Maxime Graillot's Estate-grown, single-vineyard Crozes is a blinder in 2017. As always it comes from a single vineyard near the village of Beaumont-Monteux, only a couple of kilometres from his father's vines. Here, in the most south-easterly part of the appellation, the soils are full of gravel and alluvial stones, low in clay and fast-draining—very similar to the Domaine Alain Graillot soils in Les Chênes Verts, just to the north. This soil type lends itself to a refined, aromatic Syrah with a pronounced savoury profile. Planted throughout the 1980s, the vines are now managed organically (certification is due next year). The fermentations are entirely natural and Graillot Jr. uses only a small whole-bunch component, usually in the realm of 20-30%. It’s therefore a wine that tends to ‘come around’ earlier than the 100% whole-bunch wines that carry the Alain Graillot name. The 2017 was fermented in concrete vats and then racked into one-, two- and three-year-old Burgundy barrels purchased from some of the top Estates in Burgundy. There is also a tiny component (less than 10%) of new barrels that are purchased from the Atelier Centre France, whose bespoke steam-bent barrels are now used at Guiberteau, Didier Dagueneau and François Chidaine. The wine spends 11 months in barrel and is then brought together for three months in large fût tronconique. It was bottled unfiltered.
In spite of the dry conditions, this definitely falls into the classical, northern Rhone spectrum. In fact, it’s about as fine, cool and pure as any example we have shipped. What the vintage has given has been some added flesh and generosity in flavour—expect plenty of blackberry, black olive and star anise fruit—but the cool, beautifully weighted palate could only come from the Rhone. It’s ripe yet finely sculpted by sophisticated tannins and bright, lingering freshness. Already superb drinking, but will surely get better and better over the next five to seven years.