This is Crozes-Hermitage with serious intent, a wine that feels closer to Hermitage in its depth, purity and gravitas. The 2015 Domaine de Roure opens with a plume of blackberry, damson and crème de cassis, wrapped in aromas of violet, cracked pepper, smoked herbs and warm granite from its ancient terraced slopes in Gervans. On the palate it’s wonderfully layered: inky black fruit meets graphite, olive tapenade and subtle spice, all carried by a structure that is both firm and elegantly sculpted. The tannins are polished yet powerful, the acidity fresh and coiled, and the finish long, savoury and quietly profound. A standout Northern Rhône Syrah from a legendary vintage.

For when you want a Syrah that speaks in deep, resonant tones.
Pairs with slow-cooked lamb shoulder, charred aubergine, or anything involving black pepper and fire.
If this wine were a texture, it’d be velvet laid over stone, smooth on the surface, powerful beneath.

Paul Jaboulet Aîné’s Domaine de Roure is one of the jewels of Crozes-Hermitage, a tiny, steep, granite-rich vineyard in the northernmost, most serious sector of the appellation. The old-vine Syrah here produces wines of remarkable concentration and mineral drive, often outperforming wines from more prestigious neighbours. Under Caroline Frey’s meticulous stewardship, Roure has become one of the Northern Rhône’s benchmark expressions of terroir, combining purity, precision and age-worthy structure. The 2015 vintage, one of the Rhône’s finest in decades, delivered Syrah of exceptional ripeness and balance, making this a standout bottling with long, glorious life ahead.