2011 Hermitage Les Bessards

Claire Darnaud, who grew up just outside Tournon and Saint-Jean-de-Muzols and has been working alongside winemaker Jacques Grange since 2009, walked me through this year's set of wines as well as some examples from the outstanding 2010 vintage."Two thousand twelve made wines that are expressive young," she told me, adding that one aspect she likes of this vintage is that "the sites are expressive of themselves without a lot of tannin to work through, like 2010 and 2005, or strong ripeness that can obscure the fruit, as with 2009 and 2003."Unfortunately production was down, yet again, which has put pressure on Delas' traditional markets, even as Asia, for one example, continues to increase its demand for northern Rhone wines.The good news about 2011 is the wines' vivacity, Darnaud told me, attributing that trait to the cool summer that helped the fruit maintain acid levels and slowed down the buildup of sugar.That said, Darnaud believes that with rare exception the wines are meant to be drunk sooner rather than later, "for their fresh fruit.They mostly don't have the concentration to age for a really long time."

After the incredible 2010 and 2009 vintages, 2011 "was an almost welcome break back to reality," according to winemaker Jacques Grange.By that he means that "the '11s are classic examples of place, not completely unlike '10 in that regard, and much finer than the massive '09s."One thing Grange likes in particular about the '11s is "the finishing sweetness of fruit," which makes them accessible already.He finds his 2010 wines to be putting on weight and gaining power now that they've been in bottle for a bit, and he believes that all but the most basic wines will soon be in a closed-up phase and "in need of being left to sleep."