IIRC, the Jaboulet production numbers for their various Crozes bottlings are (roughly) in cases
2k ‘Rourre’
15k ‘Thalabert’
10k ‘Jalets’
I’ve looked around a few times for the various Cave de Tain smaller bottlings locally, but maybe they save those for sale in France, or in the tasting room, or some other specialty channels.
Is there a book or other resource on crozes hermitage to sort through this large area? Something beyond just googling a town in the northern section of the AOC and seeing what shows up?
The Wikipedia entry says that the Cave de Tain produces half of Crozes and Jaboulet takes “a lot of the other half”. But total production is probably in the range of 750,000 cases, so unless Jaboulet makes a very large amount of generic Crozes, their 3 named sites account for less than 5% of production.
When my company represented the Cave de Tain, we made a particular effort to sell their parcel selection wines but it was extremely difficult. The problem is to a large extent American perception of Cooperative wineries. Basic Hermitage at standard margins retails here for ~$85. American consumers don’t want to pay that for anything from a Cooperative, with the possible exception of Produttori Barbaresco. And much as I love Produttori Barbaresco, I don’t think it’s even the best Cooperative winery in Italy, much less why it should be the only one in the U.S. that can get away with retail pricing over $50.
I am sorry, but I don’t know of any book that’s a resource for diving into the different aspects of Crozes-Hermitage.
Dan Kravitz
John Livingstone-Learmonth’s The Wines of the Northern Rhone remains the essential reference text for the area, but it was published in 2005 so it won’t have the latest information. His website (www.drinkrhone.com) is current and provides vintage reports and tasting notes, also very helpful.
Yes, L-L is the most comprehensive source. I like his palate and preferences, too.
Sweet! The fee is quite low relatively speaking which I appreciate. Appreciate the rec
I mostly agree with John’s palate, and I find his notes very helpful. The exception is that he is more tolerant of the use of new oak than I am. I’m not an absolutist, just more absolute than he is.
In addition to JLL’s various books on the Rhone, including the last 2005 one focusing on the Northern part, there are also other books which will have small sections on the Northern Rhone, not as in depth of course. Some of these include Hugh Johnson’s Wine Atlas, Jancis Robinson’s Compansion, Tom Stevenson’s Encyclopedia and so on. Again not exhaustive, but also a different perspective.
(thanks for that information on Colombier, John!)
My LWS must have found a random case of 2018 Graillot CH. I’ve gone through a couple now…fun. Interesting to see how much sediment they’ve thrown at this age.
Interesting that there is more Thalabert than Jalets. I would have assumed it was the other way around.
I think Jalets is a weird ‘product’, some negociant purchases plus leftover vats that don’t make the cut for their estate bottlings. That doesn’t seem like a recipe for consistent quality. The 2016 was ok, but my example was heat afflicted. I have not opened (or found) my 2015 which I hope is better.
PJA seems to have this long running issue with their growers, that, as they gain confidence in their work, they stop selling grapes, and bottle it up on their own. So the branded blends are always losing their best input.
Just a couple of times, I’ve had Alain Graillot Crozes with something like 15 years of age, and it was really good. Though not resembling Hermitage to me – cleaner and more fruit driven.
As Zachary mentions above, Rousset’s Crozes bottlings are of interest. Over a couple of nights, I found the 2015 Rousset [Crozes Hermitage] to be excellent. This isn’t their special parcel from Rourre, but their regular one, but even that still comes from steep hillside plots. The 2015 is full bodied, dense, dark - showing the solar character of the year. At age 9 I thought it was better on the 2nd day, so perhaps it has some Hermitage like aging powers in this year. Upon opening, some matchsticks, and lots of grip/tannin texturally. This gets very mild wood - being raised in foudre and then a bit in used Burgundy casks - but at this age I don’t really notice that and the infusion is well measured. On the first night there is an unusual flavor which David Lille notes as ‘musk’ which describes it well. By the second night it’s gone and has rounded into more red fruit flavors. Surprisingly, no sediment. I’d give this an A- on my card; I wish this was easier to find in my region as I’m generally not doing much ‘mail order’ any more.
Summon the Geneva Convention! We had red wine with fish, a sommelier war crime among 44 of 46 treaty signatories.
I blinded our local group on 03 Delas Crozes a few weeks ago. Everyone loved it, all called Northern Rhone, but no one mistook it for Hermitage.
Yet another war crime…talking about Michel here on WB! The 2017 Chapoutier ‘Petit Ruche’ [Crozes Hermitage] is lighter, brighter and zippier than the ‘Oak Goes to 11’ perception of this house. Lightly sedimented, 13% abv which seems low in our modern era, and right now showing a bouquet of white pepper, fern, and seaweed. It’s more savory than sweet. Lots of acid, low tannin, and fine No.Rho syrah character, especially on day 2. So ironically, even though I like Chapoutier’s wines, this is not in my wheelhouse - whether vintage or cuvee - but I suspect the typical cool climate fan / Berzerker might like this Braille labeled bottle more than me. I tend to prefer the fat solar NoRho years, which thanks to global climate improvement, are not as rare as they used to be.
I’d slot this into the B grade on my card; it would not be confused with it’s grander neighboring AOC though. This bottling should be consumed on the young side.
It’s not the entry level wines that have made the reputation, for better or worse. Haven’t been drinking these wines in a long time but in the past wines like this, Belleruche, Les Meysonniers and Rasteau were always quite honest without much extra stuffing or dominant oak.
Good stuff.
Ha I love Red Burg with Salmon so no idea what the haters are talking about. They are simply clueless.
