Hermitage Ligne de Crête 2019 - Delas Frères

Hermitage Ligne de Crête 2019 - Delas Frères

Hermitage Red - lieu-dit "Les Grandes Vignes 

- Garde : To be kept for a few years in the cellar. A great wine to keep.

- Vin Parcellaire

- VINEYARD: The grapes that make up the "Ligne de Crête" come from the Delas Frères vineyards, on the highest part of the Hermitage hillside: the place called "Les Grandes Vignes".

- SOILS: The primary geological origins are found here, the bedrock. This is where the soil is thinnest, and where the Syrah grape variety draws the most intimate substratum of the AOC.

- CLIMATE: At a slight altitude, the moderately windy character of the area provides a gentle, relative coolness during the hottest periods of the summer.

- AREA IN PRODUCTION: 2ha31

- VARIETIES: 100% Syrah

- CHARACTERISTICS: This cuvée is a selection exclusively from the "Les Grandes Vignes" parcel located on the summit of Hermitage at an altitude of approximately 325 m. A veritable amphitheatre of semi-circular terraces, this parcel is mainly south-facing. In good years, production is limited to around 1,800/2,000 bottles. The wine is made from 100% Syrah grapes.

- VINIFICATION The grapes are harvested by hand in small boxes of about 12 kg, received at the ultra-modern site in Tain l'Hermitage. The grapes are stored in a cold room for 12 to 24 hours before vatting. Once destemmed, the berries are carried over the top of the vinification vats, then transferred by gravity to the truncated stainless steel vats. Under tightly controlled temperatures, the fermentation and maceration time is usually spread over a period of three weeks. It is mainly during the first part of the fermentation that a gentle extraction is carried out with carefully measured pumping over and punching down.

- AGEING After devatting, the wine is racked and put into barrels. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels, in which the wine is then aged for about 20 months under close supervision. In order to preserve all the personality, finesse and subtlety of the wine, only the fine and extra fine grapes are selected for the wood. For the same reasons, the percentage of new barrels is limited to 30% or 40%.

- On the nose, discreet aromas of spices and leather are combined with a balanced palette of dark berries: blackberry, redcurrant - with bewitching accents of flowers, liquorice and incense. Richness, complexity and delicacy are not mutually exclusive. With a beautiful minerality, all in elegance and finesse, the wine claims the nobility of the most beautiful granite of the Hermitage massif. On the palate, the attack is rich and very dense. The wine is elegant, voluminous and tasty. The tannins, ripe, melted, well integrated contribute to a powerful and balanced structure. The flavours are reminiscent of the aromas observed on the nose. The palette is enhanced by notes of blueberry, black raspberry, violet and bitter chocolate. Structurally, harmony and balance are the great attributes of "Ligne de Crête".