Domaine Yves Cuilleron Crozes-Hermitage 'Labaya' Syrah 2024

Domaine Yves Cuilleron Crozes-Hermitage 'Labaya' Syrah is a juicy, open red from the flatter country around Tain-l'Hermitage.

Two parcels build the blend, one just north-east of town below the hill of Hermitage and another ten kilometres south, both on deep stony sandy loam. Gentle extraction in large open oak vessels over three weeks is followed by roughly sixteen months in barriques.

A concentrated core of red berry fruit carries a little sweet oak and a candied violet note, with tannins already mild and settled. Serve at 15-16°C with grilled lamb cutlets, sausages or a Sunday roast.

*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.

Type: Red Wine
Style: Medium-bodied, dry
Grape Varietal: Syrah 100%
Tastes Like: A classic Crozes-Hermitage: northern Rhône Syrah, fresher than Hermitage
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Crozes-Hermitage AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée: France's protected appellation system; Crozes-Hermitage is the largest appellation of the northern Rhône, surrounding the hill of Hermitage)
Region: Crozes-Hermitage, Drôme, northern Rhône, France
Aging: Hand-picked; fermented with native yeasts in open, temperature-controlled vats; malolactic fermentation in barrel
Serving Temperature: 15-17°C

Domaine Yves Cuilleron is a family estate at Chavanay, in the northern Rhône valley between Condrieu and Saint-Joseph. Yves's grandfather Claude Cuilleron founded it in 1920 and began bottling the wines in 1947; Yves's uncle Antoine took over in 1960, and Yves took charge in 1987 with just 3.5 hectares in Condrieu and Saint-Joseph. He made his first Côte-Rôtie in 1988, bought vines in Saint-Péray and Cornas in 2006 and in Crozes-Hermitage from 2012, and the domaine now makes wine across six of the northern Rhône's appellations. In 1996 Yves also co-founded Les Vins de Vienne with two neighbouring growers, Pierre Gaillard and François Villard.

Yves bought his first red Crozes-Hermitage vines in 2012. Labaya is made entirely from Syrah: the grapes are picked by hand and fermented with their own native yeasts in open, temperature-controlled vats, with regular punching down of the skins, and the wine goes through its malolactic fermentation in barrel. It is a fresh, savoury northern Rhône red for hearty country cooking.

Pork: Ardèche pork and potato stew
Beef: Steak frites with shallot butter
Charcuterie: Caillettes and terrine with pickles
Vegetarian: Lentils with roasted root vegetables

Picodon: Aged Drôme goat's cheese, nutty and tangy
Saint-Nectaire: Earthy and supple, good with Syrah
Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage: Gentle blue from the mountains east of Crozes
Tomme de Savoie: Mild and earthy

Bombine Ardéchoise (Ardèche Pork and Potato Stew)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 800g pork shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 1.2kg waxy potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
• 200g smoked bacon or pancetta, cut into lardons
• 2 brown onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bay leaves and sprigs of thyme
• 250mL dry white wine
• 500mL chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

1. Brown the pork and lardons in the oil in a heavy casserole. Add the onions, garlic and carrots and cook until softened.
2. Add the tomatoes, herbs and wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and enough stock to almost cover. Season, cover and simmer very gently for 1½-2 hours (or bake at 160°C), until the pork is tender and the potatoes have thickened the sauce.
4. Check the seasoning and rest for 10 minutes before serving with crusty bread.

Bombine is the farmhouse stew of the Ardèche, the hills across the Rhône from Crozes-Hermitage: potatoes cooked slowly with pork until they collapse into the sauce. It is humble, warming food, and a fresh, savoury Syrah from the same stretch of river is its natural partner.