Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Saturated ruby. Intense cherry and blackberry scents, along with hints of pipe tobacco, cola and baking spices. Juicy and energetic in the mouth, offering concentrated cherry, blueberry and spicecake flavors that turn sweeter on the back half. Sneaky, rounded tannins build steadily on an impressively long, spice-accented finish that leaves behind suggestions of mocha and candied flowers.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
While the 2017 Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Gaby shows a bit more intensity and structure (along with a touch more mocha-scented oak), it's essentially similar to the regular Crozes, with a nice balance of fruity and savory characters: black cherries and plums balanced by asphalt and black olives. Full-bodied and velvety, it should be able to age up to a decade from the vintage.
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Wine Enthusiast
Whiffs of leather and peppery spice lend sultry flair to concentrated black plum and cassis in this wine. A robust, sun-drenched Syrah it's silky in texture and balanced pertly in acidity. Fine, feathery tannins and a kick of dried herbs fringe the finish.
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.”
A long and narrow valley producing flavorful red, white, and rosé wines, the Rhône is bisected by the river of the same name and split into two distinct sub-regions—north and south. While a handful of grape varieties span the entire length of the Rhône valley, there are significant differences between the two zones in climate and geography as well as the style and quantity of Rhône wines produced. The Northern Rhône, with its continental climate and steep hillside vineyards, is responsible for a mere 5% or less of the greater region’s total output. The Southern Rhône has a much more Mediterranean climate, the aggressive, chilly Mistral wind and plentiful fragrant wild herbs known collectively as ‘garrigue.’
In the Northern Rhône, the only permitted red variety is Syrah, which in the appellations of St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie, it produces velvety black-fruit driven, savory, peppery red wines often with telltale notes of olive, game and smoke. Full-bodied, perfumed whites are made from Viognier in Condrieu and Château-Grillet, while elsewhere only Marsanne and Roussanne are used, with the former providing body and texture and the latter lending nervy acidity. The wines of the Southern Rhône are typically blends, with the reds often based on Grenache and balanced by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and an assortment of other varieties. All three northern white varieties are used here, as well as Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourbelenc and more. The best known sub-regions of the Southern Rhône are the reliable, wallet-friendly Côtes du Rhône and the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Others include Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the rosé-only appellation Tavel.