Domaine Les Alexandrins Crozes-Hermitage Rouge - 2022

A partnership between two winegrowers in the Rhône Valley – Nicolas Jaboulet and Alexandre Caso – Domaine les Alexandrins crafts wines in the purest tradition of the Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph appellations. They are made from exceptional terroirs, ensuring the very finest expression of the appellation. Our Crozes-Hermitage come from a superb, four-hectare vineyard planted with old vines located in the heart of the appellation, around the villages of Chanos Curson (Chassis), Pont d’Isère (Les Flouris) and Roche de Glun (Saviauds).

Sandy-clay soil covered in pebbles. The vines are tended in a traditional way, using methods that respect the terroir, thereby encouraging biodiversity and drawing out the very best from the grapes. This is why some of our centenary vine stocks are able to withstand the tests of time and continue to give their best.

After a particularly hot and dry summer, the harvest began on August 17th with a perfectly ripe crop of white grapes, early enough to preserve all their freshness and natural balance. The reds followed, benefiting from a few saving rains that gave them more refinement. We favored infusion over extraction on our Crozes-Hermitage and our Brézème, preserving the crunchiness of the Syrah and the very delicate fruit of the vintage. In the cellar, the punching down and pumping for the 3 weeks of maceration released power and character for our Cornas, Saint Joseph and Hermitage. After devatting, a long aging will allow the wines to develop their aromatics, refine their tannins and gain in amplitude. The balance is already beautiful with controlled degrees and a lot of depth.

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.

- Harvested by hand.
- Traditional vinification.
- 70% destemmed.
- 3-day cold maceration.
- Punching down and pumping over in alternation to break down and push in the pomace cap and draw out the aromas and tannins.
- Barrel fermentation for 20 days.
- Aged for 12 months in 2-year-old barrels.