2000 Ermitage, L'Ermite, Michel Chapoutier
About Producer
The modern history of Maison Chapoutier started in 1989 with the creation of the first 'Sélections Parcellaires' by Michel Chapoutier. In 1990, Michel began biodynamic viticulture to eventually convert all his vineyards in 1995. Since 1996, all Maison Chapoutier’s wine labels are in Braille as a tribute to Maurice Monier de la Sizeranne, inventor of the first abridged form of Braille, whose family estate was bought by Marius Chapoutier in 1928.
Varietals
From 80-year-old syrah vines planted at the top of the Hermitage Hill on granitic soil.
About Appellation
According to legend, Queen Blanche de Castille granted permission to Knight Gaspard de Sterimberg to settle in the hills overlooking the hamlet of Tain in 1224 when he returned home badly wounded from the Cathar Crusade. He isolated himself as a hermit and started to plant vines there, hence the name of Hermitage for the hill. First mentions of the hill and its vineyard parcels with their current names were in 1389. Though history blurs the line between myth and reality, the quality of Hermitage terroirs is unquestionable.
Tasting Notes
Enthralling nose of ripe red fruits, vanilla, oak smoke, roasted meat, spices and violets, rich mouthfeel with velvety texture, broad structure and excellent depth, multilayered flavours of raspberry, black currant, quince, dark chocolate, pepper and liquorice intermingled with flinty mineral undertones, sound acidity and resolved tannins leading onto a long, tangy finish. Having shed the austerity of its youthful years, this is a sensational wine with composed elegance, remarkable intensity and superb minerality. It’s dense and powerful, yet not overdone, and at the same time, it also shows supple lightness with a full display of clear purity and vibrant freshness on the palate. Compared to Le Pavillon and Le Méal, its single-vineyard stablemates, L’Ermite usually needs longer to open up, and intriguingly enough, I often find that it bears an uncanny resemblance to aged bordeaux. (03/2023)