Delas Frères is one of the leading traditional Rhône valley (France) wine estates, producing high quality throughout a wide range from Côtes du Rhône to the very prestigious Hermitage from Les Bessards vineyard. Delas is originally a “negociant” which means they have been buying grapes and wine from different small producers to blend and sell the resulting wine under their own name. At the same time, the estate has been acquiring different vineyards since it was created back in 1835 and now combines both proprietary and “negociant” winemaking activities. Even though Delas was bought by Champagne Deutz back in 1977 then acquired by Roederer in 1993, the estate is still ran independently and has been enjoying one of its best time in its history recently with new investment made in the last 10 years, and the appointment of Jacques Grange, a very successful oenologist in 1997 all contributing to an increase with regards to quality level. I caught up with Etienne Défossé, one of the executives from Delas at a tasting in London as wanted to ask him what was their secret to maintain a consistent quality across such a big range, and what it was about to be a “negociant” these days. Picture below - Etienne Défossé in London in February 2009             Olivier Bourseau: Delas is one of the most renowned wine estates in the Rhône valley. Your range of wines covers both the Northern and Southern Rhône valley from Côte-Rôtie to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But what is difficult to understand is how consistent and high the quality is across your range. What is your secret? Etienne Défossé: The secret about making some good wines is all about adapting the winemaking to each “Terroir”. We have the chance to have Jacques Grange as our oenologist who is as good a merchant dealing with grape growers, as he is with our own vineyards. So in the northern Rhône, we combine winemaking with our own vineyards and grapes bought from other growers. With regards to the southern Rhône, we are mostly “negociant” which means we source grapes from other growers to make our wines for the majority of them. And so in the South, Jacques Grange works with different growers to produce one specific wine and so he really is the king of blending. He actually knows the good growers and furthermore he knows which estate blended with another estate will make the best wine. OB: Jacques Grange your chief oenologist since 1997 studied in Dijon and then went on to work at Chapoutier, another very famous wine estate between 1991 and 1994, and then with Jean-Luc Colombo, one of the most respected oenologists of the Rhône advising some of the most famous estates like Domaine De La Janasse, Domaine Yves Cuilleron, Domaine Georges Vernay… Is technique more important than Terroir, or is it the other way around? Picture below - New tanks facility Etienne Défossé: I believe it is like in Formula 1, you need to have the best driver into the best possible car. With regards to technique and machines, we have invested 6.5 millions Euros in the last 10 years so we invested new blood into the estate with new tanks, new wine warehouse, new automated bottling facility, a lot of new equipment. The Terroir aspect remains the most important though. Jacques Grange always says that what he does is to just emphasize the natural characteristics there are in each specific terroir. So he is just serving the Terroir! I believe that each wine in our range provides the highest quality and at the same time is unique as it does reflect a specific Terroir and this is probably why our clients like our range. OB:You own one of the most prestigious vineyards in France, les Bessards which is part of the Hermitage appellation in Northern Rhône. What makes it special and unique? Etienne Défossé: Hermitage is a hillside vineyard which is unique and nearly magic, extraordinary! In fact you only need to go there and have a look to understand. Firstly it is part of history. There have always been some vineyards there since the Romans came. Then it is a very steep sloping vineyard with southern exposure and the soil is made mostly with granite but not only. There are actually so many other diverse types of soils as well. The reason was that it was sculpted by glaciers from the Alps and geological layers moving over thousands of years, with limestone slabs running over this granite base, but also thanks to the Rhone river so these is an alluvial component too. Local people actually say that these are the wines from Hermitage because there are different styles depending on which plot of vineyards you are talking about. All of this is reflected into the wines which have a potential to age which is greater than the average. And I have the chance to experience these wines as I often open a bottle of hermitage when I invite people in. It is a wine which never finishes uncovering itself. It is a bit like a mystery, we never end up discovering it. Most of the wines reveal themselves very quickly. I find that with Hermitage, there is always something different which I discover every time I taste the same vintage again. He never ends up opening up like the greatest wines of this world. Picture Below - Label of one of the most Prestigious French Wines: Hermitage from the famous vineyard Les Bessards, most of which is owned by Delas. OB: Can you tell us more about the way you work with the growers from which you buy fruit, and from which level in the production process you intervene? Etienne Défossé: Wine is about an encounter at first. And you do business with whom you get on well with. So you need to have some kind of trust in the relationship. When we get the log of Jacques Grange’s mileage for his car, we understand that he has been driving quite a lot. He is always out and about from one grower to the next. So what does Jacques and the growers do together? They obviously spend some time in the vineyards, in the tanks’ facility where Jacques uses his previous experience as oenologist consultant when he was with Jean-Luc Colombo. He used to consult winemakers and not only for the viticulture but also with regards to the winemaking as well as creating the suitable winemaking tools suitable to their requirements and production levels. So it is mostly this trust relationship which has to be put in place which is important. And Jacques knows how to discover the good winemakers because he has a feel and an understanding of the different vineyards, but above all he has this skill to blend the different complementary Terroirs in the same appellation together. OB: It is a difficult climate for worldwide winemaking because of the overproduction and now there is recession. What is the key to survive in this environment when you are a producer? Etienne Défossé: Yes there is a crisis due to overproduction which is the equivalent of two or three times the French total production so one has to fight! But it is quite simple actually: firstly you have to deliver an impeccable quality. Times are now over when you could have said to your importer that you had had a lower quality vintage but that he had to distribute a part of it since you and he were in partnership. We can only export top quality wines. For the others we have to find distribution gaps to sell them off. We have to put into our bottles the best only. Then you have to have good trade partners. In each country you have to have a good importer, and then directly, in France, you have to have a sound customer base. For instance we invoice 1000 clients directly so that we can rely on diversity and not two or three major guys. OB: Apart from your wines and those from the area, what are the others in the world or in France which you are interested in and which you enjoy drinking? Etienne Défossé: I always enjoy the fact that I am in the UK to try New World wines because they are still rare to find. I like to taste New Zealand wines, Australians, South Africans, Californians, Argentineans, and Chileans. Everything inspires me and I am interested in everything! OB: Thank you very much Etienne!