“The dense purple colored 2006 Crozes-Hermitage Le Rouvre has a beautiful nose of licorice, black olives, blackberry and raspberry, with some sweet cherry, smoke, and earth, and displays good tannins, fresh acidity, and a long, heady finish. 90/100” Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, February 2008.

Product Code: CHA206

“Lovely concentrated, peppery, slightly herbal, dark fruit and dark oaky spice and yet there’s a perfume that emerges through all this to give lift. Subtle, even delicate for the appellation. Fine tannins, long dry finish”, Julia Harding, MW on www.JancisRobinson.com.                                                                                    

“There’s a lovely mineral edge to the nose, which combines with a cherry and damson fruit character, and a a lovely earthy depth. Delicious stuff, with a gorgeous, slightly dry, bitter-fruit finish”, Wine & Spirit, Côtes du Rhône supplement, October 2008
Drink: Now-2016

Le Rouvre (which used to be called the Tête de Cuvée, now named after a type of sessile oak) is aged in demi-muids, and is one of the best wines of the appellation. This comes each vintage from the same parcels of old vines on the very stony fields at Les Chassis, and is a very serious, mineral wine for ageing: three independent reviews of the 2006 vintage attest to its quality.

Yann, highly competitive, very bright indeed, and determined to be the best, subscribes firmly to the belief that great wine is made in the vineyard. He is increasingly organic in practice, strips leaves to expose the grapes, usually makes two green harvests and picks late (he is always one of the latest in the appellation) for maximum ripeness. Everything is hand harvested.