Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 2012

For me Syrah grapes most interesting and profound expression is to be found in the wines from the Northern Rhone valley. New World, please, don`t be offended, it`s just that my palate is borned and raised in Europe, so it does have sometimes difficulties to understand wines from abroad, so to speak. But I`m all in for learning. So if you, dear reader, have some recommedation for a Syrah wine from the New World that isn`t  a totally and utterly showy, fruit bomb explosion, has some structure, earth, depth, complexity, and is not full of over-the-top ripe, jammy fruit, I`m all ears..

So, northern Rhone Syrah for me, at it`s best, is unpretentious, elegant, strucured and profound. It can be at the same time brutal and earthy, with all the peppery gaminess, and still full of silk and finess. An area I could see myself going fanatic about, to be honest. So many wines, so little time. Oh, well..

Alain Graillot
Crozes-Hermitage
2012
AOC
13,0%
 22€(25$) Wine-searcher average price

Quite nice, and purple color.
Really, really blackpeppery on the nose, classic Syrah of course. Also some toffee, blueberries, and a hint of oak. Quite soily and earthy..
Fresh on the palate, with bright strawberries, blueberries, surrounded with peppery and earthy notes. Lively acidity and some tannins. The amount freshness surprised me; combination of freshness, liveliness and meaty, earthy, peppery notes, really appeals to me. Nice finish and aftertaste with some minerality, strawberries and a bit of grassiness
with some bellpepper.  
Elegant and unpretentious wine. A textbook Northern Rhone Syrah, true to it`s "terroir".
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