April 2024 Tasting Report: Northern Rhone Finesse, Argentine Purity and California’s Lush Chardonnays

We rated 3,847 wines from 16 countries in April, including 692 from Argentina, 443 from the United States and 417 from Italy, but it was in our tastings of 1,944 French wines (including Bordeaux en primeur) where we really hit paydirt, with Senior Editor Stuart Pigott and Tasting Manager Kevin Davy uncovering four perfect scorers from M. Chapoutier in the Northern Rhone's Tain l’Hermitage.

In addition to being from the same cool vintage, each of the M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal 2021, M. Chapoutier Ermitage  L’Ermite 2021, M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 2021 and  M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc L’Ermite 2021 came from a single parcel of vines on the renowned Hill of Hermitage, so they represent an exception to the long-established path of blending wines from different sections of the hill, and the results are extraordinary.

And there were even more more syrah-based reds from the Northern Rhone that we liked, including the Domaine Marc Sorrel Hermitage le Gréal 2022, which marries incredible concentration with every bit as much finesse and “must be tasted to be believed,” according to Stuart, as well as the JL Chave Hermitage 2021 – a breathtaking wine with incredible refinement, floral elegance and silkiness.

Cornas makes some of the darkest and most complex wines in the Northern Rhone, with Domaine Colombo adding to the tally with its Domaine Colombo Cornas Vallon de L’Aigle 2020, which has super-ripe elderberry fruit, a smoky complexity and a long, plush finish, as well as with the Domaine Colombo Ainsi Soit-Il 2020, which has even more fruit and bitter chocolate and comes from the same altitude plot of old vines.

And perhaps Cornas’s most famous producer, Domaine A. Clape, made “a great classic,” in Stuart’s eyes, with its Domaine A. Clape Cornas 2021– a finely chiseled, pure and complex wine that beautifully expresses the brightness and succulence of the vintage.

Stuart and Kevin also explored the Gigondas appellation in the Southern Rhone, where they encountered the stunningly dark and meaty Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues 2022 – a 50-50 cuvee of grenache and mourvedre, which is a rather typical blend for the appellation.

And from higher-altitude sites in Gigondas came two great examples of wines with mountain coolness and crisp tannins – Les Pallières Gigondas Terrasses du Diable 2021 and Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Clos Derrière Vieille 2022. And if you’re looking to break the bank with a Gigondas wine, the Domaine des Bosquets Gigondas Le Regard Loin 2020 might be your ticket. It has terrific concentration, focus and energy but comes with an equally energetic price tag.

In nearby Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Stuart and Kevin found rich and generous yet well-balanced wines from the hot and dry 2022 vintage, with the standout being the Domaine de Ferrand Châteauneuf-du-Pape Garriguette 2022. Made by the modest winemaking genius Philippe Bravay from vines that his ancestors planted in 1904, 1910 and 1920, this masterpiece has incredible density and no less amazing tension. In many ways this is a classic Chateauneuf wine – a cautiously modernized version of the wines that James and Stuart tasted and drank back in the 1980s.

And for a fantastic example of the stylistic innovation that has made this region so diverse during the last decade, try the vibrant yet very silky and sensual Famille Isabel Ferrando Châteauneuf-du-Pape Columbis 2022. The Domaine de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vin de la Solitude 2021, meanwhile, has a “mind-bending combination of fruits, savory and balsamic complexity that must be experienced to be believed,” according to Stuart.

James, meanwhile, was in Bordeaux for much of April and reported his findings on the en primeur 2023 vintage in En Primeur 2023 (Part I): A Return to Bordeaux and En Primeur 2023 (Part II): A Vintage to Love, But at What Price? James tasted nearly 1,100 barrel samples from 2023 and met with more than 100 wine producers. His verdict is that 2023 compares favorably to some of Bordeaux's great years, but with even more precise winemaking.

Part I of James' series takes a closer look at Bordeaux's Right Bank wines from 2023, while Part II is his overall view of the vintage. It was James' 41st vintage of tasting young Bordeaux from barrel (he started way back in 1982). Although he found that a few vintages of the recent past, like 2019 or 2016, compare to 2023 because they all had ripe, balanced fruit and firm tannins with slightly lower alcohol, 2023 is different not only because of its special growing season but also the advancements in viticulture and winemaking over the last decade.

Nestling right up alongside the top-scoring French wines during the month was Moet-Hennessy’s singular creation from Shangri-La, China – the Ao Yun 2020, which Senior Editor Zekun Shuai tasted with Ao Yun estate manager and winemaker Maxence Dulou in our Hong Kong office. Zekun called it “the freshest and best expression of Ao Yun yet, with lower pH, striking acidity and tension,” and it also received the highest score we’ve ever given to a Chinese wine.

While 2018 and 2019 were also great years for the Ao Yun, 2020 is “a remarkable vintage that shows concentration, depth and layers,” Zekun said. It also dials up the freshness while toning down the richness and opulence to make for an extremely appealing and eclectic wine that can be enjoyed in its youth or in two decades’ time thanks to its harmony of acidity, natural concentration and al dente, fine tannins.

ARGENTINE PURITY

Zekun also wrapped up his and James’ tastings of Argentina wines in our 2024 annual report on the country, but it was the always exciting, great-value El Enemigo wines that caught his attention in April. Winemakers Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena fully embrace Mendoza’s virtues of exceptional value and consistency, and they did it again in their 2022 offerings. Their El Enemigo Chardonnay Mendoza 2022 showcases purity of fruit, minerality and bracing saltiness, and “easily rivals the world’s finest” chardonnays, according to Zekun. And at a retail price of just $30, it punches way above the belt in its quality/value class.

And the same steely, hyper-minerality also comes through in El Enemigo’s old-vine chenin blanc from 2022 –  “a unique chenin, completely devoid of oak influence, bursting with terroir hints of salinity and minerality that transport you to the limestone clay soils where the 60-year-old vines thrive,” Zekun said.

Uruguay also delivered some truly outstanding quality in our April tastings, especially the wines of one of Zekun’s go-to producers for tannats and albariños, Familia Deicas. The Familia Deicas Albariño Maldonado Cru d’Exception 2022 was the most notable of the albariños, but Familia Deicas also came on strong with its pinot noirs.

The Familia Deicas Pinot Noir Uruguay Pueblo Garzón Subsuelo Extreme Vineyards 2022 showed nerviness and tension despite the prominence of oak spices, while the Familia Deicas Pinot Noir Progreso Finca Castelar Single Vineyard 2022 is another sensitive pinot that shows mossy fruit, spices, mineral and flowers with good mid-palate flesh, making it an almost Chambolle-like expression, according to Zekun.

LAVISH CHARDONNAYS

Executive Editor Jim Gordon tapped into a slew of California wines in April, mostly cabernet sauvignons, but it was the Ramey Wine Cellars lineup of chardonnays that he tasted with David and Carla Ramey and their children Claire and Alan that he found “brilliant in style and emblematic of the low-yield, stellar-quality 2021 vintage in general throughout the Sonoma and Napa regions.”

He uncovered a lavish, concentrated wine in the Ramey Chardonnay Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2021, with its intensity of lemon curd, lime zest, vanilla bean and custard flavors, and he also found the Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard 2014 – from the same block of Hyde’s Old Wente Clone Chardonnay that David Ramey has been working since 2002 – to be even more of a treat. And matching the Hyde Chardonnay in complexity but showing more elegance and minerality was Ramey’s 2021 chardonnay from the Rochioli vineyard in Russian River Valley.

Even more lush and creamy California chardonnays came from winemaker Matt Sands of Waypoint Vineyards, with his Waypoint Chardonnay Russian River Valley Ritchie Vineyard 2021 “a study in butter, vanilla bean and poached pear flavors.” Sands also made two outstanding reds – the Waypoint Pinot Noir Sonoma County Fort Ross-Seaview Fort Ross Vineyard 2021 – a handsomely structured wine whose vibrant acidity backs impressive black fruit, cedar and wet-stone complexity – and the Waypoint Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Terra de Promissio Vineyard 2021, which shows even more linearity and freshness with tangy acidity and on-point red fruit flavors.

Tasting Manager Kevin Davy and Associate Editor Andrii Stetsiuk were in the Dundee Hills district of Oregon’s Willamette Valley during the month, tasting the newest pinot noir and chardonnay releases of Arterberry Maresh and Tan Fruit, both made by winemaker Jim Maresh.

Maresh made the “pristine and ethereal” Arterberry Maresh Pinot Noir Dundee Hills Weber 2022, which comes from 50-year-old vines, while the Maresh Dundee Hills chardonnay is from a specific new site that Maresh said reminded him of Montrachet, the rocky Anela Vineyard. The wine boasts plenty of mineral backbone and a stony character but retains the agility and voluptuous character of the rest of the range.

Maresh’s Tan Fruit are all exceptional, coming from unique sites like The Eyrie Vineyard and Oak Grove Vineyard, and Maresh’s most recent addition, the White Walnut Vineyard, has a verticality and verve that helped give it a rating equal to The Eyrie.

Finally, from Australia we tapped into the latest releases from the exalted Barossa estate of Henschke, and they once again did not disappoint with their brilliant Henschke Barossa Keyneton Euphonium Red Blend 2019, while the Hill of Grace Vineyard 2019 is of superlative quality and considerably more filigreed and tauter than recent iterations.

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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