Delas : Le Clos 2022

A seductive core of red fruit is flanked by cigar box and pepper on a silky palate amply dusted in graphite, cured meat and sandalwood smoke. Simmers with inner density and energy yet manages to stay light on its feet as this stretches on and on. Harmonious and seamless. Drink now through 2030. 350 cases made, 40 cases imported.

This single-vineyard Crozes-Hermitage has excellent integration of fresh plum fruit and spicy oak with a lot of licorice and some meaty complexity. A touch of something balsamic develops in the glass. Impressive concentration for just 12.5% alcohol, the tannins building to an imposing crescendo. A pure syrah matured exclusively in Burgundian oak casks, of which 20% were new. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.

Cask sample. Tasted blind. A lively nose with leather, kirsch and cherry. A rich and dense palate with firm tannins and a generous core, a little short on the finish – quite simple. (AC)

Dark garnet with a purple hue. Pure and perfumed with wild berries, ripe apricot, peppery and sweet spice notes with mild oak and butterscotch notes. The palate is nicely rounded and textured with grainy tannin, sweet and spicy fruit flavours with nice oak integration, rounded, meaty and long finish.

From a slightly colder place than Les Grands Chemins, the 2022 Crozes-Hermitage Le Clos is more elegant and open at this stage, revealing a complex, elegant bouquet of dark berries, flowers and cherries. Moderately weighted and round, it's layered and well-balanced with a juicy core of fruit supported by velvety tannins. This rendition is sweeter and slightly oakier than others, well-crafted and marked by a distinctive signature of elegance and freshness. Matured for 14 months entirely in barrels, 30% of which are new.