Fully mature, yet with plenty of life left, the 2006 Crozes Hermitage le Clos offers loads of toasted spices, cured meats, licorice and black currant-like aromas and flavors. Mouth filling, medium to full-bodied, layered and rich, it's drinking beautifully today. This cuvee consistently ranks up with the top wines of the appellation.

The stunning, dense ruby/purple-tinged 2006 Crozes-Hermitage Les Clos exhibits smoky, roasted meat, garrigue, blackberry, cassis, new saddle leather, and charcoal aromas, sweet tannins, full-bodied power, and reserves of concentration and fruit. Consume it over the next decade. This cuvee has become one of the top three or four wines of the appellation. In the late 1990s, as the quality of one of the northern Rhone’s most well-known negociant firms, Paul Jaboulet-Aine, was beginning to decline, the quality of Delas Freres was soaring, and they are now one of the three top negociant firms in the Rhone Valley. Delas Freres has been the property of Champagne Deutz since 1996, and belongs to the same owners as Champagne Louis Roederer. The owners as well as the Directeur Technique, the brilliant Jacques Grange, and winemaker Jean-Francois Farinet deserve credit for the rise in quality at this operation. The Delas Freres wines continue to go from strength to strength, and while I believe the Jaboulet wines will return to form under the new ownership, Delas Freres is already there. The current portfolio includes strong 2006s and very good 2007s. As long-time readers know, there is a hierarchy to the Delas wines from Crozes-Hermitage, St.-Joseph, Hermitage, and Cote Rotie. The finest values come from Crozes-Hermitage (especially their lower level cuvees, Les Launes and Domaine des Grands Chemins), and from St.-Joseph (Les Challeys). The quality jumps dramatically with the Crozes-Hermitage Le Clos, St.-Joseph Francois de Tournon, and the luxury cuvee, the St.-Joseph Ste.-Epine. In top vintages, there are two offerings from Cote Rotie, the single vineyard La Landonne and the Seigneur de Maugiron. Both cuvees were produced in 2006, but only the Seigneur de Maugiron was made in 2007 (because of the hail storm that destroyed a large percentage of the crop in Cote Rotie). Delas Freres owns 25 acres in Hermitage, from which they produce two cuvees, with Les Bessards only made in the top vintages.Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000

Very racy, with dark fig and black cherry fruit crushed together, while hints of iron, mesquite and tobacco fill out the finish. Shows great drive and precision, despite its ample toast. Best from 2010 through 2015. 415 cases made. -JM