Wine Advisor
Delas, Hermitage Les Bessards 2010
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Bright purple. Black and blue fruits, incense and candied violet on the heady, intensely perfumed nose. Sappy, penetrating and pure, its deep black raspberry and blueberry flavors lifted by juicy acidity. Stains the palate and shows uncanny precision for its power. Closes sweet and very long, with youthful tannins and resonating spice and floral pastille notes.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark purple. Exotic perfume of candied dark berries, Indian spices and potpourri; so spicy that I'd have guessed this wine was made with whole clusters, but Grange destems all of his syrah. Bright and focused, offering sweet, palate-staining black raspberry and cassis flavors. Finishes sappy, spicy and very long, with lingering floral and mineral notes and outstanding clarity.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Utterly profound in every way, the 2010 Hermitage les Bessards comes from the steepest, most rugged and "badass" part of Hermitage Hill, the broken granite soils of the les Bessards lieu-dit. Inky colored, thick and massively concentrated, it has sensational notes of liquid granite (the essence of granite!), smoked meats, scorched earth, currants and chocolate on the nose. Full-bodied, frighteningly concentrated, structured and backwards, it needs another decade of cellaring but will keep for half a century.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The uber-impressive 2010 Hermitage Les Bessards ranks alongside the perfect 2009. The strikingly intense powdered stone/granite minerality is apparent in this wine of great intensity, prodigious, almost skyscraper-like texture, massive body and high tannins. It is only for true connoisseurs who have a cold cellar as well as the patience to wait a minimum of a decade for it to round into drinking form. Filled with potential, it is one of the single greatest Hermitages I have ever tasted. There is no hint of its 100% new oak aging! Over the last 10-15 years, Delas Freres, which had muddled along with no great distinction for many years, has hit full stride under the ownership of the Louis Roederer-Deutz Champagne firm and the management of Jacques Grange, who continues to push the envelope of quality for both the Northern and Southern Rhone selections. The top single vineyard wines are world class in every sense, often flirting with perfection. Moreover, readers should realize this is also an impressive source for value. Delas’s top St.-Joseph cuvee comes from the hillside vineyards overlooking the small commune of St.-Jean de Muzols. The Delas firm owns 25 acres in Hermitage from which they make a basic cuvee, called Domaine des Tourettes, and, in the greatest vintages, a luxury cuvee, Les Bessards, which comes entirely from the great lieu-dit of the same name. Delas has long had a reputation for making outstanding Condrieu, of which he makes two cuvees. Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 900-case cuvee of Hermitage Les Bessards is only made in the greatest vintages. The 2010 Hermitage Les Bessards offers up scents of lead pencil shavings, barbecue smoke, black currants, blackberries, licorice and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, powerful, rich and extremely tannic, it should only be purchased by connoisseurs with cold cellars and abundant patience, as it requires 10-15 years of cellaring, and should still be drinking beautifully in 50-60 years when most of us are pushing up daisies. (Not yet released) Another great negociant with significant vineyard holdings, and at the top of their game, is undeniably Delas, owned by the Louis Roederer/Deutz Champagne firm. Since they acquired Delas well over a decade ago, this firm has been under the management of Burgundian Jacques Grange, who has done an outstanding job producing a sensational array of wines. The 2009s appear to be their finest overall performances to date, and the 2010s are noteworthy successors in a more restrained, mineral dominated, crisper style. Jacques Grange did a fabulous job with his Cote Roties in both 2009 and 2010, the latter being a somewhat more challenging vintage in this appellation. The Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes (until the 2009 vintage, this offering was known as the Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette) is sensational in both 2010 and 2009. Three thousand cases of this cuvee are produced, and the wine is aged in French oak, 50% new. Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000
About the Producer
The famous Drass Frère wine company was founded in 1835. Since 1996, the spirit and soul that contributed to the reputation of quality wines has been restored. At present, the Dras brothers have a total of 30 hectares of vineyards, 10 of which are in the Emmettage-Hermitage appellation, 2 in Saint-Joseph and the remaining 18 in Croze-Hermitage. The steep granite hillsides provide favourable growing conditions for the vineyards of the Hermitage appellation, which produces the best quality wines. The grapes are hand-harvested and the fruit is intact and not prone to premature crushing, and in 1996 the estate was renovated by replacing all the old stainless steel fermentation vats with 85 litre concrete vats, and the 2,500 litre old oak barrels were replaced by 600 Burgundy oak barrels. The renovation of the equipment has allowed the winery to separate the fermentation of different batches of grapes, set the fermentation temperature according to the needs of the different varieties, and to monitor them in a targeted manner. The winery uses the gravity artesian method in the vinification process, where the fruit is crushed and poured by gravity into the fermentation vats. After fermentation and pressing, the wine is decanted into oak barrels where malolactic fermentation takes place. The main grape variety is Syrah, but the estate also produces some white wines, mainly made from Marsanne and Viognier. The wines of the Delas Brothers include Domaine des Tourettes, Les Bessards, Seigneur de Maugiron and Francois de Tournon. Francois de Tournon, among others.
