Vivacious and elegantly luxurious, with Asian pear, brioche, fresh ginger and blanched almond flavors that glide on the crisp, sleek finish.
All from the Bercheries lieu-dit, in the southern part of the appellation and just above Masion-Rouge, the 2022 Côte Rôtie Les Pierrelles (100% Syrah) has a deeper ruby/purple hue as well as a perfumed, floral nose of red and blue fruits, smoked earth, violets, and a kiss of game. It’s balanced, medium-bodied, has ultra-fine tannins, and outstanding length.
Coming from three hectares of vines in Crozes, the 2022 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine De Roure is another impressive barrel sample. Ripe black fruits, sappy, minty herbs, and pepper all emerge on the nose, and it’s medium-bodied, with a silky, Burgundian mouthfeel and integrated tannins. It’s a pretty, finesse-driven, elegant wine.
Leading off the 2022s, the 2022 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine De Thalabert is terrific, with up-front, ripe cassis, graphite, tobacco, and peppery, herbal notes to go with medium-bodied density and depth on the palate. I love its overall sense of balance and elegance, and it has good concentration as well as ripe tannins. It actually reminds me slightly of the 1990 (which is absolutely brilliant today).
The 2022 Hermitage La Maison Bleue is another bright, juicy, focused wine from Frey. Black raspberries, hints of cassis, leather, rose, and peppery notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a pure, elegant profile, fine tannins, and outstanding length. It’s not massive by any means, but it has beautiful finesse and elegance.