2017 Domaine Vincent Paris, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge, Northern Rhone, France.
Vincent Paris, whose first vintage was 1997, is a native of Cornas and one of the Northern Rhone’s brightest young stars with an amazing set of Syrah wines, in particular look for his Granit 30 and Granit 60 bottlings, though his other village wines are killer too including some regional offerings that are spectacular values, like this brilliant dark purple 2017 vintage Crozes-Hermitage Rouge and his Saint-Joseph. Paris, who inherited most of his vines (some of which are 100 years old) from his grandfather has made quite a name for himself, plus he also rents vines from his uncle, the legendary Cornas vigneron Robert Michel, who’s influence and mentoring is evident in Vicent’s lovely wines. The Domaine wines are all biodynamically farmed vines, which are located in various parcels along the southeast facing Cornas slope, while the Vincent Paris Selection bottlings, like this one, come from various leased plots within quality terroirs, with this Crozes coming a long-time organic grower in Crozes with Syrah vines that average 30 years of age set on mostly alluvial soils and with “galet roulets” (large heat storing rocks) with a thin top soil.
This 2017 Crozes-Hermitage shows the vintage’s strength within the Northern Rhone with wonderful depth and ripe classic flavors and spicy detail, it was 100% de-stemmed and fermented without any oak at all, with it getting 9 months in tank only for absolute terroir and varietal purity. The bouquet is seductive with crushed violets, red and black fruits, graphite and a meaty element that is truly typical of the region along with a smooth tannin medium bodied palate that delivers boysenberry, damson plum, blueberry and kirsch fruits as well as peppercorns, minty herb, camphor, earth, bitter coco, creme de cassis and black licorice accents. This wine has been on run of great vintages with 2015, 2016 and this 2017 all being fantastic, each having subtle differing nuances, but overall similarly easy to love with exceptional quality, though I must say right away this one seems a touch more expressive and it really opens up quickly, this is a good year to stock up on, especially at this price it is hard to beat! Nice stuff to just quaff without any guilt and super with food, drink this pretty little thing over the next 3 to 5 years. Vincent Paris should without question, should be on your list of vignerons to follow, especially for the savvy/bargain buyer(s) and Syrah lovers, which I consider myself a full member of both.
($28 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive