Delas : Le Clos 2020

A svelte red, with serious aromatic and textural complexity, offering perfumed red fruit, dried flower and eucalyptus flavors that merge with base notes of cigar box, tobacco, smoked black tea and graphite. Shows toasty oak that's well-integrated and augments the power, though this never feels heavy, thanks to an undercurrent of mineral energy. Best from 2024 through 2032. 500 cases made, 42 cases imported.

Very smoky and meaty syrah, but also some violet aromas. At once plush and elegant, this is a really sophisticated Crozes with full body, but also some delicacy. The tannins only come center stage right at the end. They should give it a long life. From a four-hectare vineyard site south of Tain l'Hermitage, located close to the Rhone river. All matured in oak, but only about a quarter in new barrels. Drink or hold.

Cask sample. Like Grands Chemins, a slight reductive and toasty edge to the black fruit. But much more severe and tannic on the palate, much less approachable. Smoky, dark, introverted. But lovely for the longer term. (JH)

Tasted pre-bottling. Beautifully ripe fruit; on the palate the wine takes a spicier, peppery turn, built around delicate, well-extracted tannins. Refined and elegant.