2011 Ermitage Blanc, Le Reverdy, Ferraton Père & Fils, Rhône

2011 Ermitage Blanc, Le Reverdy, Ferraton Père & Fils, Rhône

Product: 20118024992
Prices start from £300.00 per case Buying options
2011 Ermitage Blanc, Le Reverdy, Ferraton Père & Fils, Rhône

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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Description

Marsanne and Roussanne, from the communes of Beaume and le Méal come together to form a rich and beautifully structured wine with notes of peach, apricot, vanillin, honey and cinnamon. It is a traditional white Rhône: flamboyant in youth, then surly, and finally (we confidently predict) magnificent. Therefore it will repay lengthy cellaring, or no cellaring at all – but nothing in between.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer

Ferraton is owned by Chapoutier, but run as an autonomous entity. For a long time it seemed to underperform, almost as if shocked in the headlights of the energetic charisma of its benefactor. The potential of the vineyards, some of which are located on the very best sites on the Hill of Hermitage, has never been disputed. Now, with Bordelais winemaker Damien Brisset firmly in control, one begins to see, at last, the realisation of potential. I am pleased to have ‘stuck with’ them over the years, as the maturing vintages seldom fail to please and the quality of the current vintage gets better and better.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate94/100
The only 2011 white I was able to taste, the 2011 Ermitage Le Reverdy Blanc is a smoking effort that represents a solid value in Northern Rhone whites. Unfortunately, with only 119 cases produced, there's not much to go around. A blend of equal parts Roussanne and Marsanne, it offers brilliant aromas and flavors of sauteed pears, honeysuckle, toasted nut and crushed rock-like minerality to go with a full-bodied, rich and textured profile on the palate. It's a big wine, but it stays lively and fresh, and is an absolute joy to drink. Enjoy it over the coming decade or more.
Jeb Dunnuck - 30/12/2013 Read more
Robert Parker95-98/100
Another impressive offering is the 2011 Ermitage Le Reverdy Blanc. Honeysuckle, brown sugar, rose petal, quince and white currant notes dominate the aromatics of this full-bodied, rich, intense white. Drink it over the next 20 years. 

The quality of Ferraton’s wines has been increasing with nearly every new vintage thanks to the efforts of Michel Chapoutier and his number one assistant, P.H. Morel, who has the responsibilities for these wines. I have included a few Southern Rhones that were not reviewed in Issue #203. Some of the 2011 white wines are in bottle, but the more serious cuvees are still in barrel. Ferraton produced four lieu-dit offerings in 2011, which I tasted with Michel Chapoutier and Pierre-Henri Morel.
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #204, Dec 2012 Read more

About this WINE

Maison Ferraton

Maison Ferraton

Maison Ferraton is a very fine Northern Rhône wine estate that was run for many years by Michel Ferraton. It is now run by Samuel Ferraton, the fourth generation of the family, who worked for a while in conjunction with Chapoutier frères. The firm has vineyard holdings in Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage and its wine cellars are located immediately behind those of Marc Sorrel in the heart of Tain l`Hermitage.

Samuel Ferraton is very much an artisan winemaker- yet he employs many modern techniques that he picked up while working with the Chapoutiers.

Consequently, the wines are a marvellous marriage of the old and the new, displaying good structure and well-defined fruit characters, allied with very judicious and limited use of new oak. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

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Hermitage

Hermitage

Hermitage is the most famous of all the northern Rhône appellations. The hill of Hermitage is situated above the town of Tain and overlooks the town of Tournon, just across the river. Hermitage has 120 hectares and produces tiny quantities of very long-lived reds.

The vines were grown in Roman times, although local folklore claims their origins to be nearly 600 years earlier. The name ‘Hermitage’ first appeared in the 16th century, derived from a legend of the 13th century Crusade, involving a wounded knight called Gaspard de Stérimberg, who made refuge on the hill, planted vines and became a hermit.

During the 17th century, Hermitage was recognised as one of the finest in Europe. In 1775, Château Lafite was blended with Hermitage and was one of the greatest wines of its day. In the late 19th century, however, Phylloxera wiped out all the vineyards.

The wines are powerful, with a deep colour and firm tannins, developing into some of the finest examples in France, with the potential to age for many decades. The best Hermitage is produced from several climats or more, blended together. The main climats are Les Bessards, Le Meal, L’Hermite, Les Greffieux and Les Diognieres. Most of the finest climats face broadly south, giving maximum sunshine. Most growers only have one or two climats and they might not complement each other; Hermitage quality can therefore vary hugely. Only the top producers have extensive diversified holdings.

80% of the wine produced is red, however up to 15% of white grapes can be used in the blend. Most growers use 100% Syrah and utilise the white grapes to make white wines only. Chapoutier, Jaboulet and Tain l'Hermitage are the principal proprietors of the appellation’s vineyards.

The white wines are made from the Marsanne and Roussanne grapes. Great white Hermitage can age, taking on the fruit characters of apricots and peaches, often giving a very nutty finish. The best examples in great vintages can last 50 years.

Mature red Hermitage can be confused with old Bordeaux. In a blind tasting of 1961 First Growth Clarets, the famous 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle was included. Most people, including its owner, Gerard Jaboulet, mistook it for Château Margaux.

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Marsanne

Marsanne

Marsanne is the predominant white grape variety grown in the Northern Rhône where it is used to produce white St. Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, and Hermitage. It is a tricky grape to cultivate, being susceptible to diseases and being particularly sensitive to extreme climatic changes - if growing conditions are too cool, then it fails to ripen fully and produces thin, insipid wines, while, if too hot, the resultant wines are blowsy, overblown and out of balance.

In the Northern Rhône it tends to be blended with around 15% Rousanne and produces richly aromatic, nutty wines which age marvellously - the best examples are from Hermitage and particularly from Chapoutier. Increasingly it is being grown in the Southern Rhône and Languedoc Roussillon where it is bottled as a single varietal or blended with Roussanne, Viognier, and sometimes Chardonnay. It is also grown very successfully in Victoria in Australia where some of the world`s oldest Marsanne vines are to be found.

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