Geography

Hermitage is the most concentrated wine appellation in the Northern Rhône — a single hill on the left (east) bank of the Rhône, just above the town of Tain-l’Hermitage. The hill rises about 200 metres above the river and faces full south, capturing sun all day. The geology is complex granite-and-mica-schist bedrock with localized clay-and-flint deposits. The hill is divided into named lieux-dits (Bessards, Le Méal, Greffieux, l’Hermite, Péléat, Beaume) that each produce slightly different Syrah expressions.

The producers and the negociants

Hermitage has been the great Northern Rhône appellation for centuries — historically blended into the great Bordeaux of the 19th century (the practice was called ‘hermitaging’ a Bordeaux for added body and color). The appellation is dominated by a handful of large negociant houses (Paul Jaboulet Aîné, M. Chapoutier, Delas Frères, Guigal) and a small number of family domaines (Jean-Louis Chave being the most legendary). Holdings are highly fragmented — most great Hermitage is blended across multiple lieux-dits.

Style of the wines

Hermitage Syrah: the most powerful and structured of Northern Rhône reds. Blackberry, black plum, black pepper, smoked meat, leather, sometimes a graphite-and-iron mineral spine. Tannin is firm; acid is bright; alcohol typically 13-14%. The wines are famously austere in youth and require significant cellar time to integrate. White Hermitage — made from Marsanne and Roussanne, primarily — is one of the great age-worthy whites in France and arguably even more cellarable than the red.

How they age

Top Hermitage from a great vintage ages forty to fifty years routinely. Jaboulet’s La Chapelle 1961 is one of the most legendary wines of the 20th century. Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage ages similarly. The wines tend to drink awkwardly for the first decade and reveal their full glory only after fifteen to twenty years of bottle age.

Producers we know

Paul Jaboulet Aîné (we carry La Chapelle in the BWM cellar — see /encyclopedia/grapes-encyclopedia/syrah-encyclopedia/), Jean-Louis Chave (the legendary family domaine), M. Chapoutier (especially the single-lieu-dit bottlings — Le Pavillon from Bessards, L’Ermite, Le Méal, Les Greffieux), Delas Frères, E. Guigal, Bernard Faurie. Browse Northern Rhône at /regions/northern-rhone/.