Ermitage Le Meal Blanc 2021 Chapoutier

Avis professionnels

Jancis Robinson (18)

Picked 16 August, always the first vineyard to be harvested. 2 ha of Marsanne, some more than 50 years old on alluvial soils. The large pebbles help retain heat.
Deep gold. This offers honey and tension and a glorious cocktail with floral, blossomy notes. Complete with a lightly bitter note and already wonderful. Long and glorious. You could lose yourself in this. Gorgeous when first tasted but after L’Ermite it admittedly tastes blowsier…

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

From the warmer, south-facing Le Méal lieu-dit and always the first to be harvested, the 2021 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc is another pure, elegant, incredibly impressive white offering notes of honeyed stone fruits, roasted hazelnuts, brioche, and crushed rock. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and opulent, it's more expressive and expansive than the more chiseled, elegant De L'Orée, but the quality is basically the same. It too needs 3-4 years of bottle age.