2019 Crozes Hermitage Thalabert
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Tasting notes
Saturated ruby. Smoke-accented cherry, blackberry and lavender aromas show excellent clarity and pick up a spicy nuance with air. Plush black and blue fruit, olive and cola flavors show very good breadth and are complicated by an allspice nuance that builds in the glass. Finishes on a youthfully tannic note, with building spiciness and resonating blue fruit and floral notes.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine De Thalabert is solid, with plenty of earthy dark fruits, ground pepper, and violet aromatics in its medium to full-bodied, fresh, focused profile. It lacks mid-palate density but does have ripe tannins. It will be interesting to see if this fills out with a few years of bottle age. At the minimum, it’s a pretty, elegant wine. While the wheels haven’t come completely off at this estate, there’s a significant drop in terms of quality starting with the 2019s and continuing with the 2020s. Whether this is simply COVID related or indicative of a larger issue is yet to be determined. To be sure, the wines are still well-made, but to have access to some of the greatest terroirs in the world and to be producing mid-weight, lean wines is disappointing to say the least.
Seemingly refined by the additional elevage since I reviewed a barrel sample last year, the 2019 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert remains a big, rich, dark-fruited and almost tarry effort, but this full-bodied wine is pleasantly velvety and marked by savory notes of scorched wood and black olive tapenade that linger on the finish.
This is very ripe with warm richness. It’s full-bodied and layered with round, chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Needs time to soften, but already opulent and attractive, in a bigger style. Try after 2023.