Maison Ferraton
This wine is a bin-end, discounted by 30%.
Le Méal is one of the better known parcels on the famous hill of Hermitage, its reputation being for wines of great power and elegance, the former taking 50% of new barrique ageing in its stride, the latter adding a typically silky mouth-feel to the cornucopia of red and black fruit. The 2014 is dense and richly extracted, with notes of leather and violet both evidenced and a whiff of a distant bonfire indulging us with gentle nostalgia.
Drink 2019-2024.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
The 2014 vintage left the blocks with great speed, energised by a rainy winter which had topped up water reserves, and then by a dry and exceptionally mild spring. The pace calmed down thereafter, and thoughts of precocity eventually gave way to a relatively late harvest. Challenges were imposed by a mid-season which was by turns rainy and unseasonably cool, with rot a far from negligible danger and the somewhat unusual prospect of September being the warmest month of the year.
Not quite an Indian Summer, in point of fact, but warm enough to ensure timely ripening and a dry harvest. The whites have poise and finely etched fruit and the reds are balanced and approachable. Winemaker Damien Brisset, whilst acknowledging the challenges of the vintage, is more than pleased with the results. Careful to avoid over-extraction, he has allowed each commune and each lieu-dit to impose its personality on its wines and the results are impressive indeed.
Bottle
£49.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
A parcel of 40-year-old Syrah, much loved by Michel Ferraton, the Dionnières is an expressive and finely constructed wine. Its inherent complexity is evidenced in youth by notes of liquorice, dried fruits and black cherry whilst its potential for development is writ large in the weight of the fruit and the power of the tannins. In short, this is a benchmark Hermitage, dense but not overweight, and thus perfectly suited for mid-term ageing.
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.
Bottle
£52.00
Classic and powerful, Le Méal is Ferraton’s flagship red, its 50 year-old vines located on the south-facing slopes of this famous vineyard. The 2009 does not disappoint with its full structure finely corseted after 18 months in 50% new oak barriques. Layered and textured, this is a keeper from the first rank.
(Simon Field MW BBR Buyer) The mid slope vineyard of Le Meal has a warm aspect on granite with limestone, white clay and large pebbles giving a fragrant and powerful wine. In the glass the wine is absolutely opaque in colour. The opulent dark fruit and sweet kirch notes are balanced by a mouthcoating tannic structure that will reward those who have the patience to age this wine.
(Sara Guiducci, BBR Fine Wine)
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Ermitage Le Méal is packed full of obvious class, maintaining a real sense of elegance and restraint despite having an awful lot going on the glass. A touch of smoke on the nose mingles with gently roasted notes of blackcurrant, dry herbs and tobacco.
Guy Davies, Wine Team
Le Méal is Ferraton’s top wine, a symphonic Syrah from the famous eponymous south-facing lieu-dit. The crop is entirely de-stemmed, macerated for four weeks and then matured for eighteen months in barrique (50% new). Intense and bright on the eye, the wine falters to deceive, such is the power and depth of flavour in the mouth. Lapidary tannins and an endless finish (if you will pardon the oxymoron) complete the tableau.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Ferreton’s renaissance continues apace; Chapoutier ownership has in no way dulled its distinctive voice and in Damien Brissett it has a world-class winemaker. With such prestigious vineyards on the hill of Hermitage (and elsewhere) Ferraton is careful to manage the distinction between its owned vines and those worked in partnership as a high-class négoçiant. Whilst we are drawn, somewhat inevitably, towards the former, as our selection confirms, there is no denying the excellent quality of the entire range.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager
Damien has been doing a lot of work in Cornas and has singled out this plot just to the south of the village for his special attention. They call the decomposed granite ‘gore’ in these parts, for reasons which are not immediately apparent, but it certainly underwrites the power of the wine, which will have had 14 months in barrel when the time comes for it to be bottled.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Ferreton’s renaissance continues apace; Chapoutier ownership has in no way dulled its distinctive voice and in Damien Brissett it has a world-class winemaker. With such prestigious vineyards on the hill of Hermitage (and elsewhere) Ferraton is careful to manage the distinction between its owned vines and those worked in partnership as a high-class négoçiant. Whilst we are drawn, somewhat inevitably, towards the former, as our selection confirms, there is no denying the excellent quality of the entire range.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
We have followed Ferraton for a long time, some of it, to be frank, less than entirely successful. Our confidence has been based on the quality of the holdings in Hermitage and in the fact that Chapoutier have proved to be liberal and forward-thinking owners, gently guiding but not domineering. In Damien Brisset, now firmly established as winemaker, Ferraton has a great asset, as these excellent 2013s show. An early, almost Pavlovian quest to over-oak has now ceded to thoughtful winemaking and, with the 2013s, a very impressive range, the very best wines of which are listed here.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Tom Cave, Cellar Plan Manager
From the named lieu-dit to the north of the named village, this is a worthy illustration of both the skill of the winemaker and the renaissance of Cornas in general. Herbal and rich, with hints of jambon cru and liqueur-steeped cherry, Les Eygats marries sweet and savoury, Carnival and Lent, with effortless aplomb.
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.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW - Buyer
The re-emergence of Ferraton as a great producer has taken awhile, and for a year or so I felt that the quality of the wines actually merited greater plaudits than those hitherto garnered. That changed with the 2009s when a commentator who shall remain nameless, offered lavish praise, a praise which I suspect is equally merited with the excellent range of 2010s.Damien Brisset has some very well located vines and is now exploiting their potential with real skill.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012
The re-emergence of Ferraton as a great producer has taken awhile, and for a year or so I felt that the quality of the wines actually merited greater plaudits than those hitherto garnered. That changed with the 2009s when a commentator who shall remain nameless, offered lavish praise, a praise which I suspect is equally merited with the excellent range of 2010s.Damien Brisset has some very well located vines and is now exploiting their potential with real skill.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
This is a real gem and a very fine expression of all that Le Méal is celebrated for, namely harmony, elegance and balance, promising a lengthy evolution for this pedigree example. Drink now to 2022.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Ferreton’s renaissance continues apace; Chapoutier ownership has in no way dulled its distinctive voice and in Damien Brissett it has a world-class winemaker. With such prestigious vineyards on the hill of Hermitage (and elsewhere) Ferraton is careful to manage the distinction between its owned vines and those worked in partnership as a high-class négoçiant. Whilst we are drawn, somewhat inevitably, towards the former, as our selection confirms, there is no denying the excellent quality of the entire range.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
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.
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.
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.