Delas Hermitage Les Bessards 2001
Syrah/Shiraz
from Hermitage, Rhone, France
winemaker's notes:
The Hermitage "Les Bessards" is named after a sub-region of the Hermitage appellation, where the steeply terraced hillside vineyards have an excellent southwestern exposure. They also produce some of the world's most intense, dense wines from the rich Syrah varietal. Delas owns 14 acres in this prized region, which is a large amount by Rhône standards.
This unique cuvée illustrates the enormous potential of this incomparable vineyard. The wine has a deep red color. The nose is aromatic with scents of berries, currants and violets. Les Bessards is rich in the mouth with bold, yet silky tannins and concentrated black cherry/plum fruit. It's an exceptional wine with a firm structure that will benefit from long cellaring.
critical acclaim:
"Dark red. Knockout multidimensional nose is at once pungent and refined, offering notes of redcurrant, wild strawberry, woodsmoke, gunflint, molasses and minerals. Wonderfully suave and elegant but also amazingly penetrating and gripping, with sharply etched flavors of redcurrant and minerals and strong, peppery soil tones. This wine clings so stubbornly to the palate that it's literally hard to spit. A young Hermitage of great class and complexity."
94 Points
International Wine Cellar
"Delas’ luxury cuvee is top-flight, even in the challenging 2001 vintage. The inky-colored 2001 Hermitage Les Bessards boasts pure cassis notes intermixed with hints of licorice and tar. Sweet, ripe, concentrated, full-bodied, and impressively endowed, it is only for readers with cold cellars and considerable discipline as 5-7 years of cellaring will be warranted. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035. 91-93"
93 Points
The Wine Advocate
"The Bessards vineyard is right at the heart of the Hermitage hill. Delas only makes this wine in top years (no 2002, for example), and the quality shows in the aromas of black fruits and violets, the flavors of huge, dense fruit and powerful tannins. This is serious wine, which promises at least 10 years of aging."
93 Points
Wine Enthusiast
User Reviews
The top 3 most liked reviews for this wine.
A Customer - Los Angeles, CA
Wow!!! What an incredible Syrah, from one of the most sought-after and expensive vineyards in the world. INCREDIBLE!
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