M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage 2011 1.5 Litre Magnum

M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage 2011 presented in a 1.5 Litre Magnum bottle.

M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage 2011

M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage is a top-tier, single-vineyard wine produced by Maison M. Chapoutier in the Hermitage AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) on the northern Rhône Valley’s steep, granitic hills.

The 100% Syrah grapes come from the tiny L’Ermite lieu-dit, a tiny parcel at the very summit of the Hermitage hill, around an old chapel called Ermite. Except for vines planted to replace dead vines, the vines here have an age of 120 years. This tiny site is home to some of the oldest, poorest soils and oldest vines in Hermitage, making wines with exceptional concentration and longevity.

Chapoutier has farmed the L’Ermite vineyard biodynamically since the early 1990s, and the wines often showcase powerful terroir expression.

M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage Winemaking

Grape Variety: 100% Syrah

Harvest: Late hand-harvesting to obtain optimal alcohol content

Vinification: 100% destemmed harvest

• Matured in concrete tanks
• Fermentation lasts approximately 4 weeks to obtain soft and stable tannins
• Temperature-controlled (does not exceed 32°C) for good quality extraction
• Only free-run juice is used

Ageing: Free-run juice transferred immediately into new and one-year-old oak casks

• Matured for 18 to 20 months
• Maturing 20% of the wine is aged in new barrels, 20% in barrels already used for 1 vintage,
  30% in barrels of 2 vintages, and the balance in concrete vats.

Chapoutier’s Fac et Spera Sélection Parcellaire

This rare magnum bottling of M. Chapoutier L’Ermite Hermitage 2011 is part of Chapoutier’s Fac et Spera Sélection Parcellaire range of wines, a range of specially selected parcels of single vineyard wines which Chapoutier describe as a “precise ‘photographic’ image of a terroir”, a snapshot of a grape, in a certain year, in a given terroir. Fac & Spera means “Do & Hope”.

Maison Chapoutier: A Rhone Icon

Maison Chapoutier has grown into one of the largest and most recognisable producers of Rhone wines. The company dates back to 1808 when Michel Chapoutier’s distant ancester Polydor Chapoutier, bought a parcel of vines in the Rhone Valley. Today, the Chapoutier has vineyards throughout the Rhone from Côte Rôtie in the north to Luberon in the south, as well as having overseas projects like Domaine Tournon in Victoria, Australia.

A Biodynamic Wine Pioneer

Michel is committed to making the best wines whilst respecting the environment. Chapoutier now owns the largest biodynamic vineyard in Europe. It is his personal conviction that “the complexity in a wine comes from the level of microbiological activity around the vine roots”. Soils on the Chapoutier estate never see pesticides or herbicides, floral growth amongst the vines is essential, and the natural cycles of earth, sun and moon are also considered.