2023 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage

This wine is considered a benchmark for this French appellation. It is the highest-rated Crozes Domaine in France's leading wine guide, Revue du Vin de France's Le Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France, and rightfully so.

It is a tribute to the fastidious organic vineyard practices that Alain, and now his sons, Maxime and Antoine, have employed on their great vineyard holdings across the northern Rhone.

The vines are gnarled from decades in the rocky soils of Crozes, yet they are manicured and tended with the utmost care.

It's the power and definition in this wine that sets it apart from other examples of the region. It's smoky, spicy, brooding and deep and without question one of the finest examples of Syrah you will find from Crozes-Hermitage.

95 points
“Brooding black cherry and spice nose with some olive, crushed rock and pepper. There’s a hint of cured meat, too. The palate is powerful and rich with olive and meat savouriness under the sleek black fruits. Such energy and depth.”
- Jamie Goode (Wine Anorak)