2000 Ermitage l'Ermite
By Chapoutier
2000 Ermitage l’Ermite from Chapoutier, Rhone
As one navigates through the captivating roster of Chapoutier's offer, the 2000 Ermitage l’Ermite distinctively stands out. Acclaimed for its stellar reputation among fine wine investors, this sizeable vintage hails from the steep granite-clad slopes of Hermitage hillside in the Rhone region where vitality is the very essence of its soil.
An impeccable harmony of characteristics
The 2000 Ermitage l’Ermite from Chapoutier spirals around the glass with a heady symphony of scents and flavors. Shades of beguiling dark fruits, game, and liquid minerality captivate the senses in a rhapsody that only an exceptional terroir could inspire.
Benefiting from a bountiful year, the chosen Syrah grapes were ripened to full-bodied perfection, delicately absorbing the maverick climatic conditions that rendered an outstanding concentration and balance. A luscious, compelling bare-all expression of its high-altitude birthplace.
Laying down a legacy in every bottle
The 2000 vintage savours the advantage of a growing season that balanced rain and sunshine splendidly. A standout year for the Rhone region that imprints a structural intensity and profound depth that seduces even the most discerning palate.
Decant it almost religiously to unmask its true grandeur and prepare your senses for an unforgettable tasting experience guided by ripe black fruit, truffle notes, and whispers of violets. Ermitage l’Ermite is as serene as it is complex; a parable of its time.
This discourse captured within this stunning French Syrah possesses the key to wise and fruitful investments; testament to Chapoutier's esteemed virtuosity and a testament to the enduring appeal of Rhone wines.
The 2000 Ermitage l’Ermite from Chapoutier is not just a bottle of wine, it's an investable narrative of nature, nurturing, and old-world nobility beautifully folded into each sip.
Current market price
£2,980.00
12x75cl
Highest score
99
POP score
156.84
Scores and tasting notes
I grossly underestimated the 2000 Ermitage l’Ermite from barrel. This wine, which emerges from largely pre-phylloxera vines planted on the dome of Hermitage, adjacent to the chapel that is perched there so photogenically, possesses extraordinary finesse and elegance. It reveals notes of liquid minerals intermixed with kirsch liqueur and blackberries. While it never possesses the power and breadth of flavor of Le Meal or Le Pavillon, l’Ermite appears to be a hypothetical blend of Bordeaux’s Lafleur and Ausone as it always displays a certain austerity early in life. The extraordinary 2000 flirts with perfection. A provocative wine with great minerality, finesse, and delineation, it blew me away when I tasted it from bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2035. These uncompromising offerings from a young genius are not meant for consumers who want something to drink immediately. They are the essence of bio-dynamically farmed vineyard sites cropped incredibly low, given extended fermentations with indigenous yeasts, and rarely touched until they go into the bottle unfined and unfiltered. In most vintages, the wines are not even racked off their lees, which only adds to their natural style. These are truly remarkable wines, but for most readers, patience is the operative rule as they generally need a good 8-10 years to strut their stuff. Once moribund, over the last 12 years, this firm has become one of the reference points for nearly all the Rhone Valley appellations since the brash yet immensely talented Michel Chapoutier took over in the late eighties. The single vineyard offerings are as good as Rhone Valley wines can be. Moreover, Chapoutier continues to upgrade the quality of those wines offered in more significant quantities than the 500 or so cases each of the single vineyard offerings. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900
Robert Parker Jr - The Wine Advocate, 29 June 2003