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2003 Chapoutier Ermitage le Meal Blanc Marsanne
Marsanne: 750ml
$199.99
about this wine:
As I have written many times, all of these wines are produced from
rigidly cultivated, bio-dynamically managed vineyards. That has been the
rule since Michel Chapoutier first took over this firm in the late
1980s. Now, with over 20 years of biodynamic viticulture under his belt,
Chapoutier remains committed to this rather radical style of organic
farming. He believes the effect is to reduce rot in damp, rainy
vintages. Moreover, he has observed that after 10 to 15 years of
biodynamic farming, the natural acids tend to be more vivid and the
overall pH of the soils (as well as the wines) has dropped.
Controversial, outspoken and brutally candid, Chapoutier, who suffers no
fools, continues to admirably produce wines that are among the finest
in the world and potentially the longest lived. Refusing to acidify,
chaptalize, or touch the wines in any way, he clearly wants every wine
to capture the very essence of its terroir and vintage personality. In
this, he succeeds remarkably. --- Robert Parker
points awarded:
WA 9898 points,
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, February 2006
Like the concentrated essence of bee's honey with resiny, flower, and mineral notes, the 2003 Ermitage Le Meal blanc is a huge, full-bodied, even tannic effort with amazing viscosity and thickness. This is a wine to drink young, or forget for two decades. To Chapoutier's credit, he is making these wines for posterity, not for immediate gratification. The 2003 Ermitage Le Meal blanc may be the finest dry white I have ever tasted. Providing a prodigious tasting experience, it is filled with honeyed citrus, an unctuous stoniness to the fruit character, amazing body, and abundant freshness, precision, and length (the finish lasts nearly 90 seconds). A legend in the making, it is an incredible effort. This white Hermitage cuvee is off the charts. It tips the scales between 14.5-16.1% alcohol, and is a candidate for perfection. This white will be bottled without fining or filtration. As I have said so many times over the last 15 years, the top Chapoutier wines are meant for very long term drinking, and are not designed for immediate gratification. Everything Chapoutier is doing, from his bio-dynamically farmed vineyard to tiny yields, extended fermentations, indigenous yeasts, and no fining or filtration, is done to produce the essence of a vineyard and a vintage. His track record since 1989 and 1990 admirably proves that these are indeed remarkable wines made by a young genius who refuses to compromise. Michel Chapoutier has been misunderstood by some of his peers, and there is a lot of jealousy when someone this young is so incredibly talented, but it is an irrefutable fact that these are wines of singular greatness as well as longevity.
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