Château Courac Blanc, Laudun Côtes du Rhône-Villages 2023 - Half Dozen

The 2023 vintage is promising, with the southern Rhône having an easier time of things but the results from both are showing potential. The 2022 vintage is very good for the North and South of the region which both excelled in the hot conditions this year. The 2021 vintage has seen some good results particularly in the North where attractive, aromatic, elegant wines have been made. The wines from the 2020 vintage look to be a little fresher and more approachable in their youth than those of 2019 which is a high-quality vintage with yields on a par with 2018. Another good result along the valley in 2018, though the South had more disease problems to contend with, as mildew affected the thinner-skinned Grenache more than other varieties. Quality was high but the yields were down. An early harvest produced some intense wines in 2017 for both the North and the South of the region, though uneven flowering in both reduced yields considerably. 2016 in both Northern and Southern Rhône has produced excellent results, and the South has it by a whisker this year, the opposite of 2015. 2015 is terrific, particularly for the North’s Syrah, no problems and decent yields too. An ideal growing season, that was even hotter than 2003 in the daytime but with cooler nights and just enough rainfall to prevent problems in the vineyards. Both whites and reds are excellent. 2014 is not an easy vintage to generalise about but whites are super, reds are very pure with lovely aromatics, and, in the South, as in 2013, Syrah and Mourvèdre have done better than Grenache.