M. Chapoutier - Ermitage Le Méal blanc 2015

Bettane & Desseauve

About the wine:

Richer, more powerful than de-l'orée, the fruit is overripe. In this solar vintage, the terroir itself is perhaps not the one most at ease with the sun.

About the domain :

Today, Michel Chapoutier is ably supported by his children Mathilde and Maxime, to run the most important wine house in the Northern Rhône, and a long-standing specialist in Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage. Chapoutier is not only a major wine merchant, but also a producer of top-flight domaine cuvées, as the estate's vines have long been cultivated biodynamically. Sélections parcellaires, the top-of-the-range wines, perfectly reflect Chapoutier's philosophy: parcel-based, single-varietal and produced every year, they are above all a reflection of the terroir, in all its good aspects and sometimes its excesses.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

This venerable (19th c.) and unmissable house, brought into international orbit by Michel Chapoutier in the 1990s, offers a wide range from its own vineyards (345 ha, biodynamic) or purchased grapes, in most of the Rhône Valley's leading appellations, as well as in Roussillon and Alsace. His children, Mathilde and Maxime, have recently joined the family adventure.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

Another perfect wine is the Ermitage le Meal Blanc 2015. The most decadent, unctuous and structured of the range, with irresistible notes of white currants, toasted nuts, celery seed and licorice, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a huge mid-palate and a refreshing, pure and sensational finish that never stops. If I had to choose a white wine for a desert island, this might be it.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the domain :

Under the Maison M. Chapoutier address, we bring together wines from the trading activities of this two-hundred-year-old institution in Tain-l'Hermitage. Michel Chapoutier, now accompanied by his daughter Mathilde, offers a wide range of Rhône appellations, with a production volume approaching one million bottles. But the Chapoutier name is also present in other regions (Champagne, Alsace, Languedoc and Australia), a testament to the family's dynamism. While some cuvées are convincing, others are far more unspectacular. This heterogeneity has led us to withdraw the star from the house this year.

Wine Spectator

Jancis Robinson

Vinous A. Galloni

About the wine:

Intense yellow-gold. Penetrating aromas of citrus and ripe stone fruit with mineral accents are complemented by notes of chalky minerals, saffron and chamomile. Juicy, smoky and deeply concentrated yet supple on the palate, it offers dense flavors of peach nectar, pear liqueur, Meyer lemon and buttered toast that show superb drive and concentration. The mineral note is repeated insistently on the incisive, smoky finish, which lingers with exceptional persistence.

Jeb Dunnuck