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Domaine Vendome, Crozes-Hermitage, Les Coulaires, 2023

Les Coulaires is sourced from two clay-limestone hillside parcels: Les Coulaires and Les Châssis Est. Aged in concrete only  to give a fresh and elegant style of Syrah, it has sappy, ripe red berry fruit that has a couple of twists of black pepper. Lots of energy and drive, and very long on the finish. Just superb in this warm vintage. Now-2030

The vineyards at Vendôme are over fifty years old, but the first vintage here was 2020 with organic certification following a year later. Prior to this the grapes were sent down the road to the co-operative, Caves de Tain. The catalyst for the change was Romain Roudier taking over his family’s farm and realising the quality of the terroir at his disposal. Suddenly the grapes on the farm started to become more important than the apricots and peaches planted in the adjacent orchards.

Since that first vintage, Romain – and his wife Céline, whom he met when she came to pick apricots as a student – have seen Vendôme quickly become one of the most exciting growers in Crozes-Hermitage. The wines are very focused and pure with intense fruit; nothing is over-worked or forced. With the possible exception of the Cornas, which needs time in the cellar, these are reds that will drink well now and for next five to seven years.