Château le Devay Côte Levant Syrah 2022
£39.25
The wine
This wine opens on a lifted and fragrant nose with aromas of red cherry, bramble, liquorice and wild herbs. The palate displays wonderful tension, typical of the estate's schist soils, with crunchy acidity and fine-grained tannins.
The estate vineyard sits between 340 and 400 metres in a natural amphitheatre ringed by woodland, which is what makes biodynamic viticulture and agroforestry practical here rather than merely aspirational. Half the crop went in as whole bunches, foot-trodden before a twenty-day fermentation in stainless steel with only light extraction, deliberately, to keep the tannins fine. Eighteen months followed in demi-muids of one to three years old. Collines Rhodaniennes is the IGP that lets northern Rhône growers bottle Syrah outside the named crus.
The producer
Château le Devay
View all Château le Devay winesChâteau le Devay is a northern Rhône estate crafting wines from the steep, granite hills above the river between Vienne and Valence. It works with the region's two noble grapes, Viognier for the whites and Syrah for the reds. This is Rhône winemaking on a human, artisanal scale.
The vineyards range from the everyday Collines Rhodaniennes hills to the celebrated crus of Condrieu and Crozes-Hermitage. Granite and schist soils on sun-facing slopes give the wines their mineral drive and concentration. Steep terraces demand painstaking, often manual work.
In the cellar the approach is precise and respectful, letting each site speak. The Viogniers are perfumed and textured, the Syrahs peppery and pure. Oak is used with restraint, always in service of the fruit and the terroir.
From a fragrant Condrieu to a peppery Crozes-Hermitage, le Devay offers the northern Rhône in miniature. Perfumed, mineral and beautifully balanced, these are wines that capture the drama of the region's granite slopes.
