Founded 160 years ago in the heart of the northern Côtes du Rhône, Delas Freres today crafts world class wines from both northern and southern Rhône.
Tending the steep sloping vineyards, which total some 30 hectares of vines, the team adapt their growing practices to each plot of vines to let the terroir of the Rhône shine through in the wines.
Crafted by winemaker Jacques Grange (who is originally from Burgundy), the wines from Delas Freres epitomise finesse and elegance. Recent vintages from the vineyards of Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Côte Rôtie, Condrieu, Côtes-du-Rhône and Côtes-du-Ventoux have bee lauded in the press for their intensity of flavour and excellent value.
Soils are very stony with various depths, mainly consisting of large quartz stones mixed with red, sandy clay.
Chateauneuf du Pape is the driest area of the Cotes du Rhone where the Mistral is vitally important to grape ripening. 2,800 hours of sunshine a year are reflected by the large stones on the surface of the soil.
Grapes are destemmed and fermented into concrete vats followed by 8-10 days of maceration. The wine is aged for a period of 8-14 months in 60 hectolitre oak tuns.
The color is a deep garnet red. The nose of the “Haute Pierre” has strong spicy aromas that reveal a rich, powerful body that is delicate, yet has a tightly-knit tanninc framework. On the palate, the wine is rich and unctuous, revealing intense licorice-like flavors. It can easily be kept 10 years or more.
Perfect served with traditional "provencale" stews.
Jeb Dunnuck
91 POINTS
November 19, 2020, Jeb Dunnuck
“Moving to the reds and starting with the single Southern Rhône, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Haute Pierre shows the vintage’s charming, front end-loaded style and has lots of strawberry and raspberry fruits, notes of incense and peppery herbs, medium-bodied richness, and just the balanced, charming, endearing style that makes this vintage so much fun to drink.”
Wine Spectator
93 POINTS
November 18, 2020, James Molesworth
“Alluring, with a range of dark plum, raspberry and boysenberry compote flavors that have a lightly mulled edge, showing hints of dried garrigue and juniper. There’s a nice caressing feel on the finish. Grenache and Syrah. Best from 2022 through 2034.”
The Wine Advocate
92 POINTS
September 24, 2020, Joe Czerwinski
“Sporting slightly exaggerated, almost kirsch-like aromas, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Haute Pierre comes out of the bottle in a burst of fruit. Subtle herbal notes emerge with air, lending just enough aromatic complexity to keep it interesting, while the medium to full-bodied palate is silky and taut, showing a fine tension between ripeness and acidity.”
Decanter
92 POINTS
September 30, 2019, Matt Walls
“This is well-balanced between ripe fruit and garrigue herbs, ending on a savoury bay leaf note. Has good shape and structure – not a big wine, not over-extracted or overly excessive, on the contrary, it feels relatively unforced and effortless in a vintage that took a lot of effort for many. It may not be the deepest expression of Châteauneuf, but this will provide good value and early drinking pleasure.”
Chateauneuf du Pape AOC
Grenache: 90%
Syrah: 10%
Cork
Yes
Yes
