Let’s continue our summer ranking of the top-performing bottles from the first half of 2020. This time we’re looking at the Rhône valley, a region where mature vintages tend to take centre stage. As you’ll see, though, there are also some bottles from the new wave making an appearance, especially from natural domains.

The northern Rhône takes a good lead with 13 out of the 20 top bottles, including Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Cornas and Saint-Joseph cuvées. From the south, it’s the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation that comes out on top, taking up 7 places and affirming its status as the sub-region’s flagship.

Classics still highly-coveted in their mature vintages

There’s no surprise here when it comes to the highest-priced lot and bottle: Jean-Louis Chave’s Cathelin cuvée in its 1990 vintage. Then there’s Jamet’s Côte-Rôtie Côte Brune, produced in 1991, an excellent year for the northern Rhône. After Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côte-Rôtie cuvées are actually the most represented bottles, appearing six times in the ranking. We find the 1983 Côte Brune by Marius Gentaz-Dervieux, Guigal’s 1985 La Mouline, as well as a 1991 La Viaillere by Dervieux Thaize.

As for the southern Rhône, we have some of the region’s most well-known wines: the legendary Château Rayas, whose 1990 vintage went for €1,474 a bottle, a value that is reaching a plateau, though this still at stratospheric prices. Note that in just 10 years, this price has tripled! Just behind we find the Réserve des Célestins cuvée by Henri Bonneau, which sold for €1,412 in its 1990 vintage. It is thus continuing its upward trajectory, hot on the heels of Rayas. Then comes Château de Beaucastel’s 1989 Hommage à Jacques Perrin (€1,044). There is then quite a large gap before we get to some bottles that appear due to their large format: there is a jeroboam of 2007 Clos des Papes, and a double magnum of 2012 Clos Saint-Jean La Combe des Fous. Rounding things off are two rare cuvées: a 2005 La Plume du Peintre from La Mordorée and a 2000 Pegau Cuvée Da Capo.

High prices for long-gone domains

We’ve seen this in all regions, though it’s particularly pronounced in the Rhône and Burgundy. Bottles from prestigious domains that are no longer producing wine are ardently fought over, the cause of some exciting bidding wars. Names like Marius Gentaz-Dervieux, Raymond Trollat, Henri Bonneau, Noel Versat and Marcel Juge find themselves, therefore, in very good positions within our ranking of top bottles. And for most of them, their value has exploded in recent years.

The Rhône’s new wave

Already well-recognised, though not for quite as long as some of the classics, Domaine Gangloff has taken 16^th place so far this year in our ranking of highest-priced bottles. Its 2015 Côte-Rôtie Côte Rozier went for €430. Another domain that has seen much success recently is Marc Sorrel, whose Gréal Hermitage was bought in magnum format for €467.

The only southern Rhône domain featured here that isn’t in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is none other than the star of Lirac, Domaine de l’Anglore, a famously natural producer. These wines have been in the spotlight for 4 or 5 years now.  Whilst it doesn’t reach the prices seen in other appellations, it is nevertheless 12^th in our ranking of top lots, with three magnums of 2015 Vin de France Comeyre that sold for €1,007. Another natural wine of the new wave comes from Domaine Bénetière in Côte-Rôtie, whose Dolium cuvée has been attracting more and more enthusiasts over the past couple of years.

Top lots

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