Delas Freres
Les Bessards
Hermitage
2010

The producer

Founded in 1835, Delas Freres’ modern history starts in 1977 when it was acquired by Champagne Deutz. In 1993, Deutz was acquired by Champagne Louis Roederer, who still today are the owners of Delas Freres. The domaine today has around 10 hectares of vineyards on the Hermitage hill and vineyard work has been fully organic since 2017, although not certified to date.

Delas Freres produce wines from various northern Rhone appellations, including Cote Rotie, St. Joseph, Cornas, Crozes-Hermitage and of course, Hermitage.

Les Bessards is the flagship Hermitage, with grapes coming only from the steep granite hillsides of this single vineyard. Fruit is 100% destemmed and the wine age on average for about 18 months in French barrique. A red Hermitage which delivers excellent value for money is their Domaine des Tourettes Hermitage.

The domaine today has around 10 hectares of vineyards on the Hermitage hill and vineyard work has been fully organic since 2017, although not certified to date. Delas’ Hermitage Blanc – named ‘Domaine des Tourettes’ from the 2009 vintage onwards – is made from grapes grown in the vineyards of L’Ermite, Le Sabot, and La Tourette.

The wine

Les Bessards is the flagship Hermitage, with grapes coming only from the steep granite hillsides of this 8-hectare single vineyard. Produced for the first time in the excellent 1990 vintage and since then only in exceptional vintages, fruit is 100% destemmed and the wine ages on average for about 18 months in French barrique. A wine of concentrated blackberry fruit intensity with complexing purple flowers and spice, Les Bessards has a rich tannic structure yet is finely balanced by lively acidity and soft texture. Production of each vintage is limited to 6,000 bottles.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.