Crozes-Hermitage (6) Delas Frères

Website: https://www.delas.com/en/

Marco Beckman, cellar master, gave us a tour of the beautiful new winery, and then we tasted with him and the boss, Jacques Grange.

Marco Beckman

This negociant is doing well at the moment. They were formed in 1835 by two brothers, the Delas Frères. In 1977 they merged with Champagne Deutz. Then, in 1993, Deutz and Delas Frères were acquired by the Rouzaud family of Roederer. In 2016 bought a property in Tain and hired Carl Fredrik Svenstedt to design a new winery and hospitality venture. It’s very impressive.

In terms of the left bank of the northern Rhône, they own 10 hectares in Hermitage and 18 hectares in Crozes-Hermitage. They also buy grapes and wine from Crozes. Their main cuvée, Les Launes rouge, is 200 000 bottles a year, and the white is 20 000 bottles.

2024 was a difficult vintage in the region. In 2023, in 10 days they received 80% of the grapes. In 2024, they took 6-7 weeks to finish the vintage – it was exhausting.

Jacques Granges

Has Jacques Granges seen many changes in the 30 years he has been here? He says that the main shift is the way that the reds are made. Now they have an obsession with the balance and equilibrium more than extraction. ‘20 or 30 years ago we just wanted to make a strong wine, high in colour, high in alcohol,’ he says. ‘In a large tasting you can find more approachable wines from Crozes-Hermitage now than 20 years ago.’

Delas Crozes-Hermitage Blanc Les Launes 2022
80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne, mainly in stainless steel with just under 20% in oak barrels. Some grapes come from the north from Larnage, which is a great terroir for whites. This is quite powerful and textural with lime and honey as well as ripe peach and some lovely mandarin and spice notes around the finish. Has depth but also a bit of tension. 91/100

Delas Crozes-Hermitage Rouge Les Launes 2022
12.5% alcohol. This is really impressive: fresh with lovely sleek cherry and raspberry fruit with some peppery hints. It’s textural with nice acidity. Subtle hints of olive with nice raspberry crunch. Massive drinkability here, and good typicity. 93/100

Delas Domaine des Grands Chemins Crozes-Hermitage 2022
12.5% alcohol. Estate grapes: the best half of their 18 ha of vines in Crozes. Most comes from Les Chassis but all over, and many of the vines are old. 50% aged in barrel, 50% in stainless steel, 10% new oak overall. Sweetly aromatic, brooding nose with black cherries, blackberries and some olive and cured meat character. So stylish and refined. Ripe but so well balanced with good structure supporting the fruit. Has an elegance to it, but also some power, with great definition. Could age in interesting ways. 95/100

Delas Crozes-Hermitage Les Clos 2020
14% alcohol. ‘The place is very special,’ says Jacques. It’s a single vineyard, on a west-facing terrace looking at the Rhône, fresh and windy, with alluvial soils. This was one of the few places in the area where there was already a vineyard in 1936 when the appellation was established. Perfumed and aromatic with a lovely olive and spice notes alongside sweet black cherry fruit. The palate is bold and tannic, but also has lovely fruit. Some grip here with a peppery bite on the finish. Serious stuff, structured and complex with real beauty and ageing potential and real delicacy and finesse. 96/100

Delas Crozes-Hermitage Les Clos 2015
14% alcohol. This is dense and concentrated with some gravel and crushed rock character as well as bold raspberry and blackberry fruit, with some roasted meat and nice grippy tannins. Bold and intense with nice focus to the fruit. There’s a lovely combination of flesh and bite here. A substantial wine with lovely fruit intensity and depth. Grainy and intense, and quite delicious. 95/100

Delas Crozes-Hermitage Les Clos 2009
13% alcohol. This still has good concentration and plenty of fruit. There’s some firm structure and notes of charcoal, blackberry and black cherry. Has some olive richness and some roast meat, as well as firm tannins with nice grip but not too much. Subtle notes of iodine and blood, and it seems like there’s potential for future development here. 95/100

Delas Frères
40, Avenue Jules Nadi, 26600 Tain-l’Hermitage

CROZES-HERMITAGE