If I were to answer the question, “If you could put one Syrah in your cellar under $50, what would it be?” 100% every time my answer would be the wine we are offering below, the Crozes-Hermitage from Alain Graillot. It is always a textbook Syrah from the Northern Rhone and always reliably great – very consistent!

• 100% Syrah from the Le Chassis vineyard
• 35+ year old vines in galet stone soils
• 100% Whole Cluster
• Indigenous yeast
• Fermented in concrete
• Aged in 1-3 years in a mix of mostly used barrels new-6 years old.

**** John Livingstone-Learmonth
dark red; really alert, vivacious bouquet, a basket full of black cherries, hints of mulberry, licorice. The palate rocks, offers instant and pleasing dark berry fruit with a nudge of sweetness, holds slightly furry tannins for now. There is a cool thread through it, which works very well in its lift and freedom. The aftertaste has a note of cherry stone, black olives, a herbal tone from the inclusion of the stems. It was bottled in March, and is still under that influence. 13.5. From 2024. 2033-35 May 2023

93 pts John Gilman (View From the Cellar): “The 2021 Crozes-Hermitage from Domaine Alain Graillot is a superb wine (as always). The bouquet is deep, pure and precise, wafting from the glass in a mix of cassis, black raspberries, pepper, espresso, grilled meats, dark soil tones and a generous topnote of smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with an excellent core of black fruit, fine mineral drive and grip, fine-grained tannins and a long, complex well balanced and peppery finish. First class Crozes that deserves at least a handful of years in the cellar to soften up its backend tannins a bit. This is my favorite Graillot straight Crozes since the beautiful 1989 version! 2029-2055. (Sep/Oct 2023)”