A lighter wine from the Rhône valley

I am not a fan of masculine/feminine comparisons, but last week’s wine, Gigondas, is certainly muscular, rugged and powerful, and this week’s, Crozes-Hermitage

falls very much into the elegant and refined category. You can draw your own conclusions. I suggested Gigondas as a more reasonably priced alternative to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

This week we move to the northern Rhône, a very different area making completely different wines. In reality the only thing they have in common is the shared regional name.

Wines from the south are almost always a blend of at least two grape varieties or more. Famously, in the case of Châteauneuf du-Pape, there are 13 permitted varieties although in practice, four or five are generally used. In the north there is just one red grape, Syrah. The south is warm and sunny, the north is cooler. It is also much smaller in size.

Size is the problem with every northern appellation, including its star, Hermitage. Hermitage is tiny, with a mere 130 hectares of vines, roughly the same size as just one top château in Bordeaux. The comparison with Bordeaux is apt as in centuries past many of the top châteaux added a little Hermitage to provide backbone to their wines.

Caroline Frey, whose family now own both Château La Lagune in Bordeaux and Jaboulet in the Rhône, has been running a similar experiment in recent years. I haven’t tasted the results yet.

The hill of Hermitage is one of the great sights of French wine, familiar to those who take the TGV, vines clinging to the side of steep slopes reaching up from the town of Tain l’Hermitage, with the vineyard owners’ names proudly displayed on prominent signs. Tain is also home to Valrhona chocolate, which, the last time I visited, had a very good factory shop.

As outlined last week, the entry-level for a bottle of Hermitage is around €50, and the best cost €100 or more, out of reach for most of us. The wines of Crozes-Hermitage, right beside Hermitage, are much more affordable.

Crozes-Hermitage, like Hermitage, is always made entirely from Syrah. It is 10 times larger than its neighbour, but doesn’t share the same perfectly exposed south-facing granitic hillside that produces such magnificent wine. In the past, some of the best, such as Jaboulet’s Domaine de Thalabert, were serious wines that repaid lengthy ageing. That aside, most producers were happy to be seen as the poor cousin of Hermitage, making decent if unremarkable wines at reasonable prices.

As with other appellations of the northern Rhône, families would have had mixed farms in the past, usually growing stone fruits such as peach and apricot as well as vines. Mass-production of these fruits in Spain and elsewhere put paid to that. Nowadays wine provides a decent living for most.

Today, the new generation of growers is more ambitious, seeking to move away from the (very good) co-operative of Tain. Today’s Crozes-Hermitage comes in two distinct styles, the first forward, rounded and fruity – not always a bad thing. Pure Syrah from the northern Rhône can be wonderfully delicate and fragrant, more like Burgundy than southern Rhône. In recent years, there has been a move to bigger, richer wines, often with some new oak. Not all of these are successful. The second style of Crozes-Hermitage is not a million miles away from the long-lived structured wines of Hermitage.

To me, Graillot’s Crozes-Hermitage is one of the great wines of the northern Rhône, drinkable when young, but capable of ageing a decade or more. I have aged other wines for two to five years with great success.

The flavours of Syrah from this part of the world are often intensely floral, with flavours of liquorice, black cherries and other dark fruits, frequently with a black olive savoury edge.

If the cold weather gives us a reason to open up a bottle of Gigondas, our excuse for Crozes-Hermitage is quite different – game. Along with Pinot Noir, this is one of my favourite partners for roast game birds as well as venison and firm cheeses. If you come across a bottle with a few year’s age, so much the better. As I mentioned last week, Irish Rhône Week is taking place from November 3rd-8th. Events will take place in wine shops, wine bars, restaurants and other locations around the country. See rhonewineweekireland.com.