About Hermitage Wine
August 18, 2011
Hermitage Wine
Hermitage (sometimes written Ermitage or L’Hermitage) is possibly the most enduringly prestigious of all the Rhone appellations, although it is closely followed by Cote Rotie 30 miles (48km) to the north, and Chateauneuf du Pape 70 miles (112km) to the south.
The fame of the rich red wines of Hermitage wines reached its peak during the 19th century, just before the wines of Bordeaux’s Medoc were classified and began their rise to stardom. Hermitage was an official wine of the French court under King Louis XIII, whose son maintained the tradition, and even presented visiting foreign royalty with the wine as a gift. Before international legal changes were made to protect the Hermitage name, it was used to symbolize a particular wine style, and to imply high quality. Australian winery Penfolds added the name Hermitage to their prestigious Bin 95 wine ‘Grange’ until 1989.
Both red and white Hermitage wines are long-lived and full-bodied. The red wines, which may be aged for 30 years or more, are known for their rich aromas of leather, coffee and red berries, and are made exclusively from Syrah. The less famous whites, which may be cellared for about 15 years, have aromas of honeysuckle, tropical fruit and earthy minerals, and are made predominantly from Marsanne with limited use of Roussanne.
Hermitage also produces ‘vins de paille‘, sweet white wines made from Marsanne and Roussanne grapes which have been dried out in the sun, on straw mats (paille means ‘straw’ in French). These wines are expensive because of the labor-intensive processes required to create them, but they are also rich, full flavored and very long-lived. These wines are only made in warmer years, and it is strictly forbidden for Hermitage vins de paille to undergo chaptalization at any time.
The land on which these vines are grown is strictly limited by local geography and thus unable to expand outwards (unlike that of the Saint-Joseph appellation, which has increased its geographical coverage by a factor of ten over the past fifty years). The whole extent of the steep granite hillside on which the Hermitage vineyards are planted faces south, meaning that the grapes benefit from the maximum amount of sunlight throughout the day. The topsoil on the hillside is relatively thin when compared with that of the valley floor, and is collectively made up of a wide variety of types, ranging from sandy gravel in the west to rockier areas higher up, and a limestone in the centre. As intense Rhone sunshine warms the hillside during the day, the granite bedrock stores this heat, encouraging the grapes to ripen more fully than those in less exposed sites. The effect of the local terroirs is most pronounced on the western side of the hill, which is steeper than the eastern side, and enjoys the most prolonged exposure to afternoon sunshine.
It is near the peak of the hill, 900ft (275m) above the town of Tain-L’Hermitage, that the Hermitage chapel is to be found. It gives its name to the town below, two appellations, the vineyard around it, and a large number of contradictory myths and legends.
