Crozes-Hermitage (10) Domaine Pradelle

February 19, 2025February 26, 2025 jamiegoode 444 Views crozes-hermitage, Northern Rhone

I met with Alexandre Pradelle of Domaine Pradelle to taste through some wines.

Alexandre’s father (Jean-Louis) and uncle (Jacques) created Domaine Pradelle in 1976, and used the crop of his grandfather who at the time was selling wine by the barrel at the local bar. After he’d sell the wine to the bar, the malolactic would typically start. He also grew apricots, peaches and cherries. At that time, fruit was more lucrative than grapes.

Both Jean-Louis and Jacques studied in Bourgogne, and made this first vintage from the family’s 2 hectares of vines. In 2011, Alexandre’s cousin Antoine Pradelle started working here, and Jean-Louis retired in 2016. Alexandre joined in 2020. They now have 40 hectares of vines, most in red, with 3 hectares in Saint-Joseph and 2 hectares of Viognier. Alexandre is mostly working in the vineyard, but also makes with with Antoine. Antoine has studied in Australia, California and Chile. Alexandre studied in Nîmes and worked in a cooperative, and then worked in Beaujolais, as well as a spell with Bernard Magrez in Bordeaux and vintage at St Supery in Napa.

While his father used lots of wild ferments, Antoine prefers using cultured yeasts to get fresh and fruity wines, and one of the techniques he uses in fermentation is a compressor with nitrogen delivered via a stainless steel tube to create a jacuzzi effect during maceration.

They sell a fifth of their wine through their cellar door, which also houses an art gallery.

Domaine Pradelle Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2023
13.5% alcohol. Full yellow colour. Textural and finely spiced with a citrus twist to the ripe melon and pear fruit. There’s a great balance to this wine which shows a lemony undercurrent that really brings the richer fruit notes into focus. 92/100

Domaine Pradelle Crozes-Hermitage Blanc Courbis 2023
This is 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, fermented in concrete for two days and then fermented and aged in new barrels. Very fine and bright with nice precision and some fine spicy notes. Well integrated oak provides support to the linear fruit with a good acid line. Has depth but also freshness. 93/100

Domaine Pradelle Crozes-Hermitage Rouge Courbis 2022
From Chassis and Pends, aged in oak (20% new). This is fresh, bright and fruity with a core of sweet fruit. Juicy and fine with a silky texture as well as bright fruit, and also some peppery notes. Lovely presence here. 93/100

Domaine Pradelle Evasion Crozes-Hermitage Homage à Jean Pradelle 2022
Sold only at cellar door, for €19, this is from a single plot and is aged for 12 months in used barrels. Lovely intensity here with bold black cherry and blackberry fruit with good tannic structure. Mineral and brooding with lovely savoury energy and some iodine and pepper on the finish. 94/100

Domaine Pradelle
+33 (0)4 75 07 31 00

CROZES-HERMITAGE

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