2022 ChevernyDomaine du Salvard
France | Loire
$22
Producers
Many say the small hill of Hermitage is the spot where Syrah reaches its absolute greatest heights, and some recent four-figure price tags of a few famous cuvées at auctions appear to reinforce that notion. Yet here is a wine that seems to not notice or care about any of that. Bold and mysterious, with a velvety texture and a certain rusticity, this wine seems to be of a different, bygone time, and above the fray of modern squabbles.
—Chris Santini
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Syrah |
Appellation: | Hermitage |
Country: | France |
Region: | Northern Rhône |
Producer: | Barruol / Lynch |
Winemaker: | Louis Barruol |
Vineyard: | 30 - 50 years |
Soil: | Granite |
Aging: | Aged on average for 15 months in barrel, no new barrels - barrels are 1 or 2 years old |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 14.5% |
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Hermitage
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Hermitage
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Crozes Hermitage
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Côte Rôtie
Barruol Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Côte Rôtie
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Côte Rôtie
On the wines of the northern Rhône, Kermit wrote in Adventures on the Wine Route, “The best combine a reminder of the sunny Mediterranean with the more self-conscious, intellectual appeal of the great Burgundies farther north, which is not a bad combination.” Like the wines of Provence, Burgundy, and Beaujolais, Kermit was introduced to this region by Richard Olney, an American ex-pat and friend of Alice Waters.
Though technically part of the same region as the southern Rhône and connected by the Rhône River, much differentiates the north from the south. The climate is continental and in general cooler than that Mediterranean climate of the south. The appellations are significantly smaller: Cornas has less than 300 acres planted to vine and Hermitage around 345. The area planted is minute when compared to Gigondas (3,000+ acres) and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (nearly 8,000 acres). Many of the great wines come from steep hillside vines—terraced during Roman times. It was clear to the Romans that great wine could be made here and DNA evidence now shows that Syrah is in fact indigenous to the Rhône.
The terroir is predominantly granite and lastly, blends of the wines are mostly single grape varieties. Only four grape varieties are permitted in AOC blends: Syrah, Viogner, Marsanne, and Roussanne (as compared to the 19 permitted varieties allowed in Châteauneuf). The red wines are nearly all Syrah and Condrieu and Château Grillet must be 100% Viogner. The whites of Hermitage, Saint Joseph, Saint Péray, and Crozes-Hermitages may only be blends of Marsanne and Roussanne.
Lionel Faury France | Northern Rhône | Collines Rhodaniennes
Jean-Claude Marsanne France | Northern Rhône | IGP Ardèche
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Côte Rôtie
Jean-Claude Marsanne France | Northern Rhône | Saint-Joseph
Lionel Faury France | Northern Rhône | Côte Rôtie
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Hermitage
Jean-Claude Marsanne France | Northern Rhône | Saint-Joseph
Lionel Faury France | Northern Rhône | Collines Rhodaniennes
Barruol / Lynch France | Northern Rhône | Crozes Hermitage
Jean-Claude Marsanne France | Northern Rhône | Crozes-Hermitage
Lionel Faury France | Northern Rhône | Saint Joseph
Lionel Faury France | Northern Rhône | Saint-Joseph
A good doctor prescribed the wine of Nuits-Saint-Georges to the Sun King, Louis XIV, when he suffered an unknown maladie. When the king’s health was restored the tasty remedy enjoyed a vogue at court. Lord, send me a doctor like that!
Inspiring Thirst, page 117
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