Maxime Graillot Domain des Lises Crozes Hermitage Rouge 2005
As this is the first offer of this wine there is very little. We ask for your understanding. We have been promised considerably more next year. This is clearly a more serious red although we find the Equinoxe just as delicious to drink now. It has the weight and structure to age short term. Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar: [Jan/Feb 07] 87-90 points, Excellent to Outstanding “Light red. Deep cherry and raspberry aromas accented by dark chocolate. Surprisingly thick and lush, with liqueur-like cherry and cassis flavors and a dense, chewy texture. The ripe finish features suave tannins and very good length.”
Fathers and sons. Children and parents. It’s this relationship that drives the wine industry of Europe. It has been children rebelling against their fathers, trying to outdo or improve upon the work of their fathers, or simply inspired by their fathers that has led to much of the quality improvements in European wine over the last two decades. Here’s an example of the latter: Maxime Graillot, son of the legendary Alain Graillot (the man who put Crozes Hermitage on the fine wine map), has bought a vineyard very near to his father’s and is now making his own wine in a purpose built, underground cellar, on the family property. In his earlier years Maxime showed little interest in wine but slowly discovered his calling through his travels across the globe. Maxime studied at the Dijon Wine School and worked in the wine industries of South Africa and California before finally returning home to start his own label.
Maxime’s vineyard is near the village of Beaumont-Monteux in the most southeasterly part of Crozes Hermitage in a lieux dit (place/vineyard name) called les Pichéres. It is a cooler, later harvesting site to his fathers in Les Chene Verts. The soils here are full of gravel and alluvial stones and are (like Alain’s vineyards) fast draining and low in clay. This lends itself to refined, aromatic Syrah with pronounced minerality. Planted in the 80s and 90s, the vineyard was in a dilapidated state when Maxime acquired it in 2004. The fruit was previously sold off to the local co-op. Maxime has converted the site to organic viticulture (herbicide and pesticide usage had previously been prescriptive), trellising has been upgraded and dead vines replaced. The soils had been heavily compacted by machine harvesting so a program of careful ploughing has commenced. The grapes are now hand harvested and yields are a fraction of what they were previously. In short Maxime has pulled out all stops to revive the site and to harvest fruit that will produce intense wines that speak of their origins.
Going from the tasting in Alain Graillot’s cellar, to Maxime’s, immediately next door, I was reminded of that great blues album Fathers & Sons that brought together masters like Muddy Waters and Otis Spann with young Turks like Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Just like the younger artists on the album, it is clear that Maxime is inspired by his legendary father and yet at the same time he is clearly his own man. While Alain is always there in the background to offer advice, Maxime’s has a winemaking approach that differs in significant ways to his father. For example, there are no stems in the ferment and the fermenting wine hits the barrel a tad earlier. So how different are the final wines of the son to those of the father? There are some differences. Maxime’s wines perhaps shows a bit more fruit and seductiveness in the flush of youth. And yet my overall impression was of similarities. As both Alain and Maxime pointed out to me in separate conversations, they both ultimately seek to produce wines of finesse and intensity that clearly reflect their origins (remember when Syrah was associated with finesse?). Everything else is tinkering at the edges. For those who want more winemaking detail: typically the crop is fully destemmed and receives a pre-fermentation cooling for three to five days. Vinification lasts three weeks, with twice-daily cap punching. Ageing is for about a year to 18 months in a mix of used Burgundian casks from domaines like Dujac, Arlot, and Romanée-Conti – a bit over a third 1 year-old casks, the rest a mix of 3 to 5 year-old casks.
Maxine Graillot is no rebel. He knows he has a great resource in his father and is taking full advantage of this relationship. He has also named his Estate Domaine des Lises after his mother (also an important influence on his winemaking). Yet it is clear talking with him and tasting his wine that this is a gifted and insightful winemaker (and person) that will clearly make his own mark over time. Of-course it is very early days. It is exciting to realize that this offer is for Maxime’s first ‘commercial’ release (a tiny amount was produced from 2004). You can expect better and better wines with each vintage (those in barrel are full of promise), as his vines age, and as he gets his vineyard performing to the high Graillot standards. The wines below are refined, racy and wonderful value. They are for lovers of cool climate Syrah. We found them delicious yet Maxime made it clear he sees this year’s releases as a far cry from achieving the full potential he expects of his winemaking and his vineyard. This type of self critical, modest attitude makes it clear that Maxime Graillot will be a producer to watch over the coming years.
