2009 Chapoutier Ermitage le Meal Blanc

Marsanne - 750ML
Reg: $239.94
$189.94
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REVIEWS

WA 99 WS 98
WA 99

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, September 2015

From a warm site and a hot vintage, the 2009 Ermitage le Meal Blanc was harvested on the August 28, and aged in 100% new French oak. Flirting with perfection and a full-bore, exotic, almost over-the-top expression of...
WS 98

Wine Spectator, April 2012

An intense and gorgeous wine with a rich yet remarkably racy core of starfruit fennel anise white peach and chamomile that courses along followed by a gorgeous finish of salted butter and blanched almond. There's lots of...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type White
Varietal Marsanne
Country France
Region Rhone
Sub-region Northern Rhone
Appellation Hermitage
Vintage 2009
Size 750ML

Chapoutier is one of the oldest wine producers in the Rhone Valley with a history dating back to 1808. A distant ancestor, Polydor Chapoutier, was the first to buy vines here, shifting from being a simple grape grower to making and trading his own wine. For the last two hundred years, the estate has been producing some of the greatest wines in the Rhone Valley. Today, the range also includes wines from some Roussillon appellations as well as projects in Portugal and Australia.

Under Michel Chapoutier’s leadership, quality improved and Chapoutier gained international recognition. The massive negociant and winery produces single-vineyard expressions and classic wines from a range of appellations in the north and south of the valley.

They have adopted biodynamic farming techniques and have included Braille markings on their labels since 1996. This was done from a desire to reach out to and include lovers of good wines with sight-impairments, and as a tribute to Maurice Monier of La Sizeranne, a member of the family that previously owned the vines of the same name and who invented the first abbreviated version of Braille.

Chapoutier’s much lauded le Meal Blanc is made from Marsanne. The vines, which are more than 50 years old, give low production and high quality, sourced from the Meal hillside, an old fluvioglacial alluvial deposit soil with shingles which contribute to soil warming. The fruit is hand-harvested generally at very good maturity.

The wine has a brilliant, golden yellow color. It is intense on the nose, very mineral, with celery overtones and a slight and well-integrated hint of wood. There is ample attack on the palate, a well-rounded, fine exotic freshness, and roasted almond flavor. Depending on the vintage, the wine can be kept from 30 to 60 years or from 50 to 75 years.