About this WINE
Syrah/Shiraz
A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.
It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.
South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.
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Description
Jean-Louis Chave is rather well known for his Hermitage wines, which rank amongst the very best in the world. The family Domaine, however, is located across the river, unassuming behind a rusty ‘panneau’ in what we probably should not describe as ‘downtown’ Mauves. The family’s love of and respect for the great Ardèche wines of St Joseph is eloquently demonstrated by the meticulous renovation that is going on at Domaine Florentin. Offerus is his ‘négociant’ wine, therefore blend of Domaine and bought fruit, but being Chave, it’s a rather fine blend, capturing all the elegance of this cooler vintage with plenty of generous Syrah fruit and a pleasing lick of pepper at the back of the palate.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
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