DOMAINE BELLE Roche Pierre, Crozes-Hermitage

Domaine Belle’s flagship Crozes-Hermitage comes from the organically-farmed Roche Pierre vineyards in the communes of Larnage and Crozes-Hermitage. The Shiraz vines grow in granitic soils and yield an average of just 25hl/ha of grapes each year. Viticultural practices include close pruning and leaf thinning to improve sun exposure. Grapes are harvested by hand, partially destemmed and vinified using natural, indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel vats with daily pumping over and punching down. A final warm maceration follows a four-week fermentation. The wine is then matured in oak barrels (30% new, 40% one year old and 30% two-year old) for 24 months.

This superior cuvée, from a special terroir, is produced only in the best years. Its dark red colour has deep, almost black highlights. The wine may not be easy to engage with in its youth, although sweet spices and black fruit should soon reveal themselves, along with flavours of cocoa beans and strawberry liqueur. The palate is powerful, with the ripe but tightly-knit tannins necessary to rein it in. The balance between vigour, freshness and ripe fruit has great tension, indicating a wine that needs time to fully reveal its potential. As the Wine Advocate’s Joe Czerwinski says: ‘This is the rare Crozes-Hermitage that's capable of rivaling Hermitage itself’.