Wine & Spirits - February 2020 - 42

YEAR'S BEST NORTHERN RHONE
93 | Stéphane Ogier

$552

2015 Côte-Rôtie Lancement ^ Stéphane
Ogier made just four barrels of Lancement,
sourced from a parcel at the very top of the
Côte Blonde. The poor soils and old vines
grew a concentrated, ripe wine, its soft,
sweet tannins and salami-like spice giving
it a meaty succulence. It's sweet and gentle
right now, the density of the cherry-liqueur
flavors masking the detail that will come
with time. Give it a decade in the cellar and
decant before serving. § Vineyard Brands,
Birmingham, AL
274998

92 | Barruol Lynch

$88

2017 Côte-Rôtie Nève ^ From a 30-year-old
parcel in the schist soils of the Côte Brune,
this is gruffly tannic in 2017, with a blackolive fruitiness and briny minerality. It feels
perfectly poised for the cellar. § Kermit Lynch
Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA
275331

92 | Stéphane Ogier

$193

2015 Côte-Rôtie Lieu-Dit Montmain ^ Prodigiously ripe and well oaked, this is a big,
showy Côte Rôtie, with firm, ferrous tannins
to give it shape. There's a succulent softness
to the fruit that suggests pairing it with something tender and meaty, like steak tartare. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
275321

91 | Stéphane Ogier

$552

2015 Côte-Rôtie La Belle Hélène ^ From
vines planted in the 1950s in the schist soils
of Côte Rozier, this is spicy and firm, with
floral details that accent the freshness of the
fruit. A salty tang plays up the austerity of the
tannins and the meaty earthiness that runs
underneath. This is built for the cellar; tuck
it away for at least a decade. § Vineyard Brands,
Birmingham, AL
275332

90 | Stéphane Ogier

$193

2015 Côte-Rôtie Lieu-Dit Cognet ^ From a
vineyard planted in 1999 facing south/southeast, this is tough and earthy, with a ferrous
mineral note lining its dark, dry fruit. Compact and bold, this feels hunkered down into
its tannins right now, needing time in the cellar to draw it out. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL

C R O Z E S - H E R M I TA G E
$38

2017 Crozes-Hermitage Caprice ^ Christelle
Betton took over from her father in 2009,
farming the family's 15 acres of vines as he
and his father did, hand-plowing and working without synthetic chemicals. She pulls
42

WINE & SPIRITS

94 | Domaine Combier

FEBRUARY 2020

$65

2017 Crozes-Hermitage Clos des Grives ^
Laurent Combier began making his own
wines in 1990, after years of selling his fruit
to the Cave de Tain. His sons, Julien and
David, joined him in 2014, working together
to farm nearly 62 acres in and around their
base in Pont de l'Isère, all of the vineyards
certified organic. Clos des Grives is their top
cuvée, the fruit pulled from vines planted in
the 1950s. The 2017 shows its concentrated,
old-vine fruit in firm and precise flavors: It's
both sweet and snappy, its fleshy red-cherry
fruit contained by taut acidity. A year in oak
barrels has made the tannins as smooth as
glass, and added seductively exotic scents of
cherry wood and spice. It's delicious now,
and should age well. § Cape Classics, NY
275305

92 | Domaine
Christelle Betton

$35

2017 Crozes-Hermitage Espiègle ^ Espiègle
means "playful," which is how Christelle
Betton characterizes this syrah from young
vines. She chills the fruit for 24 hours, then
ferments it with ambient yeasts in tank.
After a year in used barrels, it's immediately
appealing, spicy, floral, meaty and tangy all
at once. § North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA
274858

92 | Saint Cosme

$36

2017 Crozes-Hermitage ^ Louis Barruol
searches Crozes's granite hills for old
plantings of sérine, a fragrant variation of
syrah. They give this wine an attractively
spicy and floral aspect that seems to reflect
the cool hardness of the rock in which its
grapes grow. Savory and earthy, its tannins
tug with an elastic snap. The wine makes you
come to it; if you are looking for something
more immediately giving, try the Tiercerolles
Crozes from Barruol's other project, BarruolLynch. § Craft + Estate/Winebow Imports, NY
275200

91 | Ferraton Père & Fils

275306

94 | Domaine
Christelle Betton

this wine from the estate's oldest syrah vines,
planted 30 to 40 years ago in the stony soils
of La Roche de Glun. Vinified without added
yeasts and aged in used barrels for a year, it's
enticingly floral and spicy, with cool restraint
to its plummy fruit-think cold plum at peak
ripeness, eaten outside on a warm summer
day. § North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA
275399

$26

2017 Crozes-Hermitage La Matinière
(Best Buy) ^ This syrah from Mercurol and
Beaumont-Monteux macerated for three
weeks with punch-downs and pump-overs. It
has an open feel, generous and giving, a ripe
wine with a smoky savor and white-pepper
spice to keep it lively. § Sera Wine Imports, NY
275292

91 | Alain Graillot

$44

91 | Alain Jaume

$32

90 | Barruol Lynch

$36

90 | Domaine Combier

$37

90 | Vidal-Fleury

$26

2017 Crozes-Hermitage ^ Alain Graillot is
focused on Crozes-Hermitage, farming 50
acres on the alluvial flats between the Rhône
and Isère rivers. He works the vines by hand
and under organic principles; in the cellar,
he favors whole-cluster fermentations with
ambient yeasts in cement tanks, finishing the
wines in used barrels. His wines feel clear and
precise, like this 2017: It's ripe and sunny in
its kirschlike fruit flavors; firm and savory
in its stony mineral tones, wanting only
another year in the cellar to knit together
more tightly. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
275095
2017 Crozes-Hermitage La Butte d'Or ^ This
is firm and spicy, its blackberry flavors run
through with long, lean tannins. Approachable now, this should age well. § Kysela Père et
Fils, Winchester, VA
274995
2017 Crozes-Hermitage Tiercerolles ^ Louis
Barruol favors sérine, an old variation of
syrah, for his wines, and sources grapes for
this Crozes only from the region's granite
hills rather than the flats. He collaborates
on this blend with importer Kermit Lynch,
offering a wine that's gorgeously perfumed,
all black peppercorns and lilies, smoke and
cured bacon. All that fragrance rides on
juicy, brisk plummy fruit, the wine immediately inviting. § Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant,
Berkeley, CA
275401
2018 Crozes-Hermitage Laurent Combier ^
A young-vine cuvée fermented in cement
eggs, this is effusively juicy, spicy, floral and
herbal, bottled early to capture the freshness
of grapes just off the vine. A black-olive note
adds both density and a saline edge, and suggests a pairing with a sausage-stuffed olives,
breaded and deep-fried. § Cape Classics, NY
275076
2016 Crozes-Hermitage (Best Buy) ^ This
is ripe with a gentle brush of tannins giving
texture and definition to its spiced-cherry flavors. § Frederick Wildman and Sons, NY

H E R M I TA G E
274987

93 | Delas Frères

$290

2017 Hermitage Les Bessards ^ Jacques
Grange makes this wine only in exceptional
years; it's a selection from the oldest vines of
the domaine's 25 acres in Les Bessards. The
plot, with its south-facing exposition and
granite soils, grows intense, concentrated
Wine & Spirits - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2020
