M. Chapoutier Le Meal Ermitage Blanc 2020

Description

M. Chapoutier Le Meal Ermitage Blanc is part of Chapoutier’s Fac et Spera Sélection Parcellaire range of wines, a range of specially selected parcels of single vineyard wines which Chapoutier describe as a “precise ‘photographic’ image of a terroir”, a snapshot of a grape, in a certain year, in a given terroir. Fac & Spera means “Do & Hope”.

Maison Chapoutier has grown into one of the largest and most recognisable producers of Rhone wines. The company dates back to 1808 when Michel Chapoutier’s distant ancester Polydor Chapoutier bought a parcel of vines in the Rhone Valley. Today the Chapoutier has vineyard throughout the Rhone from Côte Rôtie in the north to Luberon in the south as well as having overseas projecs like Domaine Tournon in Victoria, Australia. Michel is committed to making the best wines whilst respecting the environment. Chapoutier now owns the largest biodynamic vineyard in Europe. It is his personal conviction that “the complexity in a wine comes from the level of microbiological activity around the vine roots”. Soils on the Chapoutier estate never see pesticides or herbicides, floral growth amongst the vines is essential, and the natural cycles of earth, sun and moon are also considered.

M. Chapoutier Le Meal Ermitage Blanc is made from 100% Marsanne. The grapes come from the Méal hillside. ‘Le Méal’ is a 2ha parcel of old Marsanne vines – some more than 50-year-old, with very low yields. Planted on fluvioglacial alluvial deposit soil with large pebbles that help to warm the soil and retain heat, contributing to the good ripening of the grapes.

The grapes are hand harvested when fully mature. After pressing the grape must is cold settled for 24 to 48 hours. Approximately 50% of the wine is vinified in new large (600L ) oak barrels and the rest in vat. The wine is aged in cask with lees stirring. The wine is frequently tasted to assess when the wine is ready to be bottled, but it is usally matured for 10 to 12 months prior to bottling.