2020 Domaine Belle "Cuvée Louis Belle" Crozes-Hermitage

94JD

93VN

91-93RP

$34.99

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Jeb Dunnuck

Reviewed December 2022

The 2020 Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Louis Belle is brilliant, with an almost Hermitage-like sense of structure and depth. Ripe black fruits, crushed stone, ground pepper, and new saddle leather notes all emerge on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with ripe, building tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish.

Professional Reviews

Vinous

Review Date: 12/2022

Deep violet. Spice-tinged boysenberry and cherry aromas pick up floral, olive and cracked pepper nuances with aeration. Velvety and well-concentrated, offering appealingly sweet, spice-tinged red and blue fruit preserve, olive paste and violet pastille flavors and a hint of smokiness. Finishes smooth and quite long, with building tannins and a strong echo of sappy blue fruit. (JR)

91-

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 01/2022

The lush, rich 2020 Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Louis Belle displays opulent black cherry framed by cedar and vanilla. Full-bodied and velvety, it's decadently styled, loaded with ripe fruit and plush oak, yet finishes with surprising energy and an appealing note of licorice. (JC)

Staff Reviews

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer

Consistently one of the most impressive wines in its category, the “Cuvee Louis Belle” does not disappoint. The 2020 vintage is a superb one and this is probably the most impressive Cuvee Louis Belle since the 2015. Planted on Kaolin, the local calcareous soil indigenous to the village of Larnage, the wine shows weight and intensity but with defined edges. Flavors of boysenberry, ripe cherry, vanilla and cigar tobacco dance across the delightful and sumptuous palate. What a divine crossing of rich fruit on the palate followed through with seamless structure. The Louis Belle continues to evolve for hours as it breathes making it great in the short term. This should also continue to develop beautifully for many years to come.

Notes

The roots of the Belle family run deep in Hermitage and extend back to the 18th century when the family began acquiring vines in the region. When descendant Louis Belle assumed control of the property, he preferred tending vines over making wine. In 1933, he became one of the founding members of the Cave de Tain, the local cooperative. It was not until 2003 when grandson Philippe began making wines for the domaine. The property has 25 hectares of vines planted across Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and St-Joseph, along with apricot orchards and a vine nursery tended by Philippe's brother, Jean-Claude. The vineyards were certified organic in 2014. The Cuvée Louis Belle is from Syrah vines ranging from 20-100 years of age. About 50% destemming occurs and all grapes are fermented with native yeasts. The wine is aged between 16-18 months in a mix of new (about 25%) and used barrels. This signature cuvée epitomizes the quality of their Crozes fruit and Rhône expert John Livingstone-Learmonth calls the Belle "a serious, structured wine that keeps and evolves well." We agree and are happy to have added them to our portfolio of direct imports in 2020. (ECOCERT Certified Organic)

Details

Origin	Hermitage/Crozes-Hermitage, Rhone, France
Type/Varietal	Shiraz/Syrah
Alcohol Content	15%
SKU	1689748