armit - Domaine M. Chapoutier

The Chapoutier family have been in the Rhône Valley since 1808. Polydor Chapoutier was the first in the family to buy vines, and the winemaking tradition has carried on through the family to Michel Chapoutier, seven generations later. Based in Tain, Maison Chapoutier is one of the best known names in the Rhône Valley and their vineyards have spread throughout the best sites in the region. The principal objective of the estate is to ‘Let the soil speak, express the terroir and its vintage’.

The grapes producing “De l’Orée” come from the parcel ‘Les Murets’ in the Eastern part of the hill. The soil was formed by alluvium deposited by the Rhône and Isère Rivers during the Ice Age. It comprises of a mixture of rolled pebbles and sand. The old vines (70 years old) guarantee low yields of high quality grapes. An amazing wine over time, its qualities of white fruit, honeysuckle, quince, and hazelnut continue to awe all observers. It is one of the longest-living dry white wines in France.

This Méal hillside has a similar soil composition to the De I’Orée vineyard, littered with large pebbles that help to catch the sun’s warmth. The vine age, in excess of 50 years, has again resulted in very low yields. The tasting note for Le Méal is similar in some respects to De l’Orée but with a touch more weight, structure and greater perfume.

£1150 per case 6 In Bond

This wine is made from a selection of Chapoutier’s oldest Marsanne (some more than 100 years old) situated at the top of the Hermitage hill, behind the chapel, in a place named the Ermite. The very poor, granite soil yields powerful, more austere wines than those from Ermitage in the other selections. This is the most structured of Michel’s white Hermitage and the rarest of all his wines.

This cuvée’s primary source is a very steep, terraced vineyard in the Côte Brune above Ampuis. The soil here is notably more limestone schistous, whereas the old-vine source in the Côte Blonde, more acidic and sandy, provides wine of less dense colour. Pure Syrah (Michel adds no Viognier) grown at minuscule yields from 70 year old vines gives this wine power and spiciness, and perhaps less outright mass than any of the Ermitage sélections.

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The eponymous vineyard grows on very poor granitic and shallow soils surrounding the chapel of ‘Ermite’ at the top of the hill of Hermitage. The age of the vines averages over 80 years. This wine is the most individual statement in the Hermitage appellation, and the most prized for followers of M. Chapoutier’s grandest of crus. L’Ermite traditionally produces the most elegant and aromatic Hermitage. It has powerful tannins, smoky notes and black pepper – the perfect expression of Syrah grown on granite soils.

Le Méal, a broader swathe of the hill at a high elevation (150-200 metres) facing slightly more Easterly, takes its name from the old French word meaning “the best”. The land of sandy gravel, combined with Syrah vines over 50 years old, give a wine characterisedby a supple character, fine balance and deeply intense fruit aromas. Yields are again exceptionally low, at around 20 hl/ha. Le Méal tends to produce the longest-lived wines from these soils with greater perfume and richness.

This wine comes from ‘lieu-dit’ Les Bessards, a fine layer of sediment lying on granite slopes. Its 65 year old vines are positioned at a lower altitude band of the Hermitage hill, at approximately 130 metres, above the ruins of a stone house that gives it its name. With tiny yields (20 hl/ha), this is perhaps the most complex of the various Ermitage sélections. Le Pavillon is characterised by great length on the palate, and liquorice and tobacco aromas.

This is a selection of Chapoutier’s oldest Syrah vines in the appellation of Saint-Joseph, located in the town of Tournon. Here the very poor, very stony granite soil (suggested by the name) is vital in restraining excessive vigour that can adversely affect the quality of less well favoured Saint-Joseph vines. This wine is characterised by fine balance and forceful tannins, which can be attributed to the poor soil.

This vineyard is littered with the famous ‘galets’ or pudding stones characteristic of the area, but in reality the subsoil is far more important – quaternary terrace, with a complex and varied mixture of red clay and ferruginous sand. The vines are the oldest Châteauneufdu- Pape vines in existence (about 90 years of age). Its biodynamic viticulture ensures the low yields (15-20 hl/ha) necessary to create a pure and intense Grenache-only wine. Late picking develops exotic aromas in this very well-built and long-flavoured wine.

This distinctive terroir is located in the town of Bédarrides, and is characterised by large rolled quartz pebbles and a stone content of over 50%. The Croix de Bois terroir is quite distinct from Barbe Rac. About half the age of Barbe Rac vines, and a bit lower in elevation, its spicy nose and deep red-fruit flavours make a distinctive statement of dense Grenache intensity. The wines from this land have strong structure and colour. It offers multiple aromas: very ripe red fruit, plum, dried grasses and a few spicy scents with full flavoured warm tannins.

It took Michel six years of observing and analysing to gain an understanding of this very rich and complex terroir. Grenache grapes come from 70 year old vines, grown on a magnificent plot in the heart of the garrigue scrubland. The Syrah grapes are ripened slowly on vines grown on clayey limestone soil and are also grown on the Maison’s most beautiful schist soil. The extraction of tannins occurs only by pigeage during a long maceration period of minimum 4 weeks. The wine is aged for 18 months: 50% in tank and 50% in barrels.

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