1991 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L'Orée, France, Rhone, Wine Review

White Rhone wines are certainly unique and this one, at age 30, is no exception. I quite enjoyed it for what it offered. Golden in color, clear and bright. The nose is interesting with pears, Crème Brûlée, honey countered by a bit of oxidation and minerality. Full bodied and quite rich. On the palate, it has a deep complexity. Some fruit; baked pears with layers of minerals and some oxidized apples (not in a bad way). Long finish. This was served with a Gazpacho and it worked well enough for a difficult pairing. It seems like it will be at this level for a while longer, but it should still probably be consumed sooner than later.

Grade:

A-

Score:

Vintage:

1992

Current Price:

$200.00USD

America's Best Rhone Style White Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Like many lovers of Rhone style wines from America, we have just returned from the 2008 edition of the annual Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco (March 18). This was the 11th year that the Rhone Rangers , a group of about 200 American producers of wines using 22 varietals traditional to France’s Rhone Valley, have shown off their wines at this public tasting event. This year, about 138 wineries presented approximately 520 wines. During the tasting, we enthusiastically tasted as many wines as we could within the 5 hours (3 public and 2 trade/media) the event was open. We tasted 30 white wines first, and then we tasted 50 reds. We skipped the rosés, not because we don’t love them, but because we didn’t have time. Kudos to Rhone Rangers for providing eco-friendly paper spit cups instead of the plastic cups so common at other tastings. We divided our attention between wines and producers we have known previously, producers new to us, and specific bottlings we didn’t already know. While we found many wines to admire, we are sure we missed other gems.

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2019 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2019

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$280.00USD

White Rhones can be tricky, but this one was hitting on all cylinders from the get-go. This is made from the Marsanne grape.

2010 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2010

Score:

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$309.00USD

White Rhone wines can be so finicky, so when a friend opened this for his birthday, it was nice to see this was firing on all cylinders. Earlier in the day while reading a book about the White House and Wine, it mentioned that Thomas Jefferson referred to White Hermitage as France's greatest white wine, and this bottle gave that some credence. These wines are so unique when on that they are not for everyone. It doesn't seem fair to group with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc as they drink more like a red in that they are not crisp or refreshing or tart. This one is golden in color, clear a

2016 Domaine des Miquettes St. Joseph Madloba, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

A-

Current Price:

$56.00USD

This is what is sometimes referred to as an "orange" wine. What that means is that it is fermented on its skins. The extended skin contact transfers some color to what is otherwise a white wine. It has other effects on the wines depending on the wine making process. Though this style of winemaking has been around for a long time, a small subsection or wine lovers and commentators discovered these wines about ten years ago and became enthralled with them. Like anything however, just because a wine is made in this style doesn't make them good or bad. This one, however, is very good. Th

2017 J.L. Chave Sélection Hermitage Blanche, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2017

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$80.00USD

Just a great showing for this wine. It can be difficult to know when to open a white Hermitage with age on it. The wines are mysterious, shutting down and opening up on their own schedule. This bottle seemed old at first but kept getting "younger" as it opened. Golden in color (darker than expected), clear and bright. The nose is interesting with pears, slight orange peel, hints of wax and maybe a bit of a floral tone. Full bodied. On the palate, at first this seemed a bit oxidized but not shot. With air, those flavors disappeared to be followed by pears, slight citrus and char. Go

1991 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L'Orée, France, Rhone, Wine Review

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