M. Chapoutier - Hermitage Chante-Alouette 2020

Bettane & Desseauve

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.

Decanter

About the wine:

Ripe and attractive, with notes of apricot and mango. The palate is full-bodied but not oily, with good weight, presence, mango-like acidity and deft oak work to underpin the richness of the fruit. The pungent, spicy finish is impressively long, ending on notes of tobacco and cinnamon. An authentic white Hermitage with freshness and grandeur, but also drinkability. A very good, classic vintage of this cuvée.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

This venerable (19th century) house, which Michel Chapoutier launched into international orbit in the 1990s, offers a wide range of wines 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

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.

Jancis Robinson

About the wine:

Lively, fresh nose with notes of quince, citrus and candied fruit. Fresh but ripe on the palate, with a hint of jam. Sufficiently fruity but not at all heavy. A little dynamism on the immaculate finish.

James Suckling

About the wine:

Impressive nose of mirabelle plum and ripe peach with hints of toast, honeycomb and gunflint. Great concentration, with no more weight than a very good white Burgundy Grand Cru. Astonishing interplay of fine tannins and mineral acidity.

Jeb Dunnuck

About the wine:

Brilliant across the board, Hermitage Chante-Alouette Blanc 2020 is a white wine that enthusiasts should snap up. Composed entirely of Marsanne from a mix of granitic and more loessic sites, aged in a mixture of demi-muids and vats, it offers a gorgeous perfume of honeyed peach, quince, crushed stone and toast. With lively acidity, medium to full body, lovely mid-palate depth and an excellent finish, it will benefit from a few years' bottle age and keep for 15 years or more. This is the quintessential Hermitage Blanc.