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2020 Domaine Belle "Roche Pierre" Crozes-Hermitage

2020 Domaine Belle "Roche Pierre" Crozes-Hermitage

95JD
91-94RP
92JS
$49.99

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95

Jeb Dunnuck

Reviewed December 2022
The 2020 Crozes-Hermitage Roche Pierre is another Hermitage look-alike with its dark purple hue as well as its nose of cassis, smoked meats, iron, graphite, and leather. It's a big wine, with full-bodied richness, yet it's not over the top in any way, has building tannins, terrific balance, and a great finish. It needs 2-3 years to integrate its élevage and will evolve for well over a decade. Bravo to this estate for one of the wines of the appellation.

Professional Reviews

91-

94

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 01/2022
Sourced from older vines on the granite slopes above Larnage, the 2020 Crozes Hermitage Roche Pierre approximates a baby Bessardes, with its plentiful black cherries and ample oak accents reined in by a granitic sense of reserve. It's full-bodied, big and rich yet structured, with a long, focused finish and fine-grained tannins. (JC)

92

James Suckling

Review Date: 04/2023
A rich and textured red with cherries, smoke, cocoa powder and some bark. Full body with creamy tannins. Ample with a generous amount of berries, dried herbs, dark chocolate and a compact finish. From organically grown grapes.

Staff Reviews

KM
Keith Mabry

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer
Most of Belle's production is on the local calcareous soil called Kaolin, but of their Crozes offerings, the Belle "Roche Pierre" Crozes is the biggest outlier. From a parcel planted to granite, it has a more rugged texture and sauvage nature about it. Filled with notes of currant jam, graphite and leather this is a bigger meatier style that encapsulates Syrah grown on granitic slopes. This competes easily with the best from nearby St-Joseph!

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. Roche Pierre comes from a single-parcel in Larnage planted on granitic soils in the 1940s and 1950s. Vinification is done whole-cluster and depending on vintage may see partial destemming. Fermentation is in stainless steel tanks and the wine is aged about 18 months in a mix of new, 1-year and 2-year old barrique. The wine has a saturated color and unmistakable depth of flavor and long finish. Only produced in particularly good vintages, it rests squarely at the top of Crozes wines produced in the region. (ECOCERT Certified Organic)

Details

OriginHermitage/Crozes-Hermitage, Rhone, France
Type/VarietalShiraz/Syrah
SKU1689749