Fine wine and spirits 2025 > Rhône

 

Rhône in 2025

Published: 13th December 2024

LONGER READ

 

The Rhône Valley is something of a sleeping giant. There are fantastic wines here, from the Syrah-based reds of the north and the powerful red blends of the south to world-class, complex white wines. With small, quality-minded growers and relatively modest prices, this is a marvellous region for building your wine collection.

 

Key developments in the Rhône Valley

 

Climate change takes its toll

The impacts of climate change have been felt throughout the world of wine, and the Rhône Valley is no exception. Freak weather events have been an all-too-common occurrence in recent years. In 2022, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was hit by a tornado, which decimated vines on the plateau of La Crau in particular; Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe lost most of its crop that year. Warmer vintages run the risk of higher alcohol levels, which can affect the wines’ balance. The vineyards of the Southern Rhône have a warm Mediterranean climate anyway, making the likes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas relatively well suited for these increasingly warm years. The story is still ongoing.

 

Individual vineyard sites

Recent years have seen a greater focus on individual vineyard sites in the Rhône. When in the past some appellations have had their boundaries expanded, notably St Joseph, there has been a consequent impact on the wines. Not all parcels of land are created equal, and not all are capable of yielding grapes of the same quality level. The result was a drop in consistency across the region. So if you wanted to get your hands on a high-quality wine, you had to look further than the appellation on the label and consider where in a particular appellation was that producer working. Wine collectors wanted to know more about the nitty-gritty of where this or that parcel was located. Chapoutier’s Sélections Parcellaires range, for example, highlights this complexity and in Côte-Rôtie, producers like E. Guigal and Domaine Réné Rostaing have long championed the idea of producing a range of different wines from one appellation; each is intended to reflect the specificity of a small site within it. More producers have adopted this approach in recent years, bringing another level of diversity to the Rhône.

 

01: The steep, terraced vineyards of Maison Chapoutier
02: E. Guigal's Ermitage Rouge

 

Sheer variety

One of the Rhône’s key strengths is in its diversity. There are esteemed single-site, single-varietal wines; there are crowd-pleasing regional blends produced in large volume; and there is everything in between. The white wines of the Rhône are hugely underappreciated, from the rich, honeyed Viognier-based whites of Condrieu to the intense, powerful blends of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and beyond. An insider’s tip: these wines tend to make a wonderful alternative to white Burgundy – for which you’d pay considerably more. These layered, characterful whites are a perfect foil to food, and surprisingly versatile. For reds, the relatively cool climate of the Northern Rhône yields fine, long-lived and peppery Syrah from communes like Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and Cornas.

 

Rhône: what to do in 2025

 

Get ready for Rhône 2023 En Primeur

Our Rhône 2023 En Primeur offer launches in March 2025. Always one of the highlights of the fine-wine calendar, this is a great opportunity to snap up the latest releases from our range of leading producers. Our expert Buyers, Catriona Felstead MW and Georgina Haacke, spend considerable time in the growers’ cellars, tasting and selecting the best wines for as complete a range as possible. Whether you’re looking for something modest for early drinking or a case of something special to lay down, there’ll be a wine for you.

 

03: Hermitage La Chapelle, one of the greats of the northern Rhône
04: Marc Sorrel in his cellars

 

Explore back vintages

The ageing potential of the Rhône’s best wines, notably its reds, is huge. Buying En Primeur allows you to secure the latest releases and age them in your own cellar, but sometimes that’s not possible or practical – which is where BBX, our fine wine exchange, comes in. You’ll find a treasure trove of aged Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and more. The 2012, 2013 and 2014 vintages are drinking very well now and are unlikely to improve with further age. If you’re on the hunt for an aged, mature red from a top producer, you probably won’t find better value for money.

 

Find a new favourite producer

We’re proud to work with some of the Rhône’s greatest names. You can explore our range with confidence, safe in the knowledge that these are quality-conscious growers making wines of real character – so why not find a new favourite? You march not immediately recognise the name Domaine de la Chapelle; until recently, these wines were released under the Paul Jaboulet Aîné brand. But as of the 2021 vintage, owners the Frey family have decided to make this its own distinct estate. The wines here – the red Hermitage La Chapelle and the white Le Chevalier de Sterimberg – are among the Northern Rhône’s greatest. They are in good company with Domaine Marc Sorrel’s traditional white and red Hermitage cuvées. Down south in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Paul Avril et Fils produce the wonderfully age-worthy Clos des Papes; nearby Domaine Raymond Usseglio’s wines are powerful and structured, with serious ageing potential.