Wine guide
Delas Freres
There are many things that investors - and drinkers - enjoy about Rhône Valley wines. The superb ageing. The north/south divide. The slow but steady year on year growth. But if there's one particular thing in particular that investors like about Rhone wines, is that they're consistent. Producing outstanding reds and superlative whites year after year, Delas Freres is a perfect example of what an excellent Rhone Valley wine should taste like.
Owned by Louis Roederer
Founded in 1835, at 30-hectares Delas Freres is on the smaller side of Rhone Valley wine negociants. In this case, however, small is beautiful; ten of those 30 hectares are in Hermitage, while another eight are in Les Bessard (hence the eponymous cuvée) and a further two in L’Ermite. Post WWII, the wines were enjoying a boom and by 1960 Michel Delas had joined the ranks, opening up international sales, notably to Latin America. 1977 saw the company merge with the well-known Champagne firm Deutz, and in 1993, Delas Freres was once again sold, this time to Champagne producers, Louis Roederer. Since 2000, output has risen to approximately 1.7 million bottles annually.
A slew of high scores in 2009 and 2010
Sadly, sale to Roederer saw sales and quality fall. That all changed with the arrival of Jacques Grange in 1997 who was remarkably contributory in improving quality and revitalising an underperforming range, notably the Hermitage Les Bessards. The 1999 vintage was significant as the Delas wines caught the attention of American critic Robert Parker. Giving the vintage a 95/100 the market value of the wine rose sharply and has gained approximately 40% since 2005. Parker gave the 2009 and 2010 a perfect 100 (2015 scored 99+), making this the Delas Freres highest scorer. in Q1 2019, 2017s offering was being sold in bond for €130.
Notable facts and vintages
- 2015 Delas Frères La Ladonne received Wine Enthusiast’s 97 points, MW hopeful Anna Lee C Iijima noting “Gorgeous already it will only improve through 2027 and hold further.”
- 2015 Delas Frères Hermitage les Bessards received 99+ points in a December 2017 tasting by Joe Czerwinski for Robert Parker Wine Advocate, noting “Once it sheds some tannin, I suspect it may reach that triple digit barrier.” Jeb Dunnuck gave the full 100 points and expects this “perfect hermitage” to age well for “three decades or more” so it is no surprise prices jumped nearly +12% in the one year period between November 2017 to 2018, and it is completely reasonable to expect to see more growth.
- With an aggregate score of 92 points and expected maturity in 2040, a six-bottle lot of 2010 Delas Frères Domaine des Tourettes Hermitage sold for nearly €500, well above the €200-280 estimate at Christie’s/NYC online auction in early December 2018; the same year Decanter’s World Wine Awards granted “Platinum” status and a 97 point score to the 2015 vintage.