Region · Northern Rhône, France
Hermitage
air-mee-TAHZH
A hill of Syrah
One granite hill above Tain-l'Hermitage. Red Hermitage is Syrah at cathedral scale; white is Marsanne (and Roussanne) that can live fifty years.
- blackberry
- smoke
- olive
- lard
- honeysuckle
The hill is split into lieux-dits (Les Bessards, Le Méal, l'Hermite) that growers blend or bottle separately. Crozes-Hermitage is the larger, gentler neighbor; Saint-Joseph the other bank. Hermitage itself is tiny and expensive because the hill is the hill.
White Hermitage is one of France's secret long-distance whites. Do not drink it only as an afterthought to the red.
Beef, game, and — for the white — lobster or hard cheese.
At the table
Service
Red 61–64 °F (16–18 °C), decanted; white 52–55 °F (11–13 °C).
