| Review: |
"Saturated magenta. Displays expressive red and dark berry, smoked meat, olive and floral qualities on the spice-accented nose. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, offering gently sweet cherry-cola, blackberry and baking spice flavors that show fine detail and a mineral, back-end lift. Finishes very long and subtly chewy, with repeating smokiness, harmonious tannins and strong persistence. Domaine Alain Graillot’s Crozes-Hermitage has long been a benchmark wine for the region. Thanks to worldwide distribution, starting in the mid- to late-1980s, it was, for many wine lovers, an introduction to the wines of the Northern Rhône and Syrah in general. Sadly, Graillot passed away this past March. Happily, his sons, Maxime and Antoine, who have been at the domaine’s helm since 2008, have not missed a beat regarding maintaining quality and the estate’s reputation. Maxime de-stems most of the fruit for wines under his label, Equis, but he maintains his father’s practice of working with whole clusters here. He likes to say, 'These are Alain Graillot wines, and that’s what he preferred.'" |