Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 2023
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In 1985 Alain Graillot left a career in agricultural chemicals in Paris, bought vines at Les Chênes Verts near Pont de l'Isère, and made his first Crozes-Hermitage with help from Burgundian friends including Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac. His sons Maxime and Antoine have been in charge since 2008, and since his death in 2022 the approach has not changed. The Syrah is organically farmed on stony soils, picked by hand, fermented entirely as whole clusters with native yeasts in concrete, and aged mostly in one-to-three-year-old barrels bought from top Burgundy estates, with no new oak. The 2023 opens with dark cherry and spiced plum over wild herbs, licorice, and a savory forest-floor edge, with fine tannins and a long, fresh finish. Crozes-Hermitage once lived in the shadow of the Hermitage hill; this is the wine that led it out.
