‘The outstanding co-operative Cave de Tain produces around half of Crozes-Hermitage, and it has growers in every sector of the appellation. It now produces a series of five different sub-regional cuvées (three Terroirs d’Exception and two Sélections Parcellaires) in order to showcase the appellation’s internal terroir differences. The 2015 versions are not yet bottled, but here are notes and provisional scores on these fascinating wines. Their enigmatic names reflect the fact that village names are outlawed on Crozes-Hermitage labels.’
Andrew Jefford
With our five cru wines and our Collines Rhodaniennes (Rhodanian Hills) vineyards, as an extension of their multiple personalities, our winegrowers have the privilege of having a palette of terroirs, unique in their richness and diversity to choose from.
They know how to express the best and their ambition was to be able to choose vinification "plot by plot". That has now been put into practice and around fifty plot selections are cherished in our wineries, when the vintage deserves it...: a prowess!
This involves METHOD and MAGIC
With boundless patience and precision, on homogeneous units of terroir for each appellation, often originating from old vines, our winegrowers and agronomists select the plots that were the most successful in the vintage. They are later passed on to enologists winemakers to create a new selection of a given terroir.
With the same plots frequently being used to make a cuvée - somewhat like the same musical notes being played over and over in the chorus of a song - we must remember that it is all about the magic of the vintage! In this way, some plots may not be selected, or others might be chosen unexpectedly in a given vintage.