Winemaker Notes
This powerful Syrah is crafted from grapes rooted in rich, white clay and sandy soils that have access to ample sunshine. Dark fruit, smooth tannin and muscle combine to keep this bottling approachable in its youth. Beautiful aromatics reveal a complex palate that is well structured and lengthy. Refined Hermitage qualities will emerge with time in the cellar, rewarding patience.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Hermitage comes all from the more limestone and loess soils on the eastern side of the appellation and will spend 18 months in 30% new French oak. Black raspberries, cassis, truffles, new leather, and Provençal herbs all emerge on the nose, and this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, masses of tannins, terrific overall balance, and a great, great finish. It's going to offer plenty of charm aromatically in its youth, yet I suspect it will take 4-5 years for these tannins to soften up.
Range: 94-97 -
Vinous
Opaque violet color. A highly fragrant bouquet evokes fresh black and blue fruits, exotic spices, olive, pipe tobacco and candied flowers; a smoky mineral note builds as the wine opens up. Juicy and sharply focused on the mineral-inflected palate, offering intense, mineral-accented boysenberry, bitter cherry, licorice and violet pastille flavors with a touch of vanilla. The floral note comes back strong on the impressively long finish, which features youthfully grippy tannins and lingering spiciness. I also had the chance to try the 2010 version of this wine, and it was a knockout, with deep dark fruit character and suave floral and exotic spice accents. There's still plenty of structure present, so a little time in a decanter, or just plain old patience, is strongly advised.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The tarry, black olive-laced 2020 Hermitage follows up those notes with hints of purple raspberries and mulberries. This sturdy, medium to full-bodied offering with bright acids and dusty tannins will take some time to come around. Viale's Syrah comes from parcels near the center of the appellation in Les Beaumes and Les Diognières (also spelled Dionnières).
Rating: 92+
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.