Alain Graillot, Crozes-Hermitage 2021

This is Crozes-Hermitage from one of the most celebrated winemakers the Rhône has ever known. Full of flavour and a beautifully balanced structure, this shows glossy black berry and cherry fruits, plum, bramble and spice. Juicy and supple tannins make you realise that this is a wine that will age wonderfully, even if it gives very large amounts of drinking pleasure right now!

Made from 100% Syrah grapes, the vines for this wine are 40-50 years old and are grown organically in vineyards using no herbicides or pesticides: a practice becoming increasingly common in the Rhône Valley. Gravel soils predominate here, promoting easy drainage resulting in a more refined, aromatic style of Syrah.

This wine is a stellar representation of the appellation, coming out of a very smart region, it is the ethos of the winemaker that sets the wine apart. This is powerful and dark, but balanced and enjoyable - the hallmarks of Graillot and his understanding of Crozes-Hermitage and Syrah.

The 2021 vintage was very tricky, beginning with a late frost in April and ending with hail in September.A smaller harvest meant a more rigorous selection in the vineyard as well as the winery, but as with all of the wines made by this family, the quality focus never wains, allowing for vintage variation to be a feature of character in the overall quality of the wine rather than a hindrance.

Every wine region in the world has its benchmark producers. These are the producers that year after year release top tier wines with a consistent voice that is evident in each bottle. The late Alain Graillot is a classic example, presiding over 50 acres of 30+ year-old vines in Crozes-Hermitage, just off the powerful hill of Hermitage in the Northern Rhône. Graillot always focused on the pursuit of greatness and  producing a quality wine. He passed in 2022, and his sons Antoine and Maxime now manage his domaine, having done so since 2008.