MAISON DELAS FRÈRES
RHÔNE VALLEY, FRANCE
A “mind-blowing” “masterpiece.”
That’s how stunned James Suckling was after tasting Delas Frères' 99-point Hermitage 'Line de Crete' Les Grandes Vigne 2023, and folks, we can tell you there's not an ounce of hyperbole in his assessment. Or in his evaluation of the 98-point 'Les Bessards,' which he called “haunting” and “endless,” a wine of “incredible concentration” and “enormous finesse.”
If you're not familiar with Delas Frères, let me ask you: do you not just love terroir-driven wines, but go to obsessive lengths to acquire them and esteem them above all others? Do you live for single-vineyard expressions? What about high-altitude granite slopes? Does the sound of gravity-flow production to preserve the integrity of the fruit ring your chimes? Do you thrill to the notion of wines that are drinking beautifully in their youth, but that will age gracefully for the next two-plus decades?
Oh, and how about the prospect of acquiring benchmark wines without the luxury markup of other more celebrated regions?
Then this, folks, is your house.
Our recent tour of their portfolio only confirmed for us how special a recent run winemaker Jacques Grange and his team are on. In addition to the two aforementioned beauties, we also secured possession of six others (including four 96 pointers and one 97+-pointer) and every one of them is gorgeous in its own right, speaking powerfully and memorably of place, character, and time in ways that go beyond mere points.
Grange has been running Delas for more than two decades now, and his approach is simple: respect the land, then get the hell out of its way.
He permits only single-vineyard plantings on the estate's steeply sloping hillsides. He has been gradually replacing the old stainless steel vats with smaller concrete ones — 85 hectoliters apiece, allowing for batch-by-batch separation and tighter temperature control. And he has rebuilt the cellars around a gravity system, so the fruit never gets bullied by pumps along the way.
The wines are a perfect reflection of their patch of earth.
The mica-schist slopes of Côte-Rôtie make for Syrahs that are floral, elegant, aromatic. The brutal granite of Hermitage gives you wines that are structured, brooding, age-worthy beyond reason.
The house itself has been around since 1835, but it has never operated like a relic. Grange and his team take their cues from the granite hillsides and the roaring Mistral wind that has shaped Northern Rhône wines for centuries, but they’re not at all hidebound, and the wines feel both fresh and relevant.
Up and down this lineup, you’ll find deep, abiding pleasure.
Beyond the Hermitage headliners, the Côte-Rôtie 'La Landonne' (97+ points) delivers all the savory depth and elegance the appellation is known for. The 'Seigneur de Maugiron' brings similar refinement at a more approachable level. The Hermitage 'Domaine des Tourettes' is a muscular, formidable wine, but its size never gets the better of it. And the St. Joseph 'Sainte Epine' is one of the more compelling expressions of that appellation we've poured in years.
And then there are the whites. The Condrieu 'Clos Boucher' (96 points) is the kind of Viognier that reminds you why this grape exists in the first place: it's lush, aromatic, but never heavy. The 'La Galopine' 2024 (yet unrated) is its slightly more linear, mineral-driven sibling.
World-class wines built to age, at prices that haven't yet caught up to Bordeaux or Burgundy.
Get your bottles and cases today!
*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Winter 2026 (Dec. 21st - Mar. 20th, 2027). With the supply chain issues that we are seeing globally, there may be some unforeseen delays which could affect the ETA. All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. Offer not valid in KS, MI, NE, NY, OK, & TN. This offer will expire on Sunday, June 14th, 2026.