Want to taste one of the most soulful expressions of Syrah on earth? Grab one of the very few bottles of Bernard Faurie’s 2012 Hermitage we were lucky to find for this offer. Faurie is a Northern Rhône Valley legend, a respected elder statesman on the Hermitage hill whose wines stand confidently alongside the likes of Chave and Guigal’s “la-la’s,” but at a much more accessible price.
How? Well, longevity, for one: Faurie is a fifth-generation vigneron on Hermitage, tending to a small collection of heirloom vines exceeding 100 years of age. His raw material is unparalleled and his lineage is as deep as it gets, resulting in Hermitage of such haunting, earthy beauty you’re compelled to pause and reflect after every sip. His wines are built to age for decades, picking up layers of aromatic complexity and meaty depth along the way—the kinds of wines which, like the greatest Burgundies, develop cult followings among sommeliers and collectors. Adding to the air of exclusivity is the color-coded system Faurie uses to distinguish his different cuvées: Today’s wine, sourced from the “Gréffieux” and “Bessards” vineyards—two of the greatest lieu-dit (named) sites in Hermitage—is distinguished by its cream-colored capsule. Combining fruit from the granite-rich “Bessards” and the more alluvial, clay/gravel “Gréffieux” creates a wine of depth but also sublime finesse. It’s undoubtedly one of the more exciting collectibles we’ve gotten our hands on this year, but sadly, there’s not very much: We can offer just two bottles per customer until our tiny parcel disappears.
In the glass, Faurie’s 2012 Gréffieux/Bessards displays a deep ruby/black core with hints of magenta and pink at the rim, with an incredibly complex nose of black raspberry liqueur, black currant, mulberry, violets, wild herbs, warm spices, black pepper, and ground coffee/cocoa. It is medium-plus in body, with tannins that have softened somewhat with time in bottle and assorted ‘secondary’ aromatic notes of smoke, roasted meat, and olives have begun to emerge. Still, though, this is just getting started and will likely enter its peak drinking window around its 10th birthday and continue to age well for a decade beyond that. This is a true-blue collectible and awfully tempting to try now—if you do, decant it an hour before serving at 60-65 degrees in large Bordeaux stems. Earthy, herby roasted lamb shanks feel like the ideal way to showcase this dark, savory, sumptuous red, so take the attached recipe and run with it. An unforgettable experience awaits. Cheers!