Delas Freres Hermitage Les Bessards 2018 750ml

The wine is a brilliant, deep red hue with lots of depth. The nose shows great class, with soft aromas of blackberries and violets. Hermitage "Les Bessards" shows plenty of concentration in its fruit. This is a wine with a particularly dense tannic structure, and extremely good balance.

98 Points by The Wine Advocate

Boasting classic Les Bessards notes of sun-warmed cassis and crushed stone, the 2018 Hermitage Les Bessards has turned out to be a magnificent wine—a close rival to the potentially perfect 2015. Full-bodied and velvety, concentrated and tannic, overflowing with notes of grilled plums, grilled meat and black olives, it's all topped off by a forever finish that remains fresh and cleansing, courtesy of lingering salted-licorice flavors and the texture of finely ground stone dust. Try a bottle after 2025, if you can wait that long.

97 Points by Wine Enthusiast

Les Bessards is a single-vineyard selection limited to 6,000 majestic bottles in any vintage it's produced. Made from 100% Syrah, its black-cherry coulis and crème de cassis flavors are spicy, marked by hits of scorched anise and peppercorn. Anchored by zesty acidity and a bristling mineral undertow, it's a structured red wrapped in tannins that feel feel fierce now but should meld from 2023. The wine will improve well through 2035 and hold much longer still.

96 Points by Wine Spectator

This is packed with intense dark fig, blackberry and boysenberry reduction flavors that show a subtle singed alder thread as they assert themselves, weaving around while mouthwatering anise and bay leaf notes filter through. The finish shows a late echo of scorched earth, with the fruit keeping pace. A dense and muscular wine, yet with superb detail. One for the cellar. Best from 2024 through 2038.