At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Northern Rhône
- Home base
- Mercurol
- Vineyard area
- 12 hectares
- Farming
- Sustainable viticulture, with grapes harvested in small quantities at full ripeness
The Producer
Domaine Les Alexandrins is a Northern Rhône domaine built around Crozes Hermitage and Saint Joseph. Alexandre Caso is a viticulturist, Guillaume Sorrel a winemaker and the son of Hermitage producer Marc Sorrel. The domaine combines vineyard work with cellar work and draws on shared knowledge of Northern Rhône terroirs.
Place
The initial vineyards include Crozes Hermitage parcels consisting of round pebbles and Saint Joseph vines growing on granite slopes. The Saint Joseph vines are 45 years old. The two appellations place round pebble soils and granite slopes within the same domaine, with a clear age profile in the Saint Joseph plantings.
Story
In 2009, Alexandre Caso and Guillaume Sorrel founded Domaine Les Alexandrins. Caso brought viticulture and Sorrel winemaking, so the new domaine began with two named specialists covering vineyard and cellar work. Nicolas Jaboulet then partnered with them, and the three founders united around shared knowledge of Northern Rhône terroirs. The partnership joined vineyard skill, winemaking and Jaboulet family experience under one domaine.
Wines
The range includes Cornas 2021, Crozes Hermitage 2016, Crozes Hermitage 2022 and Domaine Les Alexandrins Les Chaflans Crozes Hermitage 2018. The two 2022 Crozes Hermitage wines occupy different cellar positions. Maison Les Alexandrins Crozes Hermitage is raised in wood. Les Chaflans receives 12 to 18 months of élevage in demi muids aged one to three years, with some tronconic vat and 30 percent whole bunch fermentation. Whole bunch fermentation leaves stems with the grapes during fermentation.
In The Glass
The Crozes Hermitage entry wine is savory, mineral and multilayered, with sweet red cherry and strawberry fruit alongside herbal hints. Les Chaflans has concentrated sweet fruit with mint, olive, sweet cherry and raspberry, showing ripeness with balance and elegance.
The 2018 Crozes Hermitage has black olive, gravelly minerality, black pepper, oolong tea, shiitake mushroom and prune. Dusty tannins build and linger, with medium body and integrated medium acidity. The mouthfeel is smooth, silky and well balanced.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Maison Les Alexandrins Crozes Hermitage. It is the entry Crozes Hermitage bottling, raised for 12 months in wood and bottled at 12.5 percent alcohol. Les Chaflans sits later in the range, with longer élevage in demi muids, some tronconic vat and whole bunch fermentation. This keeps the first bottle with the domaine's central appellation before the more concentrated named cuvée.
Final Word
Domaine Les Alexandrins is the work of Alexandre Caso, Guillaume Sorrel and Nicolas Jaboulet, with Crozes Hermitage and Saint Joseph at the centre of its Northern Rhône range.
Sources
- wineanorak.com/2025/01/27/crozes-hermitage-4-maison-and-domaine-les-alexandrins
- www.libertywines.co.uk/our-producers/GNP02FR-domaine-les-alexandrins
- www.familleperrin.com/en/marque/maison-et-domaine-les-alexandrins
- www.drome-tourism.com/fiches/domaine-les-alexandrins
- www.kenswineguide.com/wine_review/Domaine-Les-Alexandrins-2018-Crozes-Hermitage