Vineyard area: Approximately 6.9 hectares
Elevation: Approximately 120–263 meters
Soils: Primarily decomposed granite
Vine age: Approximately 75 years
Harvest: Hand harvested
Vinification: Fermentation and maceration for approximately 3 weeks
Extraction: Gentle extraction
Malolactic fermentation: In oak
Aging: Approximately 18 months
New oak: Approximately 25%
Final élevage: 3 months in stainless steel

95-97+ points Jeb Dunnuck
Not yet bottled, the 2023 Hermitage Les Bessards offers up pure cassis, liquid violets, white pepper, and crushed stone on the nose, showing that classic Bessards burning embers and violet character. It's medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It's still tight and compact, and I suspect the cellar will be your friend.

98 points Wine Advocate
Elegant, perfumed and racy, the 2023 Hermitage Les Bessards is the highlight of Delas’s range. Wafting from the glass with aromas of rose, lychee, grapefruit and violet, it’s dense and deep, built around perfectly controlled power and a structured core of fruit framed by abundant, sweet tannins that lead to a long, ethereal and precise finish. Combining telluric density with finesse and a notably tensile profile for Hermitage, this is one of the finest renditions of Les Bessards produced at this address.

Maison Delas, owned by Champagne Deutz and part of the Louis Roederer group, has recently inaugurated a new winery designed to enhance precision at every stage of the winemaking process. Under the direction of Jacques Desvauges, this investment reflects a clear ambition to refine both technical control and stylistic clarity. As readers may recall, Delas farms holdings on several of the Northern Rhône’s most distinguished sites, providing a strong foundation for this renewed focus.

In recent years, the house has moved toward a less demonstrative style, seeking greater elegance and definition than in the past. This evolution is expressed through a more nuanced approach to élevage, including increased use of Burgundy barrels and larger-format vessels, alongside a more selective choice of coopers—among them Taransaud, Chassin, Seguin Moreau, Marsannay and François Frères. The vineyards achieved organic certification in 2024, further underscoring this shift toward precision and balance. Winemaking remains broadly traditional, with a certain Bordeaux-inspired rigor that can render the wines somewhat reserved in youth, though this impression softens with a few years in bottle.

The 2023 vintage marks a clear success. The wines show greater precision and a more articulate expression of terroir than the 2022s, which at times seemed more shaped by the conditions of the year itself. The 2024 whites are likewise accomplished, defined by their freshness, elegance, and composure. Taken together, these recent vintages illustrate the extent of the progress achieved here—not through any single, dramatic change but rather through the accumulation of carefully considered adjustments. And it's those incremental refinements that, in the end, make all the difference.