2022 Cornas Chante-Perdrix

Winemaker Marco Beckmann recalls the 2023 growing season as fairly uneventful—until the massive heatwave at the end of August. “Arid conditions like this are terrible for young vines, as they cannot pick up sugar ripeness later on because they lose all their leaves,” he explained. Once the heatwave had passed, another significant challenge loomed: an anticipated 200 millimeters of rainfall within just a few hours, forecasted for Monday, September 18. “We basically had to ensure that most of the grapes were harvested by midday, as the rains were expected to hit in the afternoon. I remember the cold room and all the space outside it being literally full of grapes. We had to pick the grapes in an incredibly short period. All in all, we managed to harvest roughly 85% before the heavy rains,” Beckmann concluded. During my visit, I tasted 29 samples, and the 2022 vintage stood out as a success for Delas, delivering enticing results across all appellations without any misses. At the top of the quality pyramid, the Côte-Rôtie La Landonne, Hermitage Les Bessards and Hermitage Ligne de Crête Lieu-Dit Les Grandes Vignes are all gorgeous representations of their respective terroirs. Notably, alcohol levels for 2022 remain moderate, generally ranging between 12.5% and 13.5%. Early tastings of the 2023 barrel samples suggest a worthy successor to the 2022s, albeit slightly less concentrated and dense. However, the 2023s are distinguished by ample freshness and an expressive fruit profile.

I sampled a diverse range of wines guided by winemaker Marco Beckmann, who joined Delas in 2022. Beckmann, previously associated with Paul Jaboulet Ainé, holds a degree in oenology from the Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige - Mach Foundation. Jacques Grange, the head winemaker at Delas for the past two decades, also joined for the tasting. Starting with the warmer 2020 and 2022 vintages, a strategic approach to fermentation involved partial stem inclusion, typically not exceeding 15%. Grange explains: “Up until then, we didn't feel the need to add stems, as Syrah provided sufficient tannins. However, in cooler and wetter years like 2021, we destemmed all our grapes to avoid the risk of greenness or dryness from unripe stems. In warm and dry vintages like 2020 or 2022, the small addition of ripe stems can impart a touch of freshness and aromatic complexity that enhances the wines.” Indeed, none of the sampled reds exhibit overt stemminess but rather emphasize purity of fruit and finesse. Notably, while partial new oak maturation persists, there has been a significant reduction compared to previous vintages. When oak is utilized, whether new or old, it's exclusively French, although experiments with Slavonian oak are underway for select white wines. Tasting the wines underscores Delas’ success in the challenging 2021 vintage, particularly with excellent offerings from Condrieu, Cornas and Hermitage. On the other hand, the bottlings from Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph are a little less enticing. Notably, in 2021, both the Hermitage Les Bessards and the Hermitage Ligne de Crête Lieu-dit Les Grandes Vignes weren’t produced, with all the fruit contributing to the delightful 2021 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes. As for the 2022 vintage, the overall quality is high, with promising performances from the Côte-Rôtie La Landonne, Hermitage Les Bessards and Hermitage Ligne de Crête Lieu-dit Les Grandes Vignes.