There are currently no producers for this region
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By far the majority of the best plots on Hermitage hill are owned by the big producers, but one of the few exceptions is at Marc Sorrel. The domaine has plots in some fantastic sites. The Sorrels make few concessions to modernism, with very little new oak allowed in the cellar. Nor do they hold with the modern vogue for single site bottlings, maintaining that Hermitage has traditionally always been a blend – though their Greal is a blend of the very, very best. The cellars are in the main street of Tain, a quick walk from the hill.
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Always a top performer in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Marcoux make a very purely-styled tradition cuvee from old vine stock. They were one of the first domaines in Chateauneuf to take up biodynamic viticulture. Oak use is minimal, with the intention being to supply structure to the wine, while allowing a purer fruit character to show through. But what has really made this domaine famous is the rarer Vieilles Vignes cuvee. For many tasters this is the most profound Chateauneuf of all. It marries fruit from two plots of old vines. lieux-dits Charbonnieres (planted in 1900) and Les Esqueirons.
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`He only makes a couple of wines, how long can this take?` In the end, Paul-Vincent Avril got a strong nomination for winemaker we would most like to spend more time with. The man is thoughtful, strong in his views and very clear in his aims. One can get a strong impression that from an early age he planned a career which led inexorably to the helm at Clos des Papes. Life is more chaotic than that of course,but his trajectory through the wine trade seemed to be an almost perfect preparation.
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Remizieres is one of those domains that has crept up on the market over the last few years. For a long time it produced understated wines, which were very dry and restrained, but under Philippe Desmeure and the eponymous Emilie of the prestige cuvee, the house style has changed. Still fruit-oriented, and still managed to produce ripe fruit but not raisins, the increased use of new oak over the last ten years or so has been a positive; a proliferation of one-off cuvees in peculiar years less so.
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Rene Rostaing spent his working lifetime defending the idea that Côte Rôtie should taste like Côte Rôtie, not like Hermitage, and certainly not like new world Syrah – and making wines to justify the claim. The winemaking here has always been deeply rooted in local tradition, not to mention some extremely well-sited old vines. The domaine began with parcels inherited from two of the region’s greatest pioneers. Rene’s father-in-law Albert Dervieux, and his uncle Marius Gentaz-Dervieux.
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Didier Negron, who is married to a Sabon daughter, is now the hands-on force here, with a lot of input from the affable Jean-Jacques - the latter a man with a striking resemblance to Sven Goran, save for his team`s over performance and a lack of Stelvin. Screw or no screw however, this is a forward looking estate with a wholehearted embrace of modern technology where appropriate. These wines are lovely, with depth, complexity and finesse. They show many flavours and age extremely well.
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Down in Provence, between Marseille and Toulon, set in a landscape of scrub and pine forest about 4 miles from the coast, you`ll find Domaine Tempier. Mourvedre is king down here. Once upon a time vignerons were ripping it out to make way for higher-yielding varieties, but in the late 1930s Lucien Peyraud at Domaine Tempier led the fightback; the establishment of the Mourvedre-based Bandol AOC that tags Tempier bottles is mainly down to his efforts.
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Solid granite is the matter which makes up these vineyards and, it seems, the wines they produce. Thierry Allemand is a brilliant but complicated man who towers over others in the appellation not just in height but in quality. He is well known for operating a low or no sulphur regime in his winery. Syrah doesn`t need as much as some people give it anyway, and he takes advantage of this. In the days - a brief 30 or 40 years ago - when the Rhone was in the same sort of trouble that much of the Languedoc is now, Cornas was the most vulnerable AOC.
