2016 Southern Rhone vintage ‘outstanding’

Ogier’s vineyard manager, Edouard Guerin, has hailed the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016 harvest as “outstanding” and akin to the warmer vintages of 2010 and 1990.

Edouard Guerin, vineyard manager of Ogier

“2016 was marked with lots of hot days and cool nights,” said Guerin. “Late spring also saw a ton of wet weather with 22 millimetres of rain on 27 May and then there was a long drought all the way until 10 September where we had another deluge. Some of the younger vines really suffered but for our old vines, the rain restarted everything and led to excellent ripening.”

Guerin harvested the whites before the second wave of heavy rain and has also praised Grenache as “amazing”.

“It’s the perfect vintage for Grenache with lots of silky tannins and small concentrated berries. I think 2016 compares very favourably to the other warm vintages of 2010 and 1990.”

One of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s most established producers and negociant, Ogier said although they follow sustainable agricultural methods, being certified as organic shouldn’t be a “selling point for wine”.

“We use organic practices but it’s too much hassle to go through the certification process,” he said. “We spray a mixture of milk and water on the vines which stops rabbits and powdery mildew for example, but it shouldn’t matter if you’re biodynamic or not, good vineyard management is paramount.

“When you’re at the mercy of the weather, do you use Copper and Sulphur every week at the risk of losing all your grapes or spray once with chemicals at the beginning to preserve them? You have to make that judgement.”

Twenty percent of Ogier’s production is white, in contrast to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation where whites only make up roughly 5%. Ogier only sells its whites on allocation and credits using a higher percentage of Viognier to bring out the wines’ Rhone-ness.’

“White Chateauneuf-de-Pape can be really boring. Some can be really heavy and overly herbaceous with lots of unattractive fennel notes,” said Guerin.

“They’re flat and can oxidise quickly. We never harvest too late and use gentle pressing only to bring out the best varietal expression.”