Imagine- a wine that has aromas and tasting notes of cured meats, bacon fat, prosciutto, black pepper, blackberry and blueberry, all in the same wine, all at the same time. Bacon fat in wine? That seems just about impossible…but in the Northern Rhone in France, they make the impossible magnificent.
I bumbled into Northern Rhone shortly after I became fascinated by French wines and was reading up on some of the lesser known wine regions. The hook that got me was “cured meats” and “blackberry.” I get blackberry in wine, but I simply had no idea how one could get the aroma of bacon fat in any wine, much less the taste. So I did what any new wine obsessionist would do- I got a bottle and tried it for myself. And wow, what do you know- no joke, all the cured meat aromas were there, and wow, did they integrate well with the fruit.
Bordeaux will always be my first love, but I have just about equal love for Northern Rhone, and when you start trying these magnificent wines, you will too. Syrah is the only red grape allowed in Northern Rhone, although interestingly, it can be blended with a little bit of white wine- in Hermitage, which makes the finest and most expensive red wines in Northern Rhone, up to 15% Marsanne and Roussane can be blended with Syrah.
Today I will be opening the 2021 Alain Graillot Hermitage, a great introduction to a region that produces some truly magical wines. In fact, two of the greatest wines ever produced come from Hermitage, the 1961 Paul Aine Jaboulet La Chapelle and the JL Chave Ermitage Cuvee 2003, which is currently going for about $10k a bottle.
Watch my video above for my prediction and initial “sip and swallow” review of the 2021 Alain Graillot Hermitage.
If we’re going to drink, let’s drink the good stuff!
In case you missed it:
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