Maison Les Alexandrins Crozes-Hermitage Rouge - 2024

A partnership between two winegrowers from the Rhône Valley – Nicolas Jaboulet and Alexandre Caso – Maison les Alexandrins produces northern wines in a style at once contemporary and timeless, always from exceptional vineyards unearthed by Alexandre Caso, a specialist in the terroirs of the northern Rhône Valley. Classics with a twist, these wines and how they are aged and blended are guided by the quest for perfect harmony from a very young age. Part of our blend comes from the village of Beaumont Monteux which produces very generous, precise wines. This is rounded out with wine from a locality called Les Pends, near Mercurol, for depth and acidity.

The terroir comprises granite slopes to the north, similar to those in Hermitage, while the soil to the south is mainly alluvial with some terraces containing stones washed up by the Rhône. The vines are planted on slopes facing due south benefiting from the Mistral breeze. There is a great difference between the wines produced in the north or in the south of the appellation. Maison les Alexandrins’ Crozes-Hermitages mainly come from vines planted in the alluvial plain.

After 2023 which was full of contrasts, 2024 was once again a year marked by considerable challenges, requiring great composure and the benefit of experience to face the temperamental climate. After a mild winter, April was marked by frost, followed by intense rain throughout the spring and early summer until mid-July, followed by drought in August. These conditions were particularly testing for us: the fight against mildew, especially with its impact on the inflorescences, required constant attention. The harvest thus began around September 10th, requiring daily adjustments to the heterogeneity of the grape maturity. We had to taste and analyse the berries every day and the weather determined strategic choices and we had to constantly change the harvest schedule to harvest each plot at its optimal maturity. A painstaking work that was worth it, with a decisive impact on the quality and style of the vintage. Despite all these difficulties, the final quality of the grapes offers some great surprises. The first tastings are very promising with crisp and delicious reds and beautiful whites with melted acidity and a beautiful structure on the palate. The devatting has started and the ageing period that follows will allow our wines to improve and gain complexity.

An Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in the northern Rhône Valley since 1937, the Crozes-Hermitage vineyard lies on the left bank of the Rhône, between the Hermitage and Saint-Joseph appellations. The earliest vines in this terroir were first grown in Roman times. Its name comes from two place names: “Crozes”, from the Latin crucem, which means “cross” or “crossroads”, and “Hermitage”, from the Latin heremitagium, meaning “hermitage” in English. It refers to the hill rising above the Rhône, on the summit of which the knight Henri Gaspard de Stérimberg settled to live as a hermit on his return from the Albigensian Crusade.

- Pre-fermentation cold maceration to develop the fruit.
- Maceration and fermentation for about 20 days with pumping over for the first few days and then punching down towards the end.
- Ageing in conical vats and demi-muids (60-litre capacity barrels) for 10 months.