The charming and ebullient Michel Chapoutier, the legendary Rhône producer, has just released his 2020 Sélections Parcellaires , his single vineyard wines , and we were very privileged to attend a tasting with him in London this week. At the risk of sounding clichéd, both the reds and whites were amazing! Chapoutier is incredibly enthusiastic, and loves to talk in great depth about a great many things when it comes to his wines and wine making techniques. His opening gambit was that he doesn't try to make the best wine possible, but instead to reflect the best expression of his terroir! He moved on to say that 2020, a dry, warm vintage, had very similar conditions to those of 2003, a vintage which he freely admitted was pretty awful, with short, bitter wines. However, we were regaled with a lengthy and technical discourse on how his vines have adapted to the changing climate in the intervening years, due largely to the enormous efforts made in bio...
