Delas Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes 2012
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Just a small step back from the Les Bessards, the 2012 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes is a stunning effort that exhibits blockbuster notes of toasted spice, leather, peppery herbs and sweet black and blue fruit. Seeing 16 months in 60% new French oak, it's a powerful, concentrated and full-bodied effort that has lots of tannin, but more than enough fruit to handle it. Like the Les Bessards, shorter-term cellaring is advised here and it will have over two decades of longevity.
-
Wine Spectator
Well-packed, with raspberry and blackberry pâte de fruit notes, studded with anise and briar details. Dense yet racy. Mouthwatering acidity drives the finish, which reveals ample grip in reserve. Best from 2016 through 2022.
Other Vintages
2020-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Panel
Tasting -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
- Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
One of the smallest and most important Syrah regions of northern Rhone, Hermitage is practically one single south-facing slope of crushed granite, thinly covered with varied, yet well-charted soil types. Many climats (well identified parcels) exist within Hermitage and while some smaller producers make single climat Syrahs, some larger ones blend to make one balanced expression of the appellation.
Though the AC regulations allow the addition of up to 15% white grapes to a red Hermitage, in practice it is usually made from Syrah alone. Winemaking is pretty traditional—or you might say historic—with hot fermentations and aging in older barrels of various sizes. The best wines, characterized by deep, dense and sexy flavors of black fruit, cocoa, licorice and tobacco, have massive textures and a solid 10-20 years aging potential.
The region of Hermitage is totally enclosed; the only place it could go really is to literally fall down its own hill into the city of Tain or the Rhone River. Soil erosion is a problem and terraces exist alongside the hill in order to keep the earth in place. Crozes-Hermitage encloses the region entirely to its north and south.
While Hermitage seems synonymous with some of the best Syrah on the planet, actually about one third of the wine produced here comes from white grapes. The full, lush and robust Marsanne or the less common, but almost more charming, Roussanne create wonderful whites in which the best have great potential for aging, like the reds.