The Northern Rhône has officially gone the way of Burgundy. That is, the wines have never been better, but it takes a great deal of diligent searching to find a truly great bottle at anything like a reasonable price. Every once in a while, like with today’s Crozes-Hermitage from Jean Esprit, the search pays off in spades. This is impeccable Crozes, as close to a textbook example of the village’s spicy, juicy, pastille-coated charms as can be had in the US. And like so many in Burgundy, this hidden gem turns out to have an enviable pedigree: the Esprit vineyards are located smack-dab between Domaines Combier and Graillot, the town’s two most celebrated producers. In fact, before son Jean took the reins, the Esprit family’s organic Syrah went into Graillot’s famously elegant (and coveted) cuvées, but a small portion is now bottled under the family name for our drinking pleasure. Surefire values like Esprit don’t come often in the Northern Rhône anymore, and it’s just a matter of time before collectors fight as ferociously for bottles of Esprit as they do for Graillot. So act fast and go deep!

The Esprit family has been farming in Crozes-Hermitage since 1909, long before it was even a wine appellation. Since then, it’s remained the rare diversified farm in the village. It’s planted to not just the classic Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne, but also cherries, apricots, and barley. This despite the fact that it occupies some of the most sought-after viticultural land in the appellation. Here on the hillsides sur