FRANCE – Rhône producer Delas Frères has opened a new €18 million (US$20 million) winery and cellar in Tain l’Hermitage, Southern France.
The new 6,000 square metre facility has added 36 individually thermoregulated conical tanks, two cellars of 777 barrels and a tasting cellar for 20,000 bottles to the older historic cellar in Saint-Jean-de-Muzols.
The new winery received its first grapes in September this year and will be used to vinify and age grapes and wines from the estate’s holdings in the northern Rhône.
Dela’s Saint-Jean-de-Muzols cellar will continue to be used for the white wines and southern crus.
Delas bought the Tain l’Hermitage site in 2014 in order to combine production, tasting and even hospitality on the same site.
The new winery also includes a tourist element which will include tours of the site and the chance to buy and taste the entire Delas range.
CEO Fabrice Rosset commented: “We are delighted to have been able to make the most of this unique property, now practically an icon thanks to its history and its rebirth within the world of fine Rhône Valley wine.
“This will be the facility where we will be able to receive devotees of the brand and Rhône Valley wine enthusiasts, in style.”
Founded 160 years ago in the heart of the northern Côtes du Rhône, Delas Frères crafts world class wines from both northern and southern Rhône with vineyards in Hermitage, Cornas, Côte Rôtie, and Condrieu.
Delas Frères has in the past year been strengthening its footprint worldwide. In April this year, the wine maker entered into a distribution agreement with Maisons Marques et Domaines (MMD), a UK subsidiary of Champagne Louis Roedere.
