2015 Hermitage Roumeas

Michel’s expertise in selection and elévage comes from spending all his time travelling up and down the Rhone Valley tasting in all the best winemaker's cellars. He seeks out growers with old vines and low yields. He selects the barrels for the producers and they ferment under his instructions before returning the barrels to the deep cool Tardieu cellars for their elévage. Over the years he has discovered the essential ingredients that produce the finest wines in the region and express the best terroirs. These are extremely rare wines as James Molesworth testifies in his report in the Wine Spectator: “Even with the improved distribution you will have to track them down, or ask your retailer to get in line for them. But they are among the most vivid, precise and exciting wines being made in the region today.” The 30% whole bunch fermentation brings a beautifully complex array of herbs, exotic spices and floral violet aromas. The wine has an incredible impact on the palate, there is a huge density of fruit and fantastic breadth. The tannins are concentrated, close knit but very fine and incredibly silky. The wine is the epitome of power and elegance but still requires patience to really open out and express its huge potential. With such a fine vintage, the fruit flavour, the multi-layered tannin structure and refreshing acidity are brilliantly interwoven. This is a very fine, elegant, power house Hermitage.