Description
Delas Freres is a winery of tradition and renewal. Founded 160 years ago in the heart of the northern Côtes du Rhône, the winery enjoyed the dynamism of its original founders and their heirs and more recently, the renewed energy of the Lallier-Deutz family, owners of champagne house, Champagne Deutz.
Delas Freres and Champagne Deutz were acquired by the Champagne House of Louis Roederer in 1993. Andre Lallier retired from daily winery duties in 1996, and Fabrice Rosset, a 20-year executive with Roederer, has taken the helm at both Delas and Deutz.
Today, the Delas wines are crafted by a panel of experts headed by winemaker Jacques Grange. Together, the team makes wines that have been heralded for their intensity of flavor and excellent value.
The wine is a brilliant, deep red hue with lots of depth. The nose shows great class, with soft aromas of blackberries and violets. Hermitage “Les Bessards” shows plenty of concentration in its fruit. This is a wine with a particularly dense tannic structure, and extremely good balance.
This wine pairs well with red meats, game, and spicy stews. This wine needs at least three years cellaring before it can open up its complexity. After this time, it should be decanted before serving. It is recommended you open the bottle one to three hours before drinking.
Critical Acclaim
JD99
Jeb Dunnuck
My favorite release from this estate is consistently their Les Bessards Hermitage, and their 2019 is no exception. Coming from the western part and pure broken granite soils on the west side of this magical hill, it sports a dense purple hue to go with a brilliant perfume of cassis, graphite, scorched earth, burning embers, spring flowers, and peppery herbs. Incredibly complex, layered, and nuanced, with classic Hermitage characteristics, it still stays firmly planted in the ripe, sunny, sexy vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated, and structured on the palate, it has a wealth of tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish.
WS97
Wine Spectator
This is loaded with dark and winey plum sauce, blackberry paste and fig compote flavors that glide through over notes of warm earth, sweet tobacco and anise. A subtle singed alder hint infuses the finish, along with a flicker of violet, while the fruit takes an encore. This shows seriously hefty fruit matched with a terrific underpinning of terroir. For the cellar. Best from 2024 through 2039. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
D97
Decanter
Blackberry, tapenade and liquorice bouquet. An intense and savoury expression; mouth-filling and very powerful. The oak is present, helping to rein in the fruit. Mineral core and textured, well-mannered tannins. Layered, long, complex finish; at the dawn of its life and will only improve. Outstanding.
WE95
Wine Enthusiast
Sourced from the oldest plot of Les Bessards in the heart of Hermitage, this limited-production, site-specific Syrah expresses the heat and power of the 2019 vintage with elegance. Massive in structure and richly extracted, it’s packed with lip-staining blueberry and cassis flavors. A perfumed lift of violet and lingering notes of smoked tea leaves and vanilla mark the finish. Seductive already, the wine will show best from 2025 to 2040.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.