TN: 2017 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage

This wine has a bit of a cult following in Australia and is not easy to procure, but given the current lock down in Victoria, some wines are easier to come by at the moment.

This is surprisingly quite ripe and fleshy. Initially some whiffs of coal smoke, give way to dark and brooding satsuma plums and liquorice and a subtle herby element. It is quite juicy, dense and very approachable, and I suspect will age well for a decade or two. It treads a fine line between ripeness and drinkability and whilst not a typical northern Rhone (or as I remember them), it really delivers.

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Nice to read your note Kent. Sounds about what i might expect from this wine in a vintage like 17. Interesting about scarcity, you can easily find this here, at very reasonable pricing. Maybe it will become the next Gonon, but Iā€™ve never found it to quite measure up to Gonon.

Iā€™ve always found black pepper in Graillot Crozes (both the reg and Guiraude). Very masculine syrah. Perhaps the Nuits of the Rhone?

If you like this, I can recommend Maxime Graillotā€™s own label of crozes-hermitage, Domaine Equis. Maxime is Alainā€™s son, and the current winemaker at Domaine Alain Graillot. I do still prefer the Alain Graillot, but depending on where you are the Domaine Equis ā€˜Domaine des lisesā€™ can be easier to find and a bit more wallet friendly.

I have also always found the black pepper in Graillot Crozes and I also find it quite prominently with Maximeā€™s Domaine Equis. Worth a try if you havenā€™t had it!

Thanks Michael. Good call. I know the Maxime Graillot wines well and have had the Domaine Des lises on a number of occasions. It is quite peppery IIRC which is a trait I like in Shiraz.

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I can recall having had 3 or 4 different vintages of Graillotā€™s Crozes, but donā€™t remember if I had the La Guiraude before.

Is La Guiraude a single vineyard?

I donā€™t think so. It is similar to Clos de la Roiletteā€™s ā€œTardiveā€ bottling, a pick of barrels, not of vineyard.

This. Graillot Crozes was our house wine for a couple of years, as my local store (Repaire de Bacchus in Passy) had cases of it. Great juice at a great price. I can still find it in Seattle, but the pricing is almost 2x :frowning:
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Call Bryan at The Cellar Door in PDX. I started buying from him with 1998 vintage. Heā€™s a great contact for wines well beyond Graillot, but will also ship to you at an excellent price.

I love the late 90s and early 00s for Graillot, but current wines are also really well done and lovely. The Crozes is dynamite, and the La Guiraude is a benchmark(IMO).

I found the 2017 to be a little but bigger than I was used to for Graillot. More power/sun/fruit and less of the pepper and pretty floral nose Iā€™m used to.

Anyone feel the same way about 2017?

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Bryan is a great guy, and is literally just around the corner from us. Tell him you know me and heā€™ll charge you an extra 20% champagne.gif .

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I have had that also, nice Hermitage.
Need to get more.

Iā€™d also like to try Alainā€™s Hermitage. IIRC, he makes a couple of barrels a year. Should have BINā€™d it when I saw it online.

Interesting, I have yet to come across one. Discovered Graillot late, only started buying from ā€˜15 vintage onward!

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I thought 2017 was a slightly less potent version of 2015.

[cheers.gif] I like Graillot very much but have found a much better Crozes. Have you tried Campagnie de lā€™Hermitage VV de Gervans. I just had the 2015 and it was the best Crozes Iā€™ve ever had. Much more complex. Like a cross between an Hermitage and old school CĆ“te RĆ“tie.

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The 2017 I had tonight seems to finally have settled down and is back to its standard ā€œGraillotā€ feel. A slightly riper vintage but subtly more so at the moment. I really enjoyed it and it scratched the old school northern RhĆ“ne itch for me