Hermitage Wine

Hermitage (sometimes written Ermitage or L'Hermitage) is perhaps the most enduringly prestigious of all the Rhone appellations, although it is closely followed by Cote Rotie, 30 miles (48km) to the north, and Chateauneuf du Pape, 70 miles (112km) to the south.

The fame of the rich red wines of Hermitage reached its peak during the 19th century, just before the more-famous wines of Bordeaux's Medoc were classified and began their rise to stardom. Hermitage was an official wine of the 17th-century French court under King Louis XIII, whose son maintained the tradition and even presented visiting foreign royalty with the wine as a gift. Before international legal changes were made to protect the Hermitage name, it was used to symbolize a particular wine style and to imply high quality. The Australian winery Penfolds added the name Hermitage to its prestigious Bin 95 wine 'Grange' until 1989.

Both red and white Hermitage wines are long-lived and full-bodied. The red wines, which may be aged for 30 years or more, are produced exclusively from Syrah and are known for their rich aromas of leather, coffee and red berries. The less-famous whites, which may be cellared for about 15 years, have aromas of honeysuckle, tropical fruit and earthy minerals. They are made predominantly from Marsanne, with limited use of Roussanne.

Hermitage also produces 'vins de paille' – sweet white wines made from Marsanne and Roussanne grapes that have been dried out in the sun on straw mats (paille means 'straw' in French). These wines are expensive because of the labor-intensive processes required to create them, but they are also rich, full flavored and very long-lived. Produced only in warmer years, Hermitage vins de paille are strictly forbidden to undergo chaptalization at any time.

The size of the Hermitage appellation is strictly limited by local geography and it is thus unable to expand outwards (unlike Saint-Joseph, which has increased its geographical coverage by a factor of ten over the past 50 years).

The whole of the granite hillside where the Hermitage vineyards are planted faces south, meaning that the grapes benefit from the maximum amount of sunlight throughout the day. The topsoil here is relatively thin compared to that of the valley floor and is made up of a wide variety of types – ranging from sandy gravel in the west, to rockier areas higher up and limestone in the center. As intense Rhone sunshine warms the hillside during the day, the granite bedrock stores this heat, encouraging the grapes to ripen more fully than those in less-exposed sites. The effect of the local terroir is most pronounced on the western side of the hill; it is steeper than the east and enjoys prolonged exposure to afternoon sunshine.

It is near the peak of the hill, 900ft (275m) above the town of Tain-L'Hermitage, that the Hermitage chapel is to be found. It gives its name to the town below, two appellations, the vineyard around it, and a large number of contradictory myths and legends.