Under-The-Radar Hermitage Traditionalist
2009 Bernard Faurie Hermitage:
Greffieux/Bessards & Bessards/Méal
Bernard Faurie is one of the great old traditionalists of Hermitage.
He only has 1.7ha in Hermitage. If you haven't heard of him, his tiny holdings go a long way in explaining why. The under-the-radar status has its benefits in terms of pricing. These are some of the best values in Hermitage.
Faurie is making one of our favorite renditions of Hermitage. He uses old fashioned methods - whole clusters, the grapes are foot trodden and the wines are aged in demi-muids.
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These are some of the purest and most beautiful renditions of Hermitage. There is no grander, more regal expression of Syrah than Hermitage. Faurie captures Hermitage's elegance and complexity with such detail and in such an honest fashion.
Today, I'm happy to offer two of Bernard Faurie's Hermitage from the 2009 vintage, the Greffieux/Bessards and Bessards/Meal.
For Faurie, the Bessards is almost always an essential part of profound Hermitage. This is one of the appellation's greatest sites. Bessards is famous for its intensely granitic soils and the sternly structured, emphatically mineral and tension-filled wines that it produces. (The Chaves consider Bessards essential to their Hermitage.)
The Greffieux/Bessards bottling is a bit gentler and more elegant than the Bessards/Méal bottling. The texture is slightly more suave, the floral elements are more pronounced, too.
Le Méal is richer and meatier. With the Bessards element, the Bessards/Méal bottling is staining and powerful with an emphatic mineral streak. It carries this power with plenty of finesse and breeding.
Faurie loves his 2009s. There's good reason for that. The wines have such depth of terroir and layered complexity. And all this happens without sacrificing any of the wines' fineness or detail. Basically, you have incredible concentration and regal, soil-soaked elegance.
Landing Faurie in any quantity is extremely difficult. Frankly, this parcel is pretty small. That explains why I'm quietly slipping this in on Sunday. There's just not a lot to go around.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits