2016 Chapoutier Ermitage le Meal

Syrah - 1.5L
$370.00
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REVIEWS

DC 99 JS 97 JD 97 WA 97 WE 94
DC 99

Decanter, October 2017

From a very steep southern exposure, aged in 25% new oak for 18 months. This wine is relatively dark, brooding and intense in terms of aromatics, and very full-bodied and broad on the palate, with a creamy texture...
JS 97

jamessuckling.com, August 2018

(JS 96-97 points) A sexy array of savory, spice and meaty aromas, played into ripe, black cherries, dark plums and blackberries. Smooth, sleek and discreetly powerful palate with a juicy core of dark-berry and...
JD 97

jebdunnuck.com, December 2018

More ripe and flamboyant, the 2016 Ermitage Le Méal has a beautifully rounded, voluptuous yet pure style that's very much in the vintage. Black raspberries, spice, dried flowers, and a touch of minerality all emerge from...
WA 97

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, November 2018

Attractively bright and fresh on the nose, the 2016 Ermitage le Meal is full-bodied yet creamy and supple in feel. Because of its greater level of ripeness, Chapoutier explains that it's aged in 50% demi-muids to lessen...
WE 94

Wine Enthusiast, July 2020

Riper and darker in fruit than the producer's other Hermitage bottlings, Le Meal offers intense blackberry and plum notes baked by the sun and accented by layers of anise, black pepper and allspice. It's a richer, more...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Red
Varietal Syrah
Country France
Region Rhone
Sub-region Northern Rhone
Appellation Hermitage
Vintage 2016
Size 1.5L

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.

Ermitage wines possess a rich historical past. They were appreciated as early on as Roman times when they were enjoyed (as well as Cote Rotie wines) under the name of "Vienne wines" and were later to be called "Saint Christopher's hillside wines" because of a chapel there bearing the saint's name. They were also to be known of as “Tournon wines".

The name of Ermitage probably first appeared in the 17th Century in memory of Henry Gaspard, a knight from Sterimberg who, having come back from the Crusades (in the 13th Century) and tired of waging war, lived as a hermit on a hillside which had been given to him by Anne of Castille, Queen of Spain. There he planted a vineyard.

Chapoutier’s Ermitage le Meal, 100% Syrah, is produced with grapes coming from the Meal hillside. This slope is composed of high terraces of shingles and clay. The vines are about 50 years old.

The color is deep garnet red with purple lights during its youth. The wine has ripe fruits and smoky aromas, powerful tannins, and taste of velvety, blackberry jam. Depending on the vintage, the wine can be kept from 30 to 60 years or from 50 to 75 years.