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Son of A Gun: Terrific Northern Rhône from La Famille Graillot
Maxime Graillot no longer stands in the shadow of his celebrated father. Today he has the senior winemaking role at Domaine Alain Graillot and is carving out his own chapter in the history of the Northern Rhône. Naturally, he is best known for the outstanding wines that bear his own name. The latest releases from Maxime’s own vineyards compare very favourably to those of Domaine Alain Graillot, ignoring obvious stylistic differences. Displaying an intensity and minerality as though they were a birthright, the leitmotif in Maxime’s wines is juiciness, freshness and poise. It’s these qualities that are setting them well on the way to becoming regional benchmarks—if they are not already.
Maxime Graillot’s Estate-grown Crozes, Domaine des Lises, comes from a single vineyard near the village of Beaumont-Monteux. Here, in the most south-easterly part of the appellation, the soils are full of gravel and alluvial stones, low in clay and fast draining—very similar to the Domaine Alain Graillot soils in Les Chênes Verts, just to the north. This soil type lends itself to a refined, aromatic Syrah with a pronounced savoury profile. Planted throughout the 1980s, the vines are now managed organically.
Like the Alain Graillot wines, the fermentations are entirely natural, although Graillot Jr. uses only a small whole bunch component, usually in the realm of 20-30%, and Maxime’s Crozes tends to ‘come around’ earlier than the wines that carry the Alain Graillot name
Equis is Graillot’s boutique negocé, established with Maxime’s long-term friend, and talented winemaking partner, Thomas Schmittel. We ship two wines in the range, sourced from a roster of first-rate, cultivated vineyards where Graillot and Schmittel have a close working relationship with the growers.
In terms of volume, the deliciously playful Equinoxe Crozes-Hermitage is the ‘poster wine’ of the project. The fruit for this early-drinking Crozes is sourced from a mature, organically farmed and gravelly site in Pont de l’Isère that has not seen any herbicide or pesticide use for 10 years. The guys have also settled, for now, on a more composite élevage for this wine, which is now raised in a mixture of concrete tank (60%) and old oak (in a range of formats). As intended, this juicy, gluggable Crozes is all about the purity and primary fruit freshness; a Crozes for thirst—though it does not want for fruit intensity or crisp structure.
The Equis Cornas is drawn predominantly from a 20-year-old parcel on the slopes of the great Cornas lieu-dit, Les Chaillots, with the balance from old-vine parcels in La Sabarotte and La Côte. All are hillside sites where the soils are very rich in granite. The vines have always been organically managed, and the owner/grower is a respected friend of the Graillot clan. Although it is made from purchased fruit, Max and Thomas are quick to point out that they could not manage the vines any better themselves!
Although Graillot tells us that he wants this to be a “hyper-light wine”, it is never light in the negative sense of the word. There is too much intensity for that. Instead, it’s an exuberantly fruity, delicious, drink-it-straight-from-the-bottle kind of Crozes with agile tannins and plenty of acidity for focus. Leaping out of the glass, the newly minted 2021 is flush with perfumes of berries, sweet spice, earth and an enticing mineral accent. On the palate, it’s bright, refreshing, and dripping with svelte red fruits mopped up by the crunchy acidity and twist of salinity. It closes long and vibrant with a lick of piquant spice and anise. It’s a delicious reminder of how close the Northern Rhône is to Beaujolais—and not just in terms of distance.
AT-A-GLANCE • Domaine des Lises was established in Crozes-Hermitage in 2004 by Maxime Graillot, son of legendary Crozes trailblazer Alain Graillot. • The estate covers 6.5 hectares of vines in the heart of Crozes, just outside Pont de l’Isere on the famed Chassis plateau. • The soils are gravelly with alluvial stones and very little clay, vine age is an average of 35-40 years, and farming is organic. • Maxime also runs his late father’s eponymous domaine, but winemaking differs slightly; here, he favours less bunch, shorter maturations, some concrete vinification and little new oak. • Domaine des Lises bottles a Crozes-Hermitage Rouge and Blanc, as well as a rare Crozes bottling called Vignes Franches from a small plot of ungrafted vines. • Maxime also bottles wines under a négoce label, Equis, which includes Crozes-Hermitage, Cornas and Saint-Joseph. IN THE PRESS “Outward-looking and motivated, Maxime Graillot is a good receiver of his father`s baton. He is determined to make wine in his own style, emphasizing elegance. This is likely to become well-known and fashionable wine. The Crozes from his own vines is called Domaine des Lises. The two merchant wines from Saint-Joseph and Cornas are sold under the name Equis.” John Livingstone-Learmonth
Country
France
Primary Region
Northern Rhône
People
Winemakers: Maxime Graillot and Thomas Schmittel
Availability
National
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