Winemaker Notes
Like haute-couture, this single vineyard wine is carefully handcrafted from start to finish to create a unique cuvée. Brimming with black fruit and a hint of chocolate, Clos des Grives is decadent, full-bodied and powerful. Deeply concentrated and built for aging, the tannins are seamless and the finish lingering.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship from this reference point estate in Crozes, the 2023 Crozes-Hermitage Clos Des Grives offers a gorgeous nose of ripe black cherries, cassis, graphite, spicy wood, and pepper, as well as a beautiful floral character. It's medium-bodied and has terrific mid-palate concentration, ripe, building tannins, and a great finish. I'd put this up with the top wines in the appellation, and it's an absolutely brilliant Crozes that I'd love to have in the cellar.
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James Suckling
A well-balanced, succulent, fleshy and textural Crozes-Hermitage, exhibiting notes of cherries, plums, violets and fresh black pepper. It's medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Refined and silky texture with a floral, violet influence that provides plenty of elegance on the palate. It's well-driven and vivid with a lift of peppercorns adding vitality in the long finish. Drink or hold.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.