Reviews
-Jeb Dunnuck -
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate -
-Wine Spectator -
-Vinous -
Technical Details
- 100% Marsanne
- Michel Chapoutier
- France
- Rhône Valley
- Northern Rhône
- Hermitage
- Méal Vineyard (Le Méal hillside), features 50 year old vines on a south-facing slope of high terraces of fluvioglacial alluvial shingles and clay
- Organic and Biodynamic practices
- French oak casks
- Whole-cluster pressed, and fermented 50% in large new wooden casks (600-liter demi-muids), and 50% fermented in vats
- aged 10 to 12 months in French oak casks with lees stirring
- 15%
- 844 cases
M. Chapoutier Blanc Le Méal Hermitage 2009
Organic and Biodynamic practices
38% OFF RETAIL!
If Thomas Jefferson wrote in his diary that white Hermitage was the greatest dry white wine in France, he was most likely drinking from a hillside very close to this. The Le Méal Blanc is produced from 100-year-old Marsanne vines on the summit of the Hermitage hill, on chalk and alluvial soils, harvested in late August 2009 and aged in 100% new French oak. The 2009 is one of the most extraordinary expressions of white Hermitage ever produced from this estate. Jeb Dunnuck awarded a perfect 100, describing glorious aromas of lychee, toasted hazelnut, brioche, mineral, and honeycomb that literally soar from the glass, awesomely concentrated and structured with a deep, decadent texture that somehow stays weightless and fresh, with gorgeous acidity, perfect balance, and a blockbuster finish. Wine Advocate awarded 99, describing the most exotic, tropical fruit-flavored expression from Chapoutier in 2009, with mango, orange blossom, nectarine, and white currants, mind-boggling in its intensity. Wine Spectator awarded 98. Vinous 94. Now 16 years from harvest and still on a magnificent trajectory, with a drinking window that extends through 2049 and beyond. The price here is extraordinary for a 100-point white Hermitage of this age and caliber. These are incredibly rare. This is the moment.