Britain's Waning Thirst for Rhône Wines
Every enophile needs a cause – and mine is the spectacular Rhône Valley.
The magical soft-fruity finesse of Côte-Rôtie, the exquisite perfume of Hermitage, and mercurial pleasures of Châteauneuf-du-Pape – in recent times, the region's top appellations and producers have scarcely hit a wrong note. If I'm looking for an affordable red to dull the pain of a monotonous Sunday evening, I'm invariably drawn to Côtes du Rhône-Villages, which remains almost stupidly undervalued.
Yet, despite my constant and tedious proselytizing to friends and family, I'm starting to wonder if the Rhône is stuck in a rut. Not in the quality stakes, mind you, but in marketing and PR – vital parts of the business that are so often ignored by France's smaller vignerons. That quintessential Gallic assumption that if one produces wine, then the public are somehow obliged to buy it, may have taken root in this venerable region. Rarely does one notice an eye-catching (positive) story in the media, or hear of a bold new marketing initiative.
Still, the scam involving more than 66 million bottles of counterfeit Rhône wine probably raised a few eyebrows. In case you missed it; Guillaume Ryckwaert, CEO of France's largest bulk wine negociant Raphaël Michel, was accused of adulterating Côtes du Rhône AOC and Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOP with gallons of cheap merde from outside the region.
His dirty tricks were first uncovered in mid 2017, forcing the French authorities to concede that approximately 15 percent of the annual output of the Côtes du Rhône appellation between 2013 and 2016 was likely counterfeit. As one of its main customers, the British trade were understandably pissed off. So too were conscientious producers and their associations, who joined the civil case against Ryckwaert, claiming that his actions had damaged the Rhône's good name.
Nevertheless, the Rhône's biggest market remains the UK, although for how much longer is open to debate. Between 2016-17 both volume and value exports to Great Britain declined, by 3 percent (164,668hl to 159,761hl) and 4 percent respectively (€77.5m to €74.1m). Hardly catastrophic, but perhaps an indication that Brits are going cold on the Rhône Valley?
"Currently, the Rhône seems to be something of a slow mover in the London on-trade – we have some delicious reds from the Northern Rhône, but they are amongst our slowest-moving stock," says wine buyer Christine Parkinson. "I think one issue is that the pricing is very much on a par with Bordeaux and Burgundy, but the wines are not nearly as well-known."
But is the problem simply one of Syrah, the Northern Rhône's signature grape? It's no secret that the variety is hardly achingly fashionable, and that sales of Cabernet and other grapes outstrip it easily in the fine wine sphere.
Indeed, the enduring (and unfair) perception of Shiraz as a fruit-bomb caricature, at a time when consumers have really soured on this genre, certainly can't help. A quick glance at Wine-Searcher's most expensive Shiraz list reveals that the vast majority of Australia's most expensive output, for example, is frustratingly monotonous, typically an amalgamation of Barossa fruit, new oak and high alcohol. "Without doubt, Syrah is a tough sell at high price points. It has an image more aligned with barbecues than fine dining," says Parkinson.
"We find Syrah from California is a hard sell for example; it is just not a variety that does particularly well over here and is usually over-shadowed by Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon," agrees James Hocking, owner of the Vineyard Cellars.
However, Parkinson believes that the region's problems are a world apart from the generally sniffy consumer attitudes towards Syrah. "At Hakkasan we make an effort with New World Syrah, as it often works extremely well with our food. Sales are never strong, however, and without an effort I doubt we would sell much at all," she admits.
"But I don't think this is due to any link with Rhône wines in our guests' minds: many would not realize that the same grape is involved. Those that do know their Rhône wines would probably not be the customers for New World Syrahs anyway. We find that varietally named Syrah sells reasonably (i.e. ticks over) at lower price points, but always takes work to sell when more expensive."
We could go on like this all day. Few in the trade would deny that Syrah, or indeed the Rhône, is struggling to get greater traction in the premium on-trade, yet all would agree that the region's output is astonishingly diverse. In fact, it would be hard to imagine a region that suffers more from a chronic lack of intersect between consumer perception and reality in the UK, which is clearly part of the Rhône's problem – complex whites, rosés and a multitude of different styles of red are up for grabs.
The problem is that consumers aren't generally taking this onboard, which suggests that the messages being broadcast are not always very consistent, and not always conveyed in the right way.
"Generally speaking, the Rhône is a bit of a slow mover, although certain 'blue chip' wines (e.g. Beaucastel, Guigal's La La's, hermitage from Chave and La Chapelle and one or two others) do sell through well on release. In store and day to day sales are not nearly as strong as they deserve to be, bearing in mind the quality/value equation," observes Layton's Wine Buyer Peter Mitchell MW.
Perhaps the Rhône, through no fault of its own, simply gets lost amongst all the excitement over Bordeaux and Burgundy?
"I don't think so," answers Mitchell MW. "I think it's largely because there is little understanding of the region amongst consumers – and the proliferation of AOC's in the south has not helped this – and not great understanding of the wines and their styles amongst many members of the trade."
He adds: "The north and the south produce very different styles of wine from largely different varieties and in an ideal world would not be thought of, sold and marketed as one region. This may in time help the north, tiny by comparison but generally of a higher standard and capable of producing far more memorable wine, to forge a strong identity and to shine."
He also argues that is there no discernible link between a lack of consumer enthusiasm over New World Syrah/Shiraz and poor Rhône sales. "Syrah is not mentioned on the label of any Rhône wine and most consumers are at best dimly aware of what grapes European wines are made from," Mitchell MW says. "The problem could be looked at the other way – Syrah is a style/variety many UK consumers do not know, so northern Rhône wines cannot tap into the grape's popularity."
Maybe it's simply a case of European malaise? The Rhône's second largest export market, Belgium, also saw volume and value exports decline between 2016/17 – 3 percent and 6 percent respectively. However, sommeliers in the US and Asia tell a very different story, of rising consumer interest and excitement.
"In NYC there is much more excitement with the Northern Rhône wines than with the wines from Bordeaux," says Cedric Nicaise, Wine Director at the Eleven Madison Park hotel, New York. "Top producers like Chave, Gonon, Jamet and others are very popular, especially with sommeliers. In restaurants where sommeliers are able to give recommendations often, I would imagine that Syrah moves very quickly."
In contrast, Nicaise reports that the Southern Rhône has fallen out of favor with East Coast somms. "The wines were heavily influenced by Parker, and like other wines in those styles, they seem to be less in demand, at least in New York City," he says.
John Chan, head sommelier at the Michelin-starred Amber restaurant in Hong Kong is another Rhône acolyte.
"The Rhône is becoming an increasingly important part of our daily sales. Rhône Syrah is unique – it stands out from the rest of the world, while New World Syrah has an identity crisis," says Chan.
"Rayas, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chave, etc – all splendid wines and there are a lot of wineries that have shown tremendous improvement. HKG or Asia on the whole is a top-down market, customers will easily identify the top names and understand what they are going to purchase."
But if only sommeliers in the UK, a historic and once booming destination for Rhône wines, could engender such enthusiasm. Then again, this slump of interest is very much in keeping with the general mood – Champagne exports to the UK also continue to fall. Some blame this demise of interest in classic French regions on Brexit, others on cut-throat competition from more trendy wine regions and styles.
"In the recent times of downturn and the current 'no one knows what's going to happen still' Brexit scenario, the value Prosecco offers plus the improved quality has played a huge part in the categories growth and Champagnes decline," says John Critchley, commercial director at Morgenrot.
I've another theory – the once celebrated British palate is now moribund. Any nation that sidelines Champagne for gallons of Prosecco, and votes to make itself worse off, can hardly be imbued with good or intelligent taste.
This is Brexit Britain: an island where good taste, rational thinking and an appetite for French wine is on the wane.
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