Crozes - Hermitage

In the north part of Rhone Valley just before the Amazing Cornas appellation there is an amazing district called Crozes - Hermitage. The town of Tain - L'Hermitage divide the appellation in two diverse terroir; north of the town on the right bak of the Rhone river, the soil are granite based on hill terrace. South of the town the soil are more alluvial and sandy with varying percentage of clay and stone in the surface; climatically there is also a contrast, the north are hilly and cooler and the south are flat and relative warm.
The area under vine is almost 1,525 hectares
92% are shiraz based the rest 8% are two white grapes varieties Marsanne and Rousanne.
Natacha Chave she is a young winemaker start in 2004 in St. Joseph and in 2007 added 5,5 hectare on Crozes Hermitage.
The Aleofane from 2010 is a meaty black fruit with salty licorice and prune. Palate lots of red and black fruit, spicy and peppery, coarse tannins, tar and charcoal with great granitic minerality, all regulated with a balance acidity.
Cheers 

Comments

Post a Comment

A drinker

Chablis Climats and Lieux-dit

Image
Climat: from the Greek Klima via the Latin Cliamtis.  Precisely delimited plots of land which benefit from specific geological and climate conditions...  Lieux-dits a designated area of land with a historical particularity from a topographical point of view of an ancient story... These two terms in wine always as an interchange used; however, you can find several Lieux-dits within a single Climat... Chablis is a really good example of how these two concepts work together.   See the map above and you can see how many Lieux-Dit compose a climat, in this case, 1er Cru. For example Montmains 1er Cru, a famous block of vineyard on the left bank of the Serein river at the bottom holds two famous Lieux-dit called Forets and Butteaux; according to the INAO, this can be a label on his own or as Montmains 1er Cru.  Vaillons 1er Cru got several different names, those are: Sechet, Les Lys, Les Epinottes, Ronciers, Mellinots, Beugnons and Chatains....
Podcast

Brunello based on a map….

Image
Brunello di Montalcino is one of the most famous and prestigious italian wine. All Brunello di Montalcino wine is made exclusive from Sangiovese grapes grown on the slopes around Montalcino a classic Tuscan hilltop village 30 km south of Siena. The world Brunello translates roughly as "Little dark one", and is the local vernacular name for Sangiovese grosso, the large-berries form of Sangiovese which grows in the area. The climate in the production zone is Mediterranean. On the lower slopes the soil is clayey marl, higher up a combination of limestone and marl with some tufaceous volcanic stone. The best soil are "galestro albarese" clay with carbonate of lime and friable rock. The harvest go between the latter part of September and the middle of October. Subdistrict of the Brunello zone Brunello production zone can be divided into three district. The first district takes in the area north and to the east of the town of Montalcino, including the town of Tor...
Podcast

Cahors Simon Busser - Corbières Maziere Fabrice Monnin

Image
SIMON BUSSER from the village in Prayssac, in the AOC Cahors: Cahors is a small town in southwestern France, located 160km to the east of Bordeaux. The climate here is subject to multiple influences; from the Atlantic coast which bring a continental climate, and the Mediterranean from the south which gives a maritime influence. We can divide the AOC into two different terroirs the "Causses" based limestone plateau that produces more tannic, mineral lived wines. The other vineyards profile is the one that influenced by the river Lot with a more gravelly slope which makes more approachable wines on the fruity spectrum profile.  Cahors is home of Malbec, Bordeaux grapes mainly Merlot, and also a small amount of Tannat more present in the neighborhood Madiran AOC.  Simon Busser has been training with Olivier Cousin in the Loire. He returns to his village Prayssac and start to looking after his father’s vineyards. He works his small vineyard with a horse, as Cousin taugh...
Podcast