Crozes Hermitage Wine Dinner at Restaurant 2941 with Chef Bertrand Chemel, Winemaker Maxime Graillot and Importer Laurent Givry, Northern Virginia, USA

 

Annette and I enjoyed an outstanding winemaker dinner at 2941 Restaurant in Northern Virginia, with with the food of Chef Bertrand Chemel, the Crozes Hermitage and other wines of Maxime Graillot and importer/ distributer Laurent Givry, founder/ owner of Elite Wines. 

 

Sitting with Maxime Graillot at the same table, Annette arranged arranged a visit of the estate of Maxime Graillot on the next Rhône Valley Tour from Lyon to the Mediterranean Sea by ombiasy WineTours, scheduled for 2024.

 

Thanks again Laurent, Maxime and Bertrand for a wonderful evening.

Maxime Graillot

Maxime is involved in a number of wine projects, with his brother Antoine Graillot and with another winemaker, Thomas Schmittel. He also imports wine into France, including the wines of Weingut Rebholz, Pfalz, Germany.

Domaine Alain Graillot (Elite Wines)

In the space of 20 years Alain Graillot has established a reputation for making his Crozes Hermitage the most sought after of the appellation. In spite of only 20 hectares of vineyards, his wines are sold world wide on an allocation basis only. They are a special favourite with the most prestigious restaurants in France and elsewhere. Alain has a passion for the Syrah grape from which he makes hand crafted wines of great distinction and enormous elegance. His son Maxime has taken over direction of the estate with his father remaining in the not too distant background.

Domaine des Lises (Elite Wines)

Maxime Graillot is Alain’s son. Armed with a winemaking master’s degree, plus practical experience gained in Burgundy and South Africa, as well as with his father, Maxime has now established his own estate – the Domaine des Lises.

The winery is located next to Alain’s, but Maxime has his own vineyards, and is developing his own style. He practices 100% destemming, hand pigeage, and malolactic in barrel, but otherwise intervenes as little as possible to allow the wine to develop richness and complexity during its 12 months in cask. When questioned, Maxime sums up his philosophy as “succinct” !

Equis (Elite Wines)

Maxime Graillot and his winemaker and associate Thomas Schmittel are amongst the leading lights in the Crozes Hermitage appellation today. In 2003 the young and determined Maxime grasped the gem of an opportunity and purchased 7 hectares of Crozes Hermitage in Beaumont-Monteux (in the warmer, dryer south-east sector of the appellation) in the form of Domaine des Lises. In 2004 he produced just 6000 bottles of Crozes. Enter friend and winemaker Thomas Schmittel who teamed up with Maxime in 2006 to establish a small negoce company Equis. (Thomas cut his winemaking teeth with Cote Rotie’s René Rostaing no less, heading up his Languedoc estate, Domaine Puech Noble)

Domaine de Fa (Skurnik Wines)

The legendary Graillot family has a long history of making wine in the Northern Rhone, where their ability to produce some of the most age-worthy and delicious Syrah is matched by only a select few producers. Owner and winemakers for both Domaine des Lises and Domaine Alain Graillot, Maxime and Antoine Graillot, decided to look North for new challenges that extend beyond the dramatic slopes of the Rhone Valley. Their love of Gamay led them to the bucolic vistas of Beaujolais. The two brothers struck gold in 2013 when they purchased prime, organically farmed, sites in Fleurie and Saint Amour. With these pristine Granite vineyards, the Graillot family has announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with in a region that is experiencing a vinicultural Renaissance.

Syrocco - Morocco (Skurnik Wines)

Syrocco is produced by legendary Rhône vigneron Alain Graillot and his sons, Maxime and Antoine. He stumbled upon these vineyards and the Thalvin winery while bicycling in the Zenata region of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat. This gorgeous area is an organic dream, with cool winds blowing off the Atlantic and no polluting industries whatsoever. The Thalvin winery has been around since the 1920’s, and when Alain found their gorgeous property, he formed a partnership with them to provide Syrah and Cinsault vines for his own Moroccan wines. Alain crafts these two wines as a fruit-forward and juicy, yet they are made in an Old- World style with soft extraction, excellent balance, and complex aromatics.

Arriving

Champagne Reception

 

Dinner

First Course
Jumbo white asparagus
​orange foam , crispy jasmine rice
Alain Graillot | Crozes-Hermitage Blanc | Rhone Valley, France | 2020

Second Course
Quenelles de Brochet à la Lyonnaise
poached river fish, creamy morel
Domaine de Fa | Fleurie | Beaujolais, France | 2019

Third Course
​Californian Squab
roasted breast, smoked leg, blueberry, fingerling potatoes, wild ramps
Alain Graillot | Crozes-Hermitage Rouge | Rhone Valley, France | 2019

Forth Course
Creekstone Beef Duo
braised beef cheek, ribeye, wild mushrooms, pomme Lyonnaise
Alain Graillot | Crozes-Hermitage Rouge | “La Guiraude”| Rhone Valley, France | 2019

Fifth Course
Fraise au Vin Rouge
red wine poached strawberry, marjoram gelato, lemon crumble
Alain Graillot | “Syrocco” | Zenata, Morocco | 2020

Bye-bye

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