This Crozes-Hermitage is one of the best value wines we could wish to see. It is elegant, complex, subtle and balanced with a concentrated core of red berry fruits, laced with appropriate levels of nuanced oak. It is outstanding and will make you wonder if the step up to Hermitage is one you need to take...!
Made exclusively from Syrah grapes, the vines for this wine are grown in two zones close to the hill of Hermitage. One is on the north-east of the outskirts of the town of Tain l'Hermitage (right outside the hill of Hermitage) and the other is ten kilometres away in the southern reaches of the appellation, giving the perfect balance of fruit in the resulting wine - warmth and freshness.
The two vineyards are made of limestone and sand; the grapes are (unsurprisingly) hand harvested before very gentle extraction and fermentation, which takes place over a three week period in large open oak vats. Ageing in barriques is for about 16 months and gives a platform for the fruit to show perfume and charm, rather than giving the wine any oak-ily dominant flavours that would overpower it.
This is a stunning red from one of the Northern Rhône's top producers.
If you like the idea of Hermitage or Côte Rôtie but balk at the prices, then this is for you. If you only want to buy one really, really good bottle of French red, then, again, this is certainly for you. It's even from a very famous village itself.
This champion wine-maker of the Rhône produces some of the most exclusive wines in the region. Cuilleron knows exactly what each plot is able to yield in terms of quality, style and character and in that regard is a master of all of the vines he tends. This wine is made from the best selection of vines on the hills next to the most famed sites in the Rhône, and they are a selection found only on shallow, sandy, granitic soils that are so special to Saint Joseph. This base provides a superb platform for the grapes to ripen with minimal intervention from the vineyard team, who, in truth, only fertilise when necessary with organic fertilisers and don't even spray with insecticides. The result is this wonderfully complex, rich and pure varietal wine that is then treated like royalty (in the positive sense). It has a slow fermentation of about three weeks in open-top fermenters before being transferred to barriques where malolactic fermentation takes place during its 18-month ageing, providing the wine with some oak flavour, but, better still, balance, complexity and space for the delivery of its charming character. A very special wine with totally integrated, mild tannins - perfect for drinking now and for up to a decade.
"Labaya" is not a reference to a group of non-drinking chums called Pete, but instead refers to the traditional dry-stone walls that are a significant feature of the region, where they support the steeply-terraced vineyards.
2022 was another near-perfect vintage in the Northern Rhône, but, as was the case in many other regions, quantity was low. That's why there aren't as many bottles available as last year!
The President of the trade group Inter Rhône, Phillippe Pellaton, said: “Qualitatively speaking, this is one of the best vintages of the last five years, particularly excellent for red wines with magnificent colour and structure thanks to good maturity levels. Moreover, this year, the overlapping of ripeness between varieties allowed to start some blending right at the stage of fermentation, which led to interesting blending opportunities. 2022 is a rich vintage that already shows good ageing and cellaring potential.”
Want to drink from the Hill of Hermitage but haven't got the deep pockets just right now? Don't worry - this is for you!
Region: Rhone Valley
Country: France
Grape(s): Syrah
Style: Svelte, Structured, Pure, Organic, Medium Full, Iconic, Fresh, Fleshy, Dark, Complex
Best food matches: Venison, Tuna, Tapas, Steak, Roasts, Red Meats, Poultry, Mature Cheeses, Hard Cheeses, Grills, Fine Dining, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Beef, Barbecue
Alcohol: 12%
