Maison Les Alexandrins Hermitage Rouge - 2023

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. The grapes come from places called "Grandes Vignes", "Greffieux" and "Murets".

The terroir is complex and varied, comprising granite, pebbles and limestone. In the locality of Grandes Vignes, the soil is dominated by granite. The wines produced here have a certain minerality but also a fine tannin structure. This sector accounts for 30% of our blend. The wines we produce from pebbly terroirs are aromatically rich and complex. They represent the backbone of our wine and make up 60% of our blend.
Lastly, the chalky soil provides the finishing touch of the wine’s finesse and elegance.
These three complementary terroirs all play a role in the final blend.

2023 was a year full of contrasts, which required great composure and experience to deal with the climatic hazards. The winter was mild followed by a wet spring then a summer oscillating between hailstorms and drought, before a complicated harvest period, between August 17 and September 20. A permanent risk of rain and unpredictable weather forecasts required us to constantly adapt our plans in order to harvest our grapes, of good quality and well concentrated in sugars, at their optimal phenolic maturity. At the end of the harvest, the meticulous work was more than rewarded: this very unusual vintage proved to be very promising, perfectly well balanced across all quality indicators. In the cellar, we are pleasantly surprised by the freshness of the whites. The terroirs resisted drought and offer magnificent balance. Low temperature fermentations helped preserve the aromatics. The reds required long macerations in order to extract all the essence of the vintage. The wines from the lowlands are crisp and delicate, the wines from the hills stand out for their density and the radiance brought by the granite. The aging period has now started, the wines will improve and the textures will slowly become more complex in the cellar.

This Grand Cru’s classic reputation has been built over the centuries around one hill and a history steeped in legend. Appreciated as far back as Roman times when they were called “Vienne wines” (like those from Côte-Rôtie), Hermitage wines then became known as “wines of the slopes of Saint-Christophe”, named after the local chapel dedicated to the saint. It would seem that the name Hermitage first appeared in the 17th century in memory of the knight Henri Gaspard de Stérimberg who, in the 13th century, on his return from the Albigensian Crusades, decided to live as a hermit on this hill, granted to him by Blanche of Castile, Queen of Spain. He is said to have replanted a vineyard which went on to take the name of Ermitage, and then Hermitage. This was only the beginning of the vineyard’s success; it is said that under the reign of Louis XIV, Hermitage was the favourite wine of the Russian tsars. The list of Hermitage enthusiasts is as long as it is illustrious, including as it does Henry IV, French poet Boileau, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Nicolas II and Alexandre Dumas.

Pre-fermentation cold maceration.
- Then maceration and fermentation, with pumping over followed by punching down towards the end for 28 days.
- Aged in new barrels (30%) and one year-old barrels for 15 months.