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Red
750ml
Bottle: $399.95
6 bottles: $391.95
It is an amazing achievement. Even better is the 2008 Ermitage l’Ermite (449 cases). Not as concentrated as Le...
12 FREE
WA
94
WS
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $587.70
6 bottles: $586.80
The 2011 Ermitage l’Ermite is a killer Hermitage that offers a huge bouquet of thick crème de cassis and black...
12 FREE
WA
98
JD
98
Red
750ml
Bottle: $387.90
The 2014 L'Ermite comes from a charming, moderately concentrated vintage, but you wouldn’t know that by tasting...
12 FREE
WA
97
JD
97
Red
750ml
Bottle: $484.88
Readers wanting to understand pure granite soils need to taste the inky blue/black-colored 2016 Ermitage L’Ermite,...
12 FREE
JD
100
DC
99
Sale
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $599.94 $672.00
As usual, Chapoutier's 2018 Ermitage l'Ermite is a standout among standouts. Crushed stone, blueberries, even a touch...
12 FREE
WA
100
VM
98
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $297.95 $318.10
Even better and always one of the top whites in any given vintage, the 2011 Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree (first...
12 FREE
WA
99
WS
96
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $594.81 $660.90
Very rich, but racy and well-focused, with a great minerally underpinning to the fresh butter, chamomile, yellow...
12 FREE
WS
97
WA
95
White
750ml
Bottle: $952.90
6 bottles: $952.00
The 2011 Ermitage l’Ermite Blanc is pure perfection in white wine. Coming from very old, pre-phylloxera vines...
12 FREE
WA
100
JD
100
White
750ml
Bottle: $787.95
6 bottles: $772.19
As in 2016, my favorite of the white parcel selections this year is the 2017 Ermitage l'Ermite Blanc (231 cases...
12 FREE
WA
100
DC
98
White
750ml
Bottle: $616.95
6 bottles: $604.61
Another truly flawless wine from this dream team is the 2018 Ermitage L’Ermite Blanc, which comes from a vineyard...
12 FREE
WA
100
JD
100
Red
750ml
Bottle: $348.95
6 bottles: $341.97
Similar to the '12 and showing the generosity and warmth of this site, the 2011 Ermitage le Meal is another sexy wine...
12 FREE
WA
98
WS
95
Red
750ml
Bottle: $355.90
Showing similar to last year, the 2012 Ermitage le Meal is a blockbuster that's about as voluptuous and sexy as...
12 FREE
WA
98
WS
96
Red
750ml
Bottle: $240.90
From one of the warmer terroirs on Hermitage Hill, the 2018 Ermitage Le Méal was all destemmed and vinified in...
12 FREE
JD
99
WA
98
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $228.95 $250.70
The 2017 Ermitage le Meal Blanc starts with refined notes of crushed stone and pencil shavings that move into a...
12 FREE
WA
98
WS
98
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $309.69 $344.10
Showing more minerality than the le Meal, yet more plushness and sexiness than the l’Ermite, the 2006 Ermitage le...
12 FREE
WA
98
WS
96
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $252.27 $280.30
The 2007 Hermitage Pavillon is drinking brilliantly today. Classic cassis, bacon fat, and graphite, as well as a...
12 FREE
JD
97
WA
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $668.63
6 bottles: $655.25
Even better and a prodigious effort that hits all my sweet spots, the 2011 Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from one of the...
12 FREE
WA
100
WS
96
Red
750ml
Bottle: $458.95
6 bottles: $449.77
The inky colored 2017 Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from the biggest, baddest part of Hermitage and was brought up all...
12 FREE
JD
100
WA
99
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $387.81 $430.90
Coming all from the pure granite soils of the Bessards lieu-dit, on the western side of Hermitage, the 2018 Ermitage...
12 FREE
WA
98
VM
98
Red
750ml
Bottle: $191.90
6 bottles: $191.00
Bright ruby. Sappy and tightly focused raspberry and cherry aromas are complemented by notes of cinnamon and...
12 FREE
WA
91
VM
91

The Rhone region of France is one which is deeply influenced by tradition. With a wine history which stretches back to well over a thousand years, and a consistent degree of excellence demonstrated by their wineries, producing wines which have shaped the drink as we know it, it isn’t difficult to see why tradition is held in such high regard. What is unusual then, is when you find a Rhone winery which, while producing excellent, classic Rhone wines, is also willing to seek out new opportunities and break from the norm somewhat.

One such winery is Maison Chapoutier. The Chapoutier family are a proper, old Rhone clan, who operate on land which has been passed down from father to son since the end of the 18th century. The winery was set up on the ancestral site in 1879, when a set of heritage vineyards were bought and new vines were sown, thus starting the business which continues to this day. The wineries fortunes were mixed, and for much of its history it didn’t make any great waves with their traditional, standard Hermitage wines which were probably very similar to those made elsewhere in the village. However, in the 1980s, the latest generation of Chapoutiers, Michel and Marc, took over the business from their father with a renewed sense of passion and keenness to make their voices heard and their wine tasted across the world.

The results were highly positive, and the Rhone wines of Maison Chapoutier quickly gained recognition for their excellence and complexity. The success of their home produce prompted the Chapoutier brothers to expand their family business, and they soon set their sights on becoming an international company, spreading their unique style - blending Rhone tradition with global sophistication - elsewhere around the world. They bought vineyards in Portugal, and then Australia, and decided to break with tradition completely and turn their farming techniques over to the biodynamic method, which emphasizes using natural cycles of the moon, enriching the soils with various natural components, and trying to be completely harmonious with nature. As such, all of their vineyards around the world are completely organic and biodynamic, and all of their wines are single-varietal - another unusual feature at odds with their traditional roots, where blending is very much the norm. The results more than speak for themselves, however, and Marc and Michel Chapoutier continue to receive awards and recognition for their wines, as they seek to expand further and continue spreading their message.