2020 Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Particuliere
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Tasting notes
Inky ruby-red. Oak-accented dark fruit, bacon and licorice scents expand steadily with air. A lush, weighty style for the year, this wine offers sweet blackberry and cherry vanilla flavors that take on a peppery nuance through the back half. Surprisingly lively for its weight, with dusty tannins adding grip to a long, smoky finish that echoes the blackberry note.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Brought up in a mix of new and used barrels, the 2020 Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Particulière fits in nicely between the base appellation cuvée and the Cuvée Christophe, offering the more classic style of the base cuvée yet the concentration and richness of the Cuvée Christophe. Pure blackberry fruits, peppery herbs, graphite, and crushed stone-like minerality all emerge from the glass, and it's medium to full-bodied, with building tannins and a great finish. It too will need 2-4 years of bottle age.
The 2020 Crozes-Hermitage Cuvee Particuliere delivers waves of black cherries and black olives framed by hints of vanilla and subtle spice notes (the wine was aged in demi-muids). Sourced from Mercurol, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and fully ripe, with hints of licorice on the plush, lingering finish. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.
100% Marsanne. Faint nutty note with a buttery edge. Palate round and almost opulent, the wine more textural than aromatic. Oak but well integrated. Slight glow on the finish. (JL)