Delas Frères Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes
Rhône, France
Vintage:2020 (Current)
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Reviews
Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
“Moving to the three Hermitage releases, the 2020 Hermitage Domaine Des Tourettes offers a deep, saturated purple hue as well as a powerful bouquet of scorched earth, creosote, peppered meat, liquid violets, and both black and blue fruits. Aged 18 months in one-third new French oak, it's full-bodied, has the vintage's ripe, concentrated style, ample underlying structure, and outstanding length. It's a gorgeous Hermitage that readers will love to have in their cellar. It will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. It's up with the finest vintages of this cuvée ever produced.”
View From the Cellar 95 Points
“The Domaine des Tourettes bottling of Hermitage from Maison Delas Frères is made from fruit sourced in the two lieux à dits of les Bessards and les Grandes Vignes. The wine is fermented in cement vats and raised in oak barrels, with one-third of the casks renewed each year. The 2020 version comes in at 14.5 percent octane and delivers a deep and sappy bouquet of cassis, black raspberries, pepper, smoked meats, a beautiful base of soil tones, a touch of dark chocolate, a stylish foundation of nutty oak and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still quite primary in personality, with bottomless depth at the core, ripe, buried tannins, fine focus and grip and a long, complex and very well-balanced, youthful finish. This has the plushness of fruit of its hot summer, but the wine is fresh and shows no signs of sur maturité. It will need plenty of cellaring time to soften up its undercarriage of tannin. 2036-2085.”
Wine Spectator 92 Points
“Ripe, fresh and sleek, with a beam of dark cherry and red currant fruit driving through, laced gently with singed apple wood, savory and violet notes along the way. The fruit keeps a steady presence through the focused finish, while an iron note develops. Best from 2023 through 2035.”
Vinous Media 94-95 Points
“Inky ruby. Smoke- and mineral-accented black and blue fruits, violet, licorice and an olive nuance on the deeply perfumed nose. Stains the palate with intense cherry, blueberry and fruitcake flavors that are sharpened by a spicy touch of cracked pepper. Youthfully chewy tannins frame an impressively long, penetrating finish that leaves candied dark berry and floral pastille notes behind. These are still young days for this wine but, as usual, it already screams "Hermitage".”
Decanter 94 Points
“The oak spice is quite forthright on the nose, then you sink down into the plush, juicy fruit. Like sitting into a well-stuffed leather armchair, it's comfortable on the palate, but there's some pleasing resistance. Juicy and ripe, with a slick of soft, pliable tannin. This is opulent and finishes long. The oak spice is generous, but it works well with the rich style.”
Overview
Known as Domaine Marquise de la Tourette until 2008, Domaine des Tourettes is the first wine to be produced by Delas Frères exclusively from the 24 acres that are farmed on the famous hill that overlooks the town of Tain. This cuvée is a blend of wines from 5 acres of Les Grandes Vignes lieu-dit, located at the top of the hill, and 17 acres in the Les Bessards lieu-dit.
Domaine des Tourettes combines the influences of this exceptionally potent terroir, bringing together pure granite with splinters of decomposed rocks and the richer, deeper alluvial deposits.
Winemaking
The soils are a combination of granite with alluvial quaternary delta deposits, and Pliocene marl. The vineyards are south-facing and are protected from the north winds. The slopes are well exposed to the sun. The estate’s vineyards are all harvested by hand when the grapes achieve optimal maturity. Vinification takes place in traditional, open-topped concrete tanks following two days of skin contact at cool temperatures. Maceration continues at controlled temperatures between 82°F and 86°F. Cap punching and pumping over take place daily for about 10 days. The total fermentation and maceration period is about 20 days. After devatting and pressing the skins, maturation is carried out in French oak barrels (one quarter of which are new) for 18 months and an additional two months in stainless vats.
In each vintage, the notes of wood are the result of precise and variable proportion between new barrels and barrels which have already held one wine, and it is adapted according to each vintage tannic and tasting characteristics.
Tasting Notes
The nose is very fragrant, with accents of smoke and notes of gunflint and ink, which, only after a few minutes in the glass, give way to notes of candied black fruit, violet, licorice and a hint of olive and spice. The palate, meanwhile, is marked by intense flavors of cherry, blueberry and fruitcake, sharpened by a spicy touch of pepper. This is a bold, powerful wine with a serious tannic structure structure that frames a long, penetrating finish.
Harvest Notes
The 2020 growing season was characterized by dry, hot weather in spring and summer. and summer, with only 250mm of rain between March and September. This accelerated berry ripening and favored the formation of phenolic compounds. Yields were very low, but the overall balance of the vines with limited growth from spring onwards meant that the grapes could be harvested on August 22nd. We obtained ripe, concentrated grapes with strong aromatic potential. Granite expresses itself with austerity and power.
Food Pairing
Pair this wine with rare or medium-cooked games, marinated meats and spicy stews. We recommend opening this bottle between one and three hours before drinking.
Technical Information
Varietals: 100% Syrah