E. Guigal

Crozes-Hermitage 2015

Crozes-Hermitage

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Crozes-Hermitage brings you into the Northern Rhône Valley, where the red wines have a profile unlike anywhere else in the world, an irresistible combination of warm flavors of red and black fruit, exotic spice notes, and certainly in the case of Crozes, with pleasure and approachability in youth.

It’s important to note that most of Crozes-Hermitage is produced from the plains to the south and east of Hermitage, and these wines tend to be straightforward. Guigal’s approach is to make a more serious Crozes that also has vigor, intensity and depth. In Guigal’s hands, Crozes becomes a wine that delivers quality and pleasure far beyond its price.

Vineyard

Guigal first produced a Crozes-Hermitage in 1999 after the acquisition of low-yielding, hillside vineyards. Since then they have continued to purchase similar quality vineyards, exclusively on hillsides, on soils that tend to limestone, clay silt and sandy gravel, with vine age averaging 35 years. The vineyards are grouped in the north of the appellation, specifically around the villages of Gervans, Mercurol, Larnage and Crozes-Hermitage itself.

Winemaking

This 100% Syrah was fermented in stainless steel tanks and was then aged for 24 months in 228 liter barrels exclusively produced at Guigal’s Chateau d’Ampuis cooperage.

Vintage

When Marcel Guigal called 2015 “the vintage of a lifetime and on par with 1929, 1947 and 1961,” the anticipation while Guigal carried out their customary extended aging was almost too much to bear. From a vintage nearly as perfect as you could get, from vine dormancy right through harvest, the wines are spellbinding, with an utterly perfect balance of charm, complexity, and power.

Replenishing rain in the winter restored the water tables to supply the plants with nutrients, and then abundant sunshine and warmth helped the vines mature the berries to perfection as the generous diurnal shift maintained the acidity and freshness of the fruit. To buy, drink, age and, above all, enjoy as often as possible!

Tasting Note

Dark and deep in color, the nose has notes of red berries (cherry and strawberry) and delicate oak notes. A tannic and large wine, with flavors of blackcurrant and hints of vanilla. Remarkable freshness with notable tannins, refined by long aging before release.

Color

Red

Grape Varieties

Syrah

Appellation

Crozes-Hermitage

Suggested Retail Price

$28

Reviews

"a rich, beautifully concentrated, full-bodied Crozes that has terrific purity, a stacked mid-palate, and ripe, present tannin"

Jeb Dunnuck - August 8, 2018 "The deep purple-colored 2015 Crozes Hermitage showed beautifully from barrel, and now from bottle. Black cherries, blueberries, peppery herbs, black olive and lots of rocky minerality all flow to a rich, beautifully concentrated, full-bodied Crozes that has terrific purity, a stacked mid-palate, and ripe, present tannin. It’s a very classic Crozes Hermitage that can be enjoyed today or cellared for 7-8 years."

Wine & Spirits Magazine - August 8, 2018 “This is a strapping Crozes-Hermitage, and a terrific example of the combination of power and finesse possible in the 2015 vintage. Culled from parcels in four villages, most of the vines growing on steep granite slopes, the wine is initially gruff and ungiving, the fruit walled off by tannins, oak and the simple density of the extract. But give it a few hours in a decanter and the structure begins to fill with flavor, juicy blackberry and plum notes welling up to meet the austere minerality head-on. It feels more Hermitage than Crozes, the firm tannins and deep, concentrated flavor demanding more time in the cellar to relax and reveal their detail.”

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Trade Materials

Other Wines by this Producer

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