Robe — Opaque black-crimson in youth, garnet with age
blackberry
black olive
smoked bacon
violet
leather
Palate
Powerful, deep and tannic, yet with an almost regal balance
Ageing
15–40 years
Serving
17–18 °C, decant in youth
The great hill of Hermitage rises above the town of Tain, a single granite dome that has made one of the world's most celebrated red wines since the seventeenth century — so prized that it was once shipped to Bordeaux to strengthen the finest clarets. Pure Syrah from these steep, sun-facing slopes gives a red of extraordinary power, depth and longevity.
Young it is a dark, tannic wall of blackberry, smoked meat and olive; with decades it unfolds into leather, game and an almost infinite complexity. A little white Marsanne and Roussanne may be co-fermented in, softening the whole. Small in output and legendary in stature, Hermitage is the northern Rhône's crown.