Hermitage Blanc Chevalier de Sterimberg 2021 Paul Jaboulet Aîné

Professional reviews

James Suckling (95)

Fascinating nose that combines notes of white flowers with stone fruit and complex vegetal aromas. Both right and structured, this has a tone of wet stone minerality and wild herb freshness. Long complete finish with a wonderful silky texture. A cuvee of roughly two-thirds marsanne and one-third roussanne. Matured in a combination of concrete eggs and demi-muid oak casks. From organically grown grapes.

Jancis Robinson (16.5)

NB name change from this vintage (no longer Paul Jaboulet Aîné). 100% Marsanne. Harvested 16–24 August. Cool, wet vintage. Alcoholic fermentation mainly in concrete eggs plus a few demi-muids, with further ageing in the same vessels with fine-lees stirring. TA 4.09 g/l, pH 3.3.

Preserved lemons, beeswax and tinned peaches bring a complex, lightly savoury and enticing nose. The palate is initially broad, with succulent orchard fruit, hints of lanolin and more waxy layers. Delicately spiced with a weightless, long finish and a vibrant acid hit.