Rhône wine

Convinced that the essence of every wine derives from the considerable diversity, due to climate and geology, of vineyards throughout the Rhône Valley, Delas pays great attention to the specific character of each one. Whether it be grapes of its own estates or those purchased, the plots from the best vineyards are vinified and matured separately before being blended, in order to bring out the nature of the wines from each appellation.
 
Single vineyard wines are given selective treatment to reveal the personality of each terroir. These combinations produce the richness of the Delas palette of wines. In order to have a series of benchmarks and to see how the wines evolve in time, Delas keeps a wine-library where these treasures mature.

Delas Frères manages a 14 hectare (35 acre) estate within the appellations of Hermitage, St. Joseph and Crozes Hermitage.
 
The very finest holdings are to be found on the steep granite slopes of Hermitage, with 8 hectares of the plot called Les Bessards, and two of l’Ermite.

Grapes are hand picked when perfectly ripe. They are entirely de-stemmed to avoid the incorporation of overtly harsh or green tannins. Fermentation is traditional, in open concrete tanks, following a period of three days of pre-fermentary maceration at temperatures between 12 and 15°C. Alcoholic fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 28 to 30°C. Caps are punched down twice daily during fermentation, then just once a day during vatting, which can last for up to 20 days.
 
Manual cap-punching produces gentle and gradual extraction that is perfectly adapted to the syrah grape. It can be compared to slow cooking. This is far from high-tech, but it provides the best way of revealing a terroir’s potential. Delas Frères considers that all the poetry of wine is to be found in the vineyard. Following de-vatting and pressing, malolactic fermentation is carried out in oak barrels for all the top wines at Delas.

Robert Parker : 91-93 points
"The 2007 Hermitage Les Bessards is more fruit-forward, offering notes of concentrated black cherry and cassis fruit intermixed with licorice, truffle, earth, and pain grille characteristics. Deep, rich, softer, and more fruit-forward in a seductive, opulent style, this beauty should have 20-25 years of longevity." (2009)