Domaine des Lises Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2019

Domaine des Lises Crozes-Hermitage Rouge is Maxime Graillot's single-vineyard Syrah, grown on the gravel terraces at Beaumont-Monteux in the south-eastern corner of the appellation.

Crozes-Hermitage is the largest of the northern Rhône appellations, wrapped around the hill of Hermitage, and its southern sector is a broad plain of alluvial terraces rather than granite slopes. Maxime Graillot founded Domaine des Lises a couple of kilometres from his father Alain's vines. The fruit here comes from a single site planted through the 1980s, where gravel and rolled river stones lie over very little clay, giving fast drainage and a refined, savoury style of Syrah. The vines are managed organically. Fermentation is entirely natural, with a modest whole-bunch component of 20 to 30 per cent, which makes the wine come around earlier than the fully whole-bunch cuvées bottled under the Alain Graillot name. It was fermented in concrete vats, then aged eleven months in one-, two- and three-year-old Burgundy barrels with a small share of new wood, brought together for three months in a large fût tronconique and bottled unfiltered.

Approachable now and worth five to eight years in the cellar. Serve at 16 to 18°C with roast lamb, peppered steak or braised mushrooms.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.