2019 Domaine Gilles Robin Cuvee Alberic Bouvet Crozes-Hermitage

Gilles Robin is one of the reference producers of Crozes-Hermitage, and Albéric Bouvet is his flagship. 2019 is the vintage that matters, because it is widely agreed to be one of the Northern Rhône's most exciting vintage in decades.

The fruit comes from vines around seventy years old across three sites: Rochas, Monico, and Les Chassis, on the stony, sandy terraces of Chassis. Robin's grandfather Albéric Bouvet selected those parcels himself. Gilles made the first bottling under his grandfather's name in 1996, the year he took over the family estate.

Everything is picked by hand and sorted twice. The cellar moves fruit by gravity alone, and I'll say this: no one makes bad wine in a gravity-fed winery. If you care enough to design and build one and live without the convenience of pumps, it means you really, really care.

Fermentation runs 30 days on native yeasts in stainless steel, then twelve months in Burgundy barrels and demi-muids with under 20 percent new wood. The estate has been certified organic since 2012.

Expect blackberry and boysenberry, black olive, cracked pepper, and smoked bacon, with dense velvety texture and firm ripe tannin over a long peppery finish. Drink it with grilled beef or lamb, or hold it five to ten years.

Serious Northern Rhône Syrah at this price is getting harder to find every year. This one is still here.