The wine shows an intense inky ruby red color and has plenty to offer with red and black fruit aromas, as well as a good minerality.
The finish is very long, clean and juicy and offers a great spicy mouthfeel.
Delicious with grilled red meat such as venison or lamb and most cheeses.
"Cassis and blueberries appear on the nose of the 2019 Hermitage Les Dionnieres, supported by notes of black olives and roasted meat. It's a large-scaled, full-bodied effort, revealing plenty of power on the palate and with rich, velvety tannins that linger on the finish. Made using whole clusters and only old barriques, it's a solid, traditional effort. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (January 2022), 94 pts
"Glass-staining violet. Deeply pitched black and blue fruit, licorice and floral pastille scents are sharpened by a spicy cracked pepper flourish. Youthfully chewy and focused on the palate, offering ripe blackcurrant, bitter cherry and fruitcake flavors that take on a mineral nuance on the back half. Closes on a resonating blue fruit note, with a solid punch and chewy tannins framing a long, spice- and smoke-accented finish. All whole clusters. - Josh Raynolds"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (December 2022), 94 pts
"The tannic, full-bodied 2018 Hermitage Les Dionnieres boasts ebullient aromas of blueberries and boysenberries, leavened by hints of peppery herbs, black tea and star anise. Expansive on the palate but structured and dusty, with a lingering finish of salted licorice and blackberry pastilles, it ideally needs a few years to settle down, but it should then drink well for more than a decade. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (August 2021), 95 pts
"Lastly, the flagship 2018 Hermitage Les Dionnières comes from a lieu-dit on the eastern side of the appellation. It reveals a deeper ruby/purple color as well as old school notes of red and black fruits, cedary herbs, crushed rock, and pepper. Not destemmed and brought up in neutral barrels, this beauty is medium to full-bodied and has a concentrated mid-palate, building tannins, and a clean, focused, dry finish. This old school, tannic Hermitage is going to benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades or more in cold cellars. It's beautifully done."
- Jeb Dunnuck (November 2020), 93+ pts
"If the prebottling sample of the Fayolles' 2017 Hermitage Les Dionnieres is truly representative, purchasers will be in for a treat. It's inky dark in color, with a cassis-laden nose that's marked by hints of crushed stone. It's full-bodied and concentrated, tannic without being hard or overdone, and despite ample ripeness, there's structure and freshness. It looks to be the complete package and potentially in the same ballpark (quality-wise) as the impressive 2015. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #239, October 31th 2018), 94-96 pts
"Sunburned bramble and granite tones lend savory complexity to rich, almost jammy blackberry and boysenberry flavors in this opulent Syrah sourced from 40-year-old vines. It's a uniquely glossy, ample expression of Hermitage that shows well even in youth, but firm, gripping tannins are likely to ease through 2030. A wine that should drink well for decades. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA"
- Wine Enthusiast (February/March 2021), 94 pts
"From a site on the eastern side of Hermitage hill consisting of more sedimentary and limestone soils, the 2017 Hermitage Les Dionnières has a classic, old school vibe in its crème de cassis, black raspberry, green olive, and building minerality. This medium to full-bodied effort has good density of fruit, fresh, vibrant acidity, and one serious kick of tannins on the finish. It's going to need 3-4 years of bottle age but will be a classic, complex Hermitage that will keep for 10-15 years."
- Jeb Dunnuck (December 20th 2018), 91-93 pts
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- Jancis Robinson (December 20th 2018), 18+/20
"Showing similar to last year, the 2015 Hermitage Dionnières is a brilliant Hermitage that comes from the more pebbly soils of the Dionnieres lieu-dit and was brought up in used French oak. Fabulous notes of blackberry liqueur, crushed rocks, charcoal, and pen ink all flow to a full-bodied, concentrated 2015 that has beautiful purity of fruit, a deep, structured mouthfeel, and a great finish. It needs short-term cellaring and will cruise for 15-20 years."
- Jeb Dunnuck (March 27th 2019), 95 pts
"From a lieu-dit situated at the bottom of the slope, the 2015 Hermitage Les Dionnieres is a complex, savory wine, offering up notes of grilled marinated beef with undertones of cassis. Earthy and tannic, this is an uncompromising vin de garde that will require several years in the cellar to blossom. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #234, December 29th 2017), 94+ pts
"Ripe, luscious black-cherry and berry notes are fresh and perfumed, accented by anise, violet and dried herb. It's plush and silky on the palate but anchored by crisp acidity and finely edged, persistent tannins. Enjoyable now for its youthful, primary side, it should develop more savory complexity from 2025 and hold further. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA"
- Wine Enthusiast Magazine (September 2018), 93 pts + Editor's Choice
"(all whole clusters; fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels) Youthful purple. Heady, spice-accented boysenberry and violet aromas show excellent clarity and a hint of olive. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed dark berry liqueur and floral pastille flavors plus a suggestion of spicecake. The impressively long finish features strong minerally cut, an echo of sweet blue fruit and chewy tannins that come in late. - Josh Raynolds"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (July 2017), 93 pts
Go To Fayolle Hermitage Rouge Les Dionnières
"A fresher, more aromatic style than most but it still has a broad, opulent element to it through ripe blackcurrants, intense spices and young grippy tannins.
Drinking Window 2021 - 2031."- Decanter (February 2018), 90 pts
Go To Fayolle Hermitage Rouge Les Dionnières
Domaine Jean-Claude & Nicolas Fayolle is located in the village of Gervans, 5 kilometers north from Tain-l'Hermitage in the Drome department. Nicolas Fayolle represents the 3rd generation of the family ...
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