Crozes-Hermitage (2) M Chapoutier

Chapoutier are one of the major producers in the northern Rhône, and they have 60 hectares in the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, which makes them one of the more significant vineyard owners here. They are taking Crozes seriously, and have been planting in the north where the terroirs are very interesting, but where the slopes make it harder to work.

Varogne

I visited with Maxime Chapoutier, and we began by taking a trip to a special vineyard just past the hill of Hermitage. This is Varogne, and the soils are a beautiful granite, and the vines are individually staked, sur echalas. We then took a visit to some new plantings above the village of Gervans, also in the north.

Maxime Chapoutier

Chapoutier’s Rhône vineyards have been farmed biodynamically for 30 years now. They have been working recently with bio-indicative plants, which is a new way to understand the vineyards. They work with a botanist who comes twice a year. Their biodynamic vineyards have up to 75 different plants: a vineyard they recently bought had just 10 different plants growing in it. ‘For us, to cultivate a diversity of plants in important,’ says Maxime.

They have also been trying to decrease the soil work that we do. ‘If you work the soils too much you dry the soil microlife and kill your soils,’ says Maxime. ‘We have been working more and more with animals.’ The animals in question are sheep, and more recently they have been trialling kuni kuni pigs. ‘They don’t bite the grass,’ says Maxime. ‘When the grass is bitten it feels the attack and takes more water from the soil.’ The pigs eat the roots rather than just biting the grass. ‘It’s pretty exciting to work with animals,’ he says. ‘It brings a good atmosphere in the team. Now the pigs are like dogs: you can call them and pet them.’ They have 8 pigs, and the benefit of kuni kuni’s is that they can’t raise their necks. They use four per 1000 m2 and leave them there for 10 days. They eat the grass and the roots, and they leave them out for the day with temporary fences, and then return them to their pig house each evening. The larger pigs are used on the flatter vineyards, and for the sloped sites where the vines are at risk of damage they use the younger, smaller ones. They are currently using the pigs in Hermitage, St Joseph and their best sites in Crozes-Hermitage.

For all their whites, they now oxidise the juice. For the negociant wines they work with lower levels of solids (150 NTU), but for domaine whites they go for very high levels of solids (450 NTU). And when they rack they try to keep as much lees as they can. They use mainly demi-muids for a good ratio of lees to juice.

Gervans, in the north of the appellation

In terms of the structure of their portfolio in the northern Rhône, for each appellation they do single vineyard wines, and then a selection that blends wines just below this level from a range of vineyards.

For reds they used to do long maceration and high temperature ferments (30 C), but since 2015 they’ve reduced maceration to 3 weeks and fermentation peak to 29 C. They’ve also introduced whole bunch, with 20% on alluvial soils and 15% on granitic soils.

Yannick Alléno & Michel Chapoutier Guer-Van Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2023 France
13.5% alcohol. A collaboration with chef Yannick Alléno. 100% Marsanne, like all the Chapoutier whites. A tiny vineyard so they only make 300 bottles, this is from the second stop at the top of the hill. Very fine and expressive with nice spicy bite under the bold pear and peach fruit, showing nice texture and a sense of finesse as well as depth. Saline and mineral on the finish (from the granitic terroir) this is quite beautiful. 95/100

M Chapoutier Sicamor Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2023 France
12.5% alcohol. Sicamor is the ring around the barrel – this is because they select vineyards around Hermitage, with granitic, loess and alluvial soils. This is a new wine just released this year. The aim is to make a more Hermitage style of Crozes-Hermitage. A full yellow colour, this shows wonderful aromatics of toast, nougat, honey and spice, as well as some bright citrus notes. The palate is rich, textural but also well defined with beautiful nut and toast characters weaving their way through bold pear and peach fruit, finishing with some mandarin liveliness and just a hint of salinity. A beautiful wine. 95/100

Yannick Alléno & Michel Chapoutier Guer-Van Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2022 France
13.5% alcohol. From 0.8 ha of vines. This Syrah ripens very slowly because of the altitude, and as well as granite there’s some clay and loess in the soil so the vines don’t stress. There’s a lovely aroma here with floral black cherry fruit with some pepper and meatiness. The palate has sleek ripe fruit, but also good structure and focus. The sleekness of the fruit hides the structure, which is substantial. Serious stuff with pleasure but also complexity and potential for development. 94/100

M Chapoutier Sicamor Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2022 France
13% alcohol. Granite plus clay in Varogne (our first stop) then lieu dit Mortier Chaud (alluvial agglomerates) and Les Chassées (alluvial). 80% barrels (15% new) and 20% concrete tank. Beautiful aromatics with sweet floral berry and cherry fruit, showing some peppery hints and lovely depth and richness. On the palate this is concentrated and very fruity with bold black fruits and sleek, suave tannins, finishing with some peppery hints. Very stylish and intense. 95/100

M Chapoutier Les Varonniers Crozes-Ermitage 2021 France
13% alcohol. This is from Varogne, the steeper part. It’s a cooler vintage. They work with some 1200 litre muids as well as smaller oak. Intense, mineral nose with some crushed rock, some peppery spiciness, savoury gravel character and then some sweet black cherry fruit. The palate has lovely concentration with a savoury, grippy, mineral character under the sweet black fruits. Nice reduction here adding savoury intensity and some extra grip. Finishes firm and spicy. A beautiful wine. 96/100

CROZES-HERMITAGE