Chapoutier

Chapoutier, or more precisely Maison M. Chapoutier, is both a winery and a négociant business. It was founded in 1808 in Tain-L’Hermitage in the Northern-Rhône area.

After Michel Chapoutier succeeded his father Max in 1989, the estate has become entirely biodynamic. The objective and philosophy of the estate is to produce the most natural and purest expressions of the terroir possible. It’s the soil (and vines) that inspires the firm.

They produce wine at four different levels but their top wines are from the appellations Côte-Rôtie, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and especially Hermitage. They believe in “mono-cépage” wines (100% produced from a single grape varietal), so their Côte-Rôties is 100% Syrah, the white Hermitages are 100% Marsanne and his red Châteauneuf-du-Pape is made from 100% Grenache. All are made from parcels of extremely old vines (up to 100+ years), with very low yields, aged in 100% new oak and frequently bottled without any fining or filtration.

A selection of the very best wines, produced by Chapoutier: Châteauneuf-du-Pape “Barbe Rac”, with the oldest parcel daring back to 1901. Production is 8000 bottles per year. Côte-Rôtie “La Mordorée” from parcels of very old vines (75-80 years). Production is 6500 bottles per year. Red Hermitage “L’Ermite”, made from a small parcel of vines, believed to be over 100 years old. Annual production is 6000 bottles. Red Hermitage “Le Méal”, also produced from ancient vines with an average production of 6000 bottles as well and the Hermitage “Le Pavillon”, made from parcels dating back to the 19th century. Production is approximately 9000 bottles every year.

The collection white Hermitage wines consist of: “L’Ermite”, with an average of only 1500 bottles every year, “Méal” (5000 bottles) and “L’Orée” which has an annual production of 8000 bottles per year. All the above-mentioned wines (both red and white) are capable to last multiple decades!