| Emmanuel Darnaud |
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I can only imagine the challenges involved in getting one’s
name out there when it comes to producing wines from Crozes-Hermitage,
and not from its famed neighbor Hermitage. However,
not everyone gets a piece of the rock, or the hill, as it were, and
it shouldn’t be an excuse for making mediocre wine. Unfortunately,
the world has experienced its share of uninteresting Crozes-Hermitage
over the years - wines that lack fruit and balance. Having tasted through
a field of wines from this appellation, I can honestly say, that for
their concentration, complexity and length on the palate, Emmanuel
Darnaud’s wines stand head and shoulders above the pack. This
is a young man who is working four small vineyard sites and giving
renewed meaning to the phrase “hand-made”. For example,
during the eighteen-day fermentation of his “Les Trois Chenes,” Emmanuel
practices a ritual once more commonly in vogue called pigeage or punching
down the cap. However, he doesn't use a mallet to achieve this, or
even a pump to recycle the must on the bottom of the barrel up and
over the cap. Instead he descends twice daily, waders on and with the
supervision of a partner of course, into the fermentation tank. The
purpose of this messy business is simply to maximize contact between
the grape solids, which rise to the top during fermentation, and the
fermenting grape must below. Is it necessary? Well, you be the judge.
This is Syrah the way it’s supposed to be – mouth coating,
with the perfume of cassis, violets and the classic Northern Rhone
flavors of dark, meaty fruit.
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