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2006 Chapoutier Ermitage le Pavillon Syrah
Syrah: 1500ml
$379.99
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.
points awarded:
WA 9797 points,
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2009
There are nearly 1,200 cases of the 2006 Ermitage Le Pavillon. Since Michel Chapoutier released his first full vintage, 1989, of this single vineyard Hermitage, it has been one of the great wines of both France and the world. The 1989 and 1990 remain very young wines (I had them over the holiday break and was amazed by their still youthful personalities.). The inky/purple-hued 2006 exhibits a gorgeous perfume of crushed rocks, white flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, graphite, and a subtle touch of oak. Exceptionally full-bodied, multilayered in concentration, extraordinarily pure, and long, this is a prodigious young Hermitage that should be at its finest between 2018-2050+.

