Maxime Graillot is the son of famed Crozes-Hermitage pioneer Alain Graillot. Maxime has been producing Crozes-Hermitage since 2004. Compared to Alain’s wines, Maxime’s are similarly exuberant and expressive, yet perhaps with a bit more size and fruit power to them. Unlike his father, Maxime Graillot choses to de-stems nearly all of his grapes. On the basis of the first couple of vintages – produced in admittedly small quantities – the Domaine des Lises Crozes shares the purity, spiciness and crunchy fruit character of his father’s wines, but with a slightly fuller and more opulent mouthfeel. They are immediate winners