Who makes it
Delas Frères is a Rhône producer with named Hermitage holdings and a range of red and white cuvées. Its bottles include Cornas Chante-Perdrix and Condrieu La Galopine, placing a Cornas red and a Condrieu white alongside the Hermitage wines. The range combines vineyard names, appellation names and distinct cellar choices, from concrete tank fermentation to oak ageing and fine lees ageing.
Where it grows
Delas's Hermitage holdings include 6 hectares on Les Bessards, with additional plots in L'Hermite and Les Grandes Vignes. Domaine des Tourettes lies on south-facing slopes with granite, alluvial quaternary delta deposits and Pliocene marl. Saint Joseph François de Tournon is rooted in light schist and gneiss over ancient granite bedrock. The named places carry vineyard names into the appellation labels.
What they make
Delas's red range includes Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes, Saint Joseph François de Tournon and Cornas Chante-Perdrix. Condrieu La Galopine is the white wine in the range. Domaine des Tourettes spans almost 10 hectares within the Hermitage AOC and undergoes two days of skin contact before fermentation in open-topped concrete tanks at 82 to 86°F.
Cornas Chante-Perdrix is hand harvested plot by plot, aged in oak barrels and needs at least three years of cellaring before its complexity opens. Saint Joseph François de Tournon has a smooth, voluptuous texture with fine, silky tannins. Condrieu La Galopine is fermented at 16 to 18°C, with a maximum of 20% fermented in new oak, then aged on fine lees for added richness.