Wine Advisor
Delas, Hermitage Les Bessards 2011
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Potent blackberry, cherry-cola, licorice and mineral scents pick up a peppery quality with aeration, as well as notes of dark chocolate and pungent herbs. Shows excellent depth and energy in the mouth, offering sweet dark fruit and mocha flavors that are underscored and lifted by tangy acidity. The floral and mineral notes energize the incisive finish, which features supple tannins and a touch of fruitcake. (The 2010 Bessards is, unsurprisingly, still a baby, but it's showing a suave, seamless texture and deep, sweet dark fruit character that is surprisingly user-friendly for such a young Hermitage. Don't be deceived, though, as this wine deserves many more years of patience.)
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Glass-staining ruby. Deep red and dark berry aromas are complicated by suggestions of allspice and potpourri, with a subtle hint of pungent herbs. Sweet, penetrating black raspberry and cherry flavors are lifted by juicy acidity and pick up an exotic candied floral quality with air. Nicely balanced, spicy and pure, with excellent finishing energy.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
While showing a touch of bricking at the rim, the 2011 Hermitage Les Bessards remains stubbornly tannic and backward on the palate, showing hints of brimstone, espresso and earth. It's full-bodied and reasonably supple, but it appears to still need additional cellaring to get through its current sullen state.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Between 900 and 1,000 cases are normally made of the luxury cuvee, the Hermitage Les Bessards. An astonishing wine for the vintage, the 2011 is a candidate for the wine of the year in the entire Rhone Valley. Its black/purple color is accompanied by copious aromas of pen ink, licorice, blackberries, cassis and crushed rocks, huge body, sweet tannin, and extravagant, nearly over-the-top richness and density that nearly defy the vintage character. This is a remarkable achievement from an outstanding terroir and one of France’s finest winemaking teams. Forget it for 3-4 years and drink it over the following 2-3 decades. (Not yet released) 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: Jeb Dunnuck
Even better and one of the top two to three wines in the vintage, the 2011 Hermitage Les Bessards (100% Syrah that spent 16 months in 70% new French oak) possesses an inky purple color to go with a fabulously rich, pure bouquet of smoked earth, ground pepper, underbrush and licorice that’s supported by awesome black raspberry and cassis-styled fruit. Full-bodied, seamless and layered, with masses of sweet tannin and notable structure, this beauty bucks the vintage stereotype and will need short-term cellaring to become approachable. It will have 2-3 decades of longevity. Run by Jacques Grange and Claire Darnaud, Delas, which is owned by the Louis Roederer-Deutz Champagne firm, is producing no nonsense, extremely high quality efforts that are near the top of each of their respective appellations. I was consistently impressed by the wines, and they stood out in all of the larger tastings that I was able to do. In addition, I was able to taste the wines again at the domain, and again once back in the states. These are serious efforts worthy of attention. As to the Hermitages, they produce two, a standard Domaine des Tourettes, and in top vintages, the Les Bessards. In addition to the top-flight Cote Rotie and Hermitage releases, this estate produces a bevy of high quality efforts from Cornas and Saint Joseph. 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.
