{"product_id":"alain-graillot-crozes-hermitage-rouge-2023","title":"Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost people picture the Northern Rhone as terraced granite cliffs falling into the river. Alain Graillot built his reputation on the opposite: a flat gravel plain. His vines sit in Les Chassis, the stony plateau south of Tain-l'Hermitage around Pont-de-l'Isere and La Roche-de-Glun, roughly 20 hectares of galets roules and alluvial gravel dumped there by the Rhone and the Isere, over a sandy, siliceous subsoil. Those rounded stones drain hard and hold the day's heat into the night, which is why Syrah ripens here without the hillside exposure. The core plantings date to 1973 and 1978, with a cooler, clay-heavier hillside parcel at Larnage added in 2003. The mistral scours the plateau and keeps rot pressure down. This is the wine that proved Crozes-Hermitage could be taken seriously.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e100% Syrah, fermented whole cluster with native yeasts in concrete vats, roughly three weeks on the skins at a maximum of 32C with twice-daily pump-overs, then about a year in used barrels with only 5 to 10% new oak. Graillot never destemmed and never chased new wood, and the whole bunches give the wine its lifted, peppery top end rather than sweetness. The 2021 season was brutal. Frost hit on April 7 and 8, a wet spring brought coulure and mildew, early summer hail interfered with flowering, and a cool, showery August pushed picking about two weeks later than 2020. Alcohols across the Northern Rhone fell a full percentage point and yields came in below the five-year average. The result is a lean, savory, cooler-framed Crozes: cracked black pepper, violet, blackberry, black olive and bay, a sappy attack, fine-grained tannin and an iron, briny finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlain Graillot came to wine at 40, in 1985, after a career selling agricultural chemicals, and he leaned on Burgundians rather than Rhone neighbors for advice, notably Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac and Jean-Pierre de Smet. That Burgundy influence explains the whole-bunch fermentations and the refusal of new oak. His son Maxime, who trained at Dujac, has run the cellar since the 2008 vintage and makes his own Equis wines in the same building, with his brother Antoine also part of the domaine. The vineyards are farmed organically. Alain died in March 2022 at 77, which makes 2021 one of the last vintages he saw through from vine to bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeppery Syrah from Crozes-Hermitage wants fat and char. Grill merguez or lamb chops over hardwood and let the smoke meet the black olive side of the wine. A steak frites with a heavy crust of crushed black pepper is the obvious call, and the right one. Braised duck legs with green olives and orange zest pick up the savory, briny finish, while a pot of green lentils simmered with garlic sausage and thyme works against the wine's fine tannin without overpowering it. At this price, it belongs in the Tuesday rotation, not the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VinMarket","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67840263258335,"sku":null,"price":54.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA010444.jpg?v=1790911200","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/alain-graillot-crozes-hermitage-rouge-2023","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}