M Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage "Les Meysonniers" Rouge 2022

Description

M Chapoutier’s Crozes-Hermitage “Les Meysonniers” Rouge 2022 is an amazingly smooth & fruity Northern Rhône wine. It is produced from 100% Syrah or Shiraz with a light texture that brings to mind a top-class Burgundian Pinot Noir. Its elegance and balance are typical of the best wines of the Crozes Hermitage appellation, a lighter Rhône wine, once considered the “poor relation” of the region but now seen as a more experimental region with many young producers. This one comes from the well-known Rhone producer, Michel Chapoutier; though he has been producing wine for many years, his ideas are not stuck in the past but developing constantly to explore new ways to display the unique terroirs of his wines.

Crozes-Hermitage “Les Meysonniers” Rouge 2022 has the fruit jam and pepperiness typical of Syrah on the nose but they are more subtle than in some blockbuster Rhône wines. One of the reasons for this subtlety is that only 15% of the wine is aged in oak (the rest is aged in concrete tanks) to give it “consistency and power, along with aromatic complexity” and fruit flavours rather than flavours of oak. Plums, cherries, and damsons are prominent and there are hints of white pepper, mint and savoury characters. The palate is even more complex with bramble fruits, cherries & damsons plus a more evident pepperiness and marzipan & almonds in the background. The texture is smooth and the body of this wine rather delicate which makes it a very elegant, fruit-filled wine.

Only 15% of this wine is aged in oak barrels to add a little body, texture and complexity. The remainder is aged for at least 12 months in concrete tanks to preserve the freshness and minerality of the fruit. The mineral notes on the wine come from the sedimentary soils in the Les Meysonniers vineyard which are unique in Crozes-Hermitage. For another super French Syrah, try Domaine des Escaravailles “Les Hautes Granges” Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix.