Winemaker Notes
The color is an intense black with purple reflections. The nose is concentrated and rich with beautiful complexity, nice notes of black fruit (blackcurrant, blackberries), smoked and grilled notes and sweet spices. This wine presents a fresh and rich attack. The tannins are fine and it grows into a balanced wine with beautiful aromas and delicate ageing notes of red and black fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The gorgeous 2015 Crozes-Hermitage shows how strong this appellation is in 2015. It offers lots of blackberry, tapenade, truffle and peppery aromatics, full-bodied richness and a silky, pure, elegant texture. This inky colored beauty is already drinking beautifully, but will cruise for a decade or more. This cuvée comes from numerous regions in Croze and was brought up in a mix of tronconique tanks and demi-muids. At 25 bucks, it’s a steal.
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James Suckling
Bright mulberries, red plums and pepper with a toasty and spicy layer of modern oak influence. The palate has pastry-like tannins in an appealing, smooth style. Red plums to close.
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Wine Spectator
Rather ripe, with fleshy boysenberry and blackberry puree flavors gushing through, inlaid with black licorice and Christmas pudding notes. Offers a fleshy, hedonistic finish. A little shy on cut, but the fruit is hard to deny. Drink now through 2020.
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Decanter
Sustained, sweet southern bouquet. Rolling fruits and savoury tannins, Pinot-like finesse.
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.