One of the top successes for Chapoutier is his sensational white wine, the
2006 Ermitage Chante Alouette. One of the finest examples of this cuvee he
has yet made, this wine possesses tons of glycerin, an oily texture, and
huge, rich, marmalade and buttery notes intermixed with notions of white
currants and quince. A full-bodied, intense, dry white, it is meant to be
consumed with intensely flavored cuisines. It should evolve for 10-15+
years.
While Michel Chapoutier produces some of the world's greatest wines from
single parcels of old vines spread throughout the northern and southern
Rhone (see my ecstatic reviews of his 2007 and 2006 Chateauneuf du Papes in
issue #179), he also has an impressive portfolio of value-priced wines that
are often over-looked when this impressive producer is discussed. Following
are some top-notch picks that all sell for exceptionally fair prices.
Chapoutier has not achieved as great as success in Cornas as he has in the
other northern Rhone appellations, although his Cornas wines get better with
each vintage. There are four extraordinary single vineyard white wines, all
of which are among the greatest dry white wines of the world. While all of
them can be drunk young, they are meant for extended cellaring. Made from
very small yields, they represent the essence of a varietal as well as a
vineyard site. As the following notes demonstrate, 2006 was one of the
greatest vintages for white wines at Chapoutier. The single vineyard
selection parcellaire red wines range in production from 500 to nearly 1,000
cases. 2007 is a very good vintage for these selections, but 2006 has an
edge. It is reminiscent of 1996 because of the wines' freshness and acid
levels, but Chapoutier's 2006s are even more concentrated than his 1996s.
Chapoutier's four 2006 cuvees of single vineyard Hermitage are exquisite.
Most of the yields were between 10 and 20 hectoliters per hectare, and the
wines are extravagantly rich. The 2006 and 2007 luxury cuvees of Chateauneuf
du Pape Croix des Bois and Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac were reviewed in
issue #179. They are all astounding wines, especially in 2007
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