2017 Delas Frères Hermitage Les Bessards

Brilliant purple. Deeply perfumed aromas of ripe blackberry, cherry liqueur and violet take on olive, fruitcake and incense nuances with air. Juicy and deeply concentrated, offering concentrated black and blue fruit, olive paste, floral pastille and spice flavors that become more energetic as the wine opens up. Marries richness and energy with a sure hand and shows superb definition on a strikingly long finish that features youthfully chewy tannins and building floral and spice notes.

Deeper and richer, the 2017 Hermitage Les Bessards comes from the crazy granitic soils on the western side of Hermitage Hill and spent 12-14 months in new and once-used oak. As with the Domaine des Tourettes, it has a fresh, focused, chiseled style as well as beautiful cassis, crushed rocks, graphite, pen inky, and bloody nuances. Rich, full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, yet tight and closed on the palate, hide bottles for 5-7 years and it should keep for another two decades or more. Delas Frères continues to fire on all cylinders under the guidance of Jacques Granges, who came on board as the head winemaker in June of 1997. Jacques also has the talented Claire Darnaud helping with the winemaking and, unquestionably, the top wines here are world-class in every way. In addition, the estate has just completed construction on a new cellar located in the heart of Tain l’Hermitage. In addition to the single vineyard, the estate is also a treasure trove of value wines, both from the Northern and Southern Rhône.

Archetypal Les Bessards, the Delas 2017 Hermitage Les Bessards boasts rich, deep cassis fruit accented by hints of crushed stone and pencil shavings. It's full-bodied, ripe yet firm, with great energy, freshness and length on the spice-tinged finish. While relatively approachable young, it should age well for up to two decades. Tasted twice (once blind), with one bottle showing more peppery spice, red berries and cured-meat notes.