Beaumont Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Les Bruyeres 2018

Beaumont Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Les Bruyeres, biodynamic Shiraz/Syrah from Domaine Les Bruyère, fresh, lively, supremely elegant Syrah. David Reynaud is a lovely guy, friendly, big smile and always with plenty of time to tell you about his wines. They are all in the same style, Syrah with such ease of drinking, it could be white wine. The Crozes Hermitage sees just a short refinement in concrete and the final wine is very much on the 'serve chilled and quaff in quantity outside with some grilled meat' style. Delicious.

Domaine Les Bruyères has been in David’s family since the 18th century. Passed down from generation to the next, he started making wine with his mum after finishing his studies in 2000. He bought new plots, bringing the estate up to 20 hectares – plus 8 hectares farmed by friends (including Matthieu Barret down the road in Cornas) and converted to organic soon after. From 2003, he converted to biodynamic. All fruit is de-stemmed and then fermented in either old oak, steel or huge cement eggs. The wines are stunningly pure, elegant and easy drinking. Syrah at its best in the northern Rhone where the marginal climate for this often hefty grape produces wines with finesse which age beautifully.