2022 Ermitage Blanc Le Meal

Stone fruits, brioche, honeyed minerality, and white flowers all emerge from the 2022 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc, a bigger, richer effort compared to the L'Orée. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated, it shows bright acidity and beautiful purity, with a clean, focused style. Made from 100% Marsanne and aged primarily in demi-muids and foudre (10% new oak) with 15% in stainless steel for 12 months, it will cruise for 15-20 years. Drink 2025-2045. This was another standout tasting with Michel Chapoutier and his team, and the range continues to be among the most extensive and consistently high-quality in the region. The lineup covers every major appellation in the Northern Rhône, with a continued emphasis on finesse, vibrancy, and site expression. Starting around 2017 or 2018, there's been a clear move toward a lighter touch, and whole cluster fermentations are now used more selectively across the range. On the white side, the team is picking earlier, working with lower alcohols, more reductive winemaking, and aiming to hold onto more CO? in the finished wines, part of an effort to limit early oxidation. Still, I remain unconvinced that the shift will yield better aging potential, or better wines for that matter. Looking back, it is often the richer, more powerful vintages like 2009 and 2010 that have aged best and are still youthful, while livelier, more acid-driven years such as 2001 already show clear signs of oxidation. More importantly, even if these leaner styles age longer, they tend to remain lean, linear wines without the texture, layers, richness, and depth that define the best whites of the Northern Rhône. Hermitage, and to a degree the entire region, remains one of the few places where Marsanne and Roussanne can reach true ripeness and bring incredible richness while still staying pure and light on their feet. Early harvesting risks losing that identity, and taken to the extreme, these fresher, more linear wines could come from almost anywhere. The 2022s show the estate's modern style at its most refined, with purity and balance as well as plenty of depth and structure. The 2023s are already showing finesse and class, with solid depth of fruit. From entry-level values to the top Sélections Parcellaires cuvées, there's certainly something here for every Rhône lover.

Brilliance in the glass, the 2022 Ermitage Blanc Le Méal offers an aromatic medley of lemon flesh, verbena tea, spring blossom and a touch of pear, pastry and white flowers. Full-bodied yet invigoratingly refreshing, the 2022 showcases impeccable precision akin to a high-end Swiss watch. The finish exudes lively energy, leaving a vibrant and refined impression that is as delightful as it is enduring.

The 2022 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc is a bigger, richer effort, with voluptuous amounts of white peach, orange marmalade, stone fruits, and crushed stone-like minerality all soaring from the glass. Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully concentrated, with a gorgeous finish, it will already make your eyes roll back in your head, but I'd give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades.