Wine Advisor
Domaine du Colombier, Hermitage Rouge 2020
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
The tarry, black olive-laced 2020 Hermitage follows up those notes with hints of purple raspberries and mulberries. This sturdy, medium to full-bodied offering with bright acids and dusty tannins will take some time to come around. Viale's Syrah comes from parcels near the center of the appellation in Les Beaumes and Les Diognières (also spelled Dionnières).
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque violet color. A highly fragrant bouquet evokes fresh black and blue fruits, exotic spices, olive, pipe tobacco and candied flowers; a smoky mineral note builds as the wine opens up. Juicy and sharply focused on the mineral-inflected palate, offering intense, mineral-accented boysenberry, bitter cherry, licorice and violet pastille flavors with a touch of vanilla. The floral note comes back strong on the impressively long finish, which features youthfully grippy tannins and lingering spiciness. I also had the chance to try the 2010 version of this wine, and it was a knockout, with deep dark fruit character and suave floral and exotic spice accents. There's still plenty of structure present, so a little time in a decanter, or just plain old patience, is strongly advised.
About the Producer
The continuing elevation of this Domaine into the lofty heights of Hermitage greatness is testament to the hard work of the tall, spindly owner Florent Viale. He gives his wines a prolonged maturation of a year and a half which he believes removes the need for filtration and prefers using oak tonneaux for this process rather than the smaller 225 litre barriques so as not to dampen terroir and fruit. As a result, both the Cuvée Gaby and Hermitage are powerful and wholesome but not without a touch of class. The latter wine comes from several parcels on the hill of Hermitages including Les Bessards. The grapes are destalked and Florent never uses more than 20% new oak. The wines are therefore a surprisingly elegant example of Hermitages.
