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Delas Freres Hermitage Les Bessards 2012 750ml

size
750ml
country
France
region
Rhone Valley
appellation
Hermitage
WA
97
VM
94
WA
97
Rated 97 by Wine Advocate
The star of the show is the 2012 Hermitage Les Bessards. Coming from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of the appellation, it’s made from 100% Syrah and spent 16 months in 70% new French oak. It’s an incredible wine that offers classic powdered rock-like minerality, loads of crème de cassis and black raspberry fruit, smoked meats, spice and dried-flower nuances. Complex, pure and perfumed, it’s full-bodied and seamless on the palate, with fabulous density, ultra-fine tannin structure and impeccable overall balance. Give it 3-4 years in the cellar and drink it over the following two decades. ... More details
Image of bottle
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Delas Freres Hermitage Les Bessards 2012 750ml

SKU 889276
Case Only Purchase
Long-term Pre-Arrival
$918.78
/case
$153.13
/750ml bottle
Quantity
min order 6 bottles
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Professional Ratings
WA
97
VM
94
WA
97
Rated 97 by Wine Advocate
The star of the show is the 2012 Hermitage Les Bessards. Coming from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of the appellation, it’s made from 100% Syrah and spent 16 months in 70% new French oak. It’s an incredible wine that offers classic powdered rock-like minerality, loads of crème de cassis and black raspberry fruit, smoked meats, spice and dried-flower nuances. Complex, pure and perfumed, it’s full-bodied and seamless on the palate, with fabulous density, ultra-fine tannin structure and impeccable overall balance. Give it 3-4 years in the cellar and drink it over the following two decades.
VM
94
Rated 94 by Vinous Media
Opaque ruby. Sexy, spice-accented blackberry and cherry compote aromas are complemented by suggestions of licorice pastille and violet, with subtle olive and mineral nuances in the background. Shows excellent clarity and energy on the palate, offering bitter cherry and dark berry preserve flavors that become sweeter with air. Lithe, emphatically floral and penetrating, finishing with excellent thrust and smooth, late-arriving tannins.
Winery
A brilliant wine, with deep red hue, and lots of depth. The nose shows great class, with soft aromas of blackberries, violets. Hermitage "Les Bessards" shows plenty of concentration in its fruit. This wine has a particularly dense and rich tannic structure, and is extremely good balance.
Product Details
size
750ml
country
France
region
Rhone Valley
appellation
Hermitage
Overview
The star of the show is the 2012 Hermitage Les Bessards. Coming from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of the appellation, it’s made from 100% Syrah and spent 16 months in 70% new French oak. It’s an incredible wine that offers classic powdered rock-like minerality, loads of crème de cassis and black raspberry fruit, smoked meats, spice and dried-flower nuances. Complex, pure and perfumed, it’s full-bodied and seamless on the palate, with fabulous density, ultra-fine tannin structure and impeccable overall balance. Give it 3-4 years in the cellar and drink it over the following two decades.
barrel

Vintage: 2012

2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in. The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
green grapes

Varietal: Syrah

There continues to be much debate surrounding the name of the Shiraz/Syrah grape varietal, with many experts still quite unsure which came first. Indeed, even the origins of this varietal are more or less unknown, despite it being most commonly associated with the Rhone Valley of France, and New World countries, most notably Australia. However, its popularity and unique characteristics have seen it planted all over the world, where it continues to impress with its powerful flavors and wonderfully spicy notes of pepper and clove. Shiraz/Syrah wines are renowned also for their versatility, and are regularly used in single variety still and sparkling wines, as well as blended and oak aged wines which demonstrate its ability to express its terroir and secondary flavors very well.
barrel

Region: Rhone Valley

For over two thousand years, the southern French region of the Rhone Valley has been home to wine-makers and wineries of many different types. The ancient Greeks were the first to discover that a wide range of grape varietals can flourish in the rich soils and micro-climates which typify the region, and little has changed to this day. In the modern age, the Rhone Valley is recognized around the world as the home of excellent quality white, red and rosé wines, as well as some of the most highly respected blended wines on earth. The region is split into two distinctive sub-regions, with the cooler, continental northern sub-region producing primarily Syrah, Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier wines of exquisite quality, and the hotter southern sub-region growing a much wider variety of grapes.
fields

Country: France

France is renowned across the globe for its quality wines and the careful expertise which goes into making them, but what is truly remarkable about this relatively small country is the vast range of wines it produces in such huge amounts each year. Not only are the finest red wines in the world said to come from the beautiful regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but elsewhere in the country we find the Champagne region, and areas such as the Rhone Valley and the Loire, whose white wines consistently receive awards and accolades by the plenty. This range is a result of the great variety of climatic conditions and terrain found in France, coupled with generations of wine makers working within single appellations. Their knowledge of specific terroirs and grape varieties has, over time, perfected the production of wines within their region, and the end results continue to impress the world to this day.
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More Details
Winery Delas Freres
barrel

Vintage: 2012

2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in. The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
green grapes

Varietal: Syrah

There continues to be much debate surrounding the name of the Shiraz/Syrah grape varietal, with many experts still quite unsure which came first. Indeed, even the origins of this varietal are more or less unknown, despite it being most commonly associated with the Rhone Valley of France, and New World countries, most notably Australia. However, its popularity and unique characteristics have seen it planted all over the world, where it continues to impress with its powerful flavors and wonderfully spicy notes of pepper and clove. Shiraz/Syrah wines are renowned also for their versatility, and are regularly used in single variety still and sparkling wines, as well as blended and oak aged wines which demonstrate its ability to express its terroir and secondary flavors very well.
barrel

Region: Rhone Valley

For over two thousand years, the southern French region of the Rhone Valley has been home to wine-makers and wineries of many different types. The ancient Greeks were the first to discover that a wide range of grape varietals can flourish in the rich soils and micro-climates which typify the region, and little has changed to this day. In the modern age, the Rhone Valley is recognized around the world as the home of excellent quality white, red and rosé wines, as well as some of the most highly respected blended wines on earth. The region is split into two distinctive sub-regions, with the cooler, continental northern sub-region producing primarily Syrah, Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier wines of exquisite quality, and the hotter southern sub-region growing a much wider variety of grapes.
fields

Country: France

France is renowned across the globe for its quality wines and the careful expertise which goes into making them, but what is truly remarkable about this relatively small country is the vast range of wines it produces in such huge amounts each year. Not only are the finest red wines in the world said to come from the beautiful regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but elsewhere in the country we find the Champagne region, and areas such as the Rhone Valley and the Loire, whose white wines consistently receive awards and accolades by the plenty. This range is a result of the great variety of climatic conditions and terrain found in France, coupled with generations of wine makers working within single appellations. Their knowledge of specific terroirs and grape varieties has, over time, perfected the production of wines within their region, and the end results continue to impress the world to this day.