2009 Delas, Hermitage, Les Bessards

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 23/12/2011 The most prodigious wine I have yet tasted from the Delas portfolio is the brilliant 2009 Hermitage Les Bessards. Its inky/purple color is followed by abundant notes of acacia flowers, blackberries, black currants, new saddle leather, roasted meats and graphite, amazing concentration, a skyscraper-like texture, supple but significant tannin and low acidity. The result is a perfect example of Syrah from this great vineyard site in Hermitage. It will offer immense pleasure for 40+ years. Another great negociant with significant vineyard holdings, and at the top of their game, is undeniably Delas, owned by the Louis Roederer/Deutz Champagne firm. Since they acquired Delas well over a decade ago, this firm has been under the management of Burgundian Jacques Grange, who has done an outstanding job producing a sensational array of wines. The 2009s appear to be their finest overall performances to date, and the 2010s are noteworthy successors in a more restrained, mineral dominated, crisper style. Jacques Grange did a fabulous job with his Cote Roties in both 2009 and 2010, the latter being a somewhat more challenging vintage in this appellation. The Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes (until the 2009 vintage, this offering was known as the Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette) is sensational in both 2010 and 2009. Three thousand cases of this cuvee are produced, and the wine is aged in French oak, 50% new. Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000

Inky violet color. Sexy, flamboyantly perfumed aromas of black raspberry, cherry-cola, mocha and vanilla, with seductive notes of patchouli and violet. Dense and creamy in texture, offering liqueur-like dark fruit flavors and exotic floral pastille and spice cake notes. Very ripe but lively, with excellent finishing clarity and sappy, mineral-dominated persistence.