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2016 Crozes Hermitage “Tenay”

Barruol / Lynch
Discount Eligible $36.00
SOLD OUT

Tasting it from barrel, the telling aromas of graphite and savory spices suggested this was no ordinary Crozes...


Louis Barruol’s cellar is a tour de force of the noble appellations of the Northern Rhône, with barrel after barrel housing exquisite nectars from the slopes of Côte-Rôtie, Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, and Crozes Hermitage. Each year, we meet with Louis to sample the year’s crop, tasting our way through the cellar to ultimately select the best lots to be shipped across the pond.
         With the 2016 vintage, the biggest surprises came from Crozes Hermitage, an appellation with an immense diversity of terroirs. The clear standout, Tenay, is an upper-slope parcel just north of the hill of Hermitage, its 45 year-old Syrah vines directly overlooking the Rhône to the west. The soil—a lean layer of sand over granite bedrock—bears more resemblance to the great sites of Hermitage than to the lower-lying alluvial plots that make up the majority of Crozes. Tasting it from barrel, the telling aromas of graphite and savory spices suggested this was no ordinary Crozes; its deep, penetrating flavors and dense, fine-grained tannins indicated a wine flirting with Hermitage-level quality.
         Rather than include it in our comprehensive Crozes Hermitage blend, we asked that Louis bottle Tenay separately. For him, working with northern Rhône Syrah means whole-cluster fermentation, aging in neutral wood, and forgoing filtration—the methods of choice of Rhône legends like Marius Gentaz and Auguste Clape. By applying this savoir-faire to a newfound terroir of serious caliber, Louis demonstrates that Crozes can be a wine of real finesse, and not simply a bargain Syrah.

Anthony Lynch


Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2016
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Syrah
Appellation: Crozes Hermitage
Country: France
Region: Northern Rhône
Producer: Barruol Lynch - Northern Rhône
Winemaker: Louis Barruol
Vineyard: 30-50 years
Soil: Granite
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 13.5%

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Inspiring Thirst

I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.

Inspiring Thirst, page 171