Decanter Magazine’s only Outstanding 2010 Crozes Hermitage, & for under £20!

by Patrick Sandeman

Decanter Magazine’s only ‘Outstanding’ 2010 Crozes Hermitage, & for under £20!

‘2010 is a vintage of supreme, succulent Syrah fruit in the northern Rhône and in this tasting I tried wines I wanted to drink there and then – a hallmark of good Crozes-Hermitage.’ Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth

Decanter Magazine’s most recent Panel Tasting (September 2012 edition) focusses on Crozes-Hermitage 2010, rating one wine out of sixty -seven as ‘outstanding’; Gilles Robin’s Crozes Hermitage 2010 ‘Cuvée Albéric Bouvet’, with an average score of 18.75 points/20 (95+pts/100).

This fabulous northern Rhône is available to order* (for delivery in October) at £215.40 per dozen (£17.95 bottle)

Stephen Brook: Lush, vibrant black and blueberry nose. Sleek and silky, concentrated, elegant acidity, lively aftertaste with lots of pepper on the finish. Classic Crozes – not too weighty or extracted but stylish and long.

Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth: Blackberry, floral and fennel perfume. Focused, juicy black fruit palate. Liquorice, chocolate and coffee on the finish. Good typicity of terroir, good energy and life. Drink 2012- 2019.

Also and immediately available the younger vines version of this great wine, Gilles Robin’s Crozes Hermitage 2010 ‘Cuvée Papillon’ at £177.00 per dozen (£14.75 bottle).

 

There could hardly be a more appetising introduction to 2010 northern Rhône red than this early drinking cuvée from the energetic Gilles Robin of Mercurol. It sees no oak and is bottled in May, after light micro-oxygenation to avoid the reduction to which Syrah is prone, according to John Livingstone-Learmonth in his superb The Wines of the Northern Rhône, and the idea is to provide us with pure pleasure. I would love to drink this any time over the next two years, but can’t see much point in ageing it because it is already so pure and flattering with admirably polished tannins and lovely sappy fruit. www.JancisRobinson.com 

ORDER* the 2010 ‘Cuvée Albéric Bouvet’ by email of from any one of the shops for delivery in October 2012.

The 2010 ‘Cuvée Papillon’ can be ordered online or from any one of the shops for immediate delivery.