Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A charming, silky style, with pretty cassis and plum fruit flavors sweeping through, followed by light herb, tobacco and chalk accents on the fresh finish.
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James Suckling
Super plush and richly ripe with fleshy red plums and blackberries. This has a wealth of approachable, appealing, sweet and ripe flavor.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are three Crozes Hermitage releases in 2015, all of which are noteworthy. I suspect the best vintage for this cuvée to date, the tank-aged 2015 Crozes Hermitage les Launes sports an inky purple color as well as terrific notes of plums, black raspberries, toasted spice and damp earth. Medium to full-bodied, polished and elegant, with sweet tannin, this terrific Syrah shows the richness and purity of the vintage.
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Wine & Spirits
A Crozes with a sinewy build, this plaits its black-plum flavors with notes of earth and herbs, olives and spice. It feels firm and unfussy; a wine for cassoulet.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Crozes-Hermitage is Northern Rhone’s largest appellation, surrounding the steep granite faces of Hermitage to its north and south. Here the rolling vineyards are less extreme and its soils, rich in clay-limestone and alluvial matter, produce Syrahs that range from fruity and charming to lush and seductive. The Syrahs of Crozes-Hermitage have more mass than those from St. Joseph but are less intense than those from Hermitage. While many are intended for early consumption, some of the best Syrahs from Crozes-Hermitage will age beautifully for 5-10 years.
Up to 15% of white grapes may theoretically be added to red Crozes at the time of fermentation but whether this is done or not depends on the decision of the winemaker. The best Crozes-Hermitage Syrahs will be fleshy with black fruit (currant, blackberry and black cherry) and bay leaf qualities, notes of tar and stone, and a well-concentrated finish of smooth tannins.
About a tenth of the wine produced in Crozes-Hermitage is white, primarily composed of Marsanne supplemented by smaller amounts of Roussanne.