2015 Delas Frères Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes

JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  7/5/2017, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (Delas Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes, France, Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Josh Raynolds
  2015 Northern Rhônes: Outstanding Wines for the Long Haul (Apr 2017), 4/17/2017, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Delas Frères Crozes-hermitage Les Launes Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Vintage of the Century (of the Month) II, 4/24/2017

  (Delas Freres Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes) Hello friends. Back in January, we had our first “Vintage of the Century (of the Month)” offer, highlighting the crazy hype for the 2015 vintage across Europe. In that offer, we featured Bila-Haut’s 2015 Cotes du Roussillon Rouge, which subsequently became one of our biggest January hits ever and a huge reorder target since. The success of that offer, especially in a typically sleepy month like January, underscored for me that we should expend some effort this year seeking out more excellent Euro-wines from the ’15 vintage. So that’s what we have today: two new ‘15s, as well as a reoffer of the Bila-Haut that kicked this program off. Before we dig into those, I’ll reprint what I wrote in January: ---- Hype. Short for hyperbole. It runs rampant in the wine trade. I vowed when starting Full Pull to try not to overdo it. Because, I mean really, if today I’m offering the GREATEST WINE I’VE EVER TASTED, what the hell am I supposed to say about tomorrow’s wine? The truth is: I love all my babies. Maybe not equally. But plenty of love. And yeah, I know I don’t always get it right, and sometimes enthusiasm crosses the line into hyperbole, but one thing I can promise you at least: it’s always on my mind to keep the hype in check and to offer you a clear-eyed look at the wines we’re offering. One of the places where wine hype is at its worst is with vintages. We’re seventeen years into this century, and I shudder to think of the number of vintages I’ve heard described as the “potential vintage of the century.” In Washington alone, I’ve heard folks toss out that phrase for 2003, 2005, 2007, 2012, and 2014. When 30% of vintages are the “vintage of the century,” we are squarely into hype territory. All of this is preamble to talk about the 2015 vintage in Europe. Hype heaven. It began as early as harvest time (see Decanter’s article: Europe’s 2015 wine harvest: On the verge of greatness?). And it has continued as even-handed folks like Jancis Robinson have begun compiling vintage reports. Some example quotes. Burgundy: Quality is looking extremely fine, with some people whispering comparisons with the outstanding 2005 vintage. Loire Valley: Very promising across the region, with the same warm, dry summer that many other French regions enjoyed. Languedoc-Rousillon: The hot weather produced plentiful ripeness, and potential quality is considered to be very promising at the top end. Northern Rhone: Universally viewed as a vintage with top quality potential. Bordeaux: Optimists are already calling it the best vintage since 2010 with early reports favouring the right bank. Those of us who enjoy Jancis for her restraint can pretty easily translate phrases like “very promising” into “what the [bleep] are you waiting for? buy buy buy!!!!” But still, I’m not going to go anywhere near calling it Europe’s VOTC™. For one thing, it’s waaaaaay too early. Most of the best wines are years away from release. And anyway, doesn’t it suffice to just call it an extremely promising vintage and then go out and taste the wines? ---- Again, I’ll tap the brakes and say: it’s still awfully early. But the data pointing towards an outstanding pan-European vintage are growing. Including the three data points below. Jancis Northern Rhone ’15 reminder: Universally viewed as a vintage with top quality potential. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. Vinous: Copyrighted material withheld. As you can see on the map, Crozes-Hermitage is an area in the crook of the neck made by the confluence of the Rhone and Isere rivers. While up to 15% Marsanne and Roussanne are allowed in red Crozes, this version from Delas is 100% Syrah, from vines grown in “granite sub-soils in the North” and “fluvialglacial alluviums and terraces of rolled river bed stones mixed with loess in the South.” It clocks in at 13.5% listed alc and pours inky black-purple into the glass, a pretty rare color and saturation for the northern Rhone, but that’s 2015 for you. The nose immediately gets after it with a big hit of sanguine minerality to complement notes of huckleberry fruit and briny olives. The palate is a super-intense mix of bright fruit and smoked meats that turns minerally on the finish, a finish that also contains no shortage of medium-grained tannins. This augurs well for a beautiful evolution in bottle. Jeb’s drinking window of 2016-2024 seems just right to me.