Crozes-Hermitage find (UK)

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Ian Hayward 21 years ago

There's good Crozes, and there's cheap Crozes, but there's no good, cheap Crozes. Or so I've always believed. Not having had one at all for some time, I was inspired by Mark Lipton's suggestion in response to The St. Henri thread above to "impulse-buy" when shopping in the only UK supermarket with a good range of Spatlese Riesling. The result is Les Perdrigolles

2002. Bitter and astringent on opening, it opens out to become more fruit-driven, with a hint of tar and liquorice, and a respectable finish.

At this point I did a Google search, as I had no previous knowledge of this wine, and turned up Emery Davis' AFW notes on the 2001, and, yes, a degree of thinness is my only real criticism, too.

And the best bit? It's £4.99 in Morrisons! Not the best Crozes I've ever had, but definitely the best fiver's worth.

Ian

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joseph b. rosenberg 21 years ago

Inquiring minds want to know---Does an older Crozes have Crozes feet?

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Ian Hayward 21 years ago

They don't need feet; they fly everywhere. In straight lines, of course.

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Mark Lipton 21 years ago

Well, if Emery wrote about it... ;-) The one thing that I probably should ahve mentioned about Crozes-Hermitage is that the appelation encompasses two distinct regions: the hillside plots bordering the Rhone river (good) and the plots on the plateau beyond (not so good). For every good bottle of Crozes there are probably 3 that rely on name association with Hermitage to sell their diluted dreck.

Mark Lipton

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Emery Davis 21 years ago

] Ian Hayward wrote: [] ] > And the best bit? It's £4.99 in Morrisons! Not the best Crozes I've ever ] > had, but definitely the best fiver's worth. ]

Say, if I had known the price, I would have liked it more! :)

The fact that the 02 stood up to the 01 is a nod to the oenoloues at Cave de Tain. Consistancy was not an easy thing to achieve between those 2 vintages, most didn't try.

Still, as we were discussing coops in another thread, I'll mention that this one is not my favorite. Quality is consistant, but I rarely taste anything from them that makes me raise my eyebrows. (Much less pound my shoe on the table!)

] Well, if Emery wrote about it... ;-) The one thing that I probably ] should ahve mentioned about Crozes-Hermitage is that the appelation ] encompasses two distinct regions: the hillside plots bordering the Rhone ] river (good) and the plots on the plateau beyond (not so good). For ] every good bottle of Crozes there are probably 3 that rely on name ] association with Hermitage to sell their diluted dreck. ]

Funny, Crozes is one of the appellations that has really benefitted from the Rhone craze. The prices have inflated, uh, pneumatically. Yet what Mark says is absolutely right (and always has been): there's a huge majority of it that is dross. Now mostly expensive dross, at that. (With the qualifier that I consider over 10 eu expensive for a Crozes. Not like hermitage where one there are parcels that have to be treated by helicopter!)

-E

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Crozes-Hermitage find (UK)

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