About The Producer
No name is more closely associated with the greatness of the Rhone valley than M. Chapoutier.

The history of the Chapoutier family stretches back to the early nineteenth century when current owner Michel Chapoutier’s great-, great-, great-grandfather Marius purchased an estate and some vineyards in the now famous village of Tain l’Hermitage in the Northern Rhône Valley. Marius Chapoutier made history in the region when he became the first grape grower there to vinify his own fruit. Marius had tasted wines other winemakers produced using his fruit and he realized that something was lost in translation, so to speak. He knew that he owned some of the best growing sites in the appellation and he believed — rightly — that the grapes grown in his vineyards could produce long-lived world-class wines. In a move unusual at the time, he decided that he should make the wine himself. Not only did the quality of the wines increase greatly, but this move provided the capital to expand the Chapoutiers’ already legendary estate.

A visionary and pioneer in biodynamic winemaking, his restless energy and unconditional commitment to quality have produced tremendous success, with the most 90+ point ratings of all Rhône producers and 16 "100 point" rated wines.

Chapoutier wines are vegan. 
"We don't use final agent containing egg, fish or meat (finals agents are used to clarify wine)."

Grape / Blend
Syrah

Origin
Rhône, France

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
On another level, the inky colored 2016 Crozes-Ermitage Les Varonniers comes from the granite hillside just beside Hermitage hill and is more Hermitage than Crozes. It has a huge nose of currants, smoked earth, graphite, pepper, and cured meats. This carries to a rich, powerful Crozes that has a real sense of minerality, beautiful mid-palate depth, ripe, present tannins, and a great, great finish. Aged 18 months in 20% new French oak (a mix of Burgundy barrels and demi-muids), it has two decades or more of longevity ahead of it.

94 Points -Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Grown on the western-facing portion of the Hermitage hill, on the same underlying granite as les Bessards, the 2016 Crozes Hermitage les Varonniers makes a mockery of most Crozes-Hermitages, coming across more like Hermitage itself. Aged in a mix of barriques and demi-muids, it frames cassis fruit with hints of pencil shavings and crushed stone. Full-bodied and concentrated, it shows granite-like reserve in its powerful expression and long, dusty finish.

95 Points - Ian Blackburn - Sept 2020
Lavishly presented, dense and chiseled - this is an epic bottle of "Crozes."  Blood of stones, granitic, clay, plum, currents, smoke, cracked pepper - like a large body of water it sits still on the palate... and sends off a depth charge that reverberates for 30+ seconds... this is not a bottle of wine, this is a timetable... allowing this to sit for 10 years will be your challenge as it is so good now... but knowing that it will outlive your children is just another reason to stock up on this treasure.  The notion that this is literally grown right up to the boarder of HERMITAGE ... kind of makes more sense... this is an extraordinary CROZES - not to be compared to more basic efforts... this should be compared to HERMITAGE... and given the time to age like one as well.

Product size: 750ml

Remember - with purchases of 6 bottles -  you save 5% with code SIXER 

with purchases of any 12 bottles - you automatically save 10% and make this the best price on the planet....