk young, the ageworthy whites of Châteauneuf-du-Pape hold for a decade, and a hard red year like frost-hit 2021 was one of the finest recent vintages for both. Judge the whites by producer and bottle, not by the red-wine grid above.