3 x Hermitage, L'Ermite, M. Chapoutier, 2009

Seller description

House Chapoutier Côte Rotie This renowned estate, founded in 1808, has some 240 hectares of vines spread over five appellations of the Rhone valley. When Max Chapoutier retired in 1989, his son Michel, took over the reins of the family property. Since he completely rethought the winemaking and breeding programs of his farm, his wines hold the high dragee to those of the best producer of the Rhone valley, Marcel Guigal. The main objective of Michel Chapoutier is to "return to the land" by limiting the intervention of the winemaker and enhancing the typicity and character of the wine. He therefore adopted the biodynamic culture and uses only natural yeasts for fermentations. Michel Chapoutier relies entirely on the know-how of Gérard Chave and Marcel Guigal for the winemaking style of his red wines. Besides raising his wines in small oak barrels, he decided not to stick them or filter them before bottling, whether red or white. Michel Chapoutier constantly advances his methods of vinification, and he considers that his first wines were massive monsters and an intense extraction but which today add complexity and finesse. He also believes in monocépage wines: his Côte-rotie are 100% Syrah, his Hermitages blancs 100% Marsanne, and his Châteauneuf-du-Pape 100% Grenache. For this purist, assembling can only subdue the character of each terroir and each variety individually. The uncompromising wines of this young genius are not meant for hurried consumers. They represent the quintessence of vineyards worked in biodynamics, with incredibly low yields and prolonged fermentations.