Cave de Tain Crozes Hermitage Grand Classique Blanc 2017
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Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Offers a vibrant melange of white fruit and flowers on the nose, with light citrus notes. Round, fresh and well-balanced on the palate, with a clean finish.
Excellent as an aperitif and will simple salads, fish, and shell-fish dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Hermitage Grand Classique Blanc has beautiful purity and focus, with notes of white peach, citrus blossom, crushed rocks, and white flowers. Clean, pure, elegant, and just beautifully textured, it over-delivers and is a rocking Hermitage Blanc that does everything right. I'd drink it over the coming 2-4 years, but it will keep longer.
Other Vintages
2015-
Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Spectator
One of the star whites of the Rhône Valley and ubiquitous throughout southern France, historically vignerons have favored Marsanne for its hardy and productive vines. It can make a fruity and delicious single varietal wine as well as a serious, full-bodied version with amazing aging potential. The best examples of Marsanne come from the northern Rhone appellations where it is also blended with Roussanne. Sommelier Secret—Some of the oldest Marsanne vines in the entire world exist not in France but in Australia, in the Victoria region. Settlers planted it in the mid to late 1800s, calling it “white Hermitage.”
Crozes-Hermitage is Northern Rhone’s largest appellation, surrounding the steep granite faces of Hermitage to its north and south. Here the rolling vineyards are less extreme and its soils, rich in clay-limestone and alluvial matter, produce Syrahs that range from fruity and charming to lush and seductive. The Syrahs of Crozes-Hermitage have more mass than those from St. Joseph but are less intense than those from Hermitage. While many are intended for early consumption, some of the best Syrahs from Crozes-Hermitage will age beautifully for 5-10 years.
Up to 15% of white grapes may theoretically be added to red Crozes at the time of fermentation but whether this is done or not depends on the decision of the winemaker. The best Crozes-Hermitage Syrahs will be fleshy with black fruit (currant, blackberry and black cherry) and bay leaf qualities, notes of tar and stone, and a well-concentrated finish of smooth tannins.
About a tenth of the wine produced in Crozes-Hermitage is white, primarily composed of Marsanne supplemented by smaller amounts of Roussanne.