Hermitage
Continental
A single granite hill above Tain-l'Hermitage, home of the Rhône's most age-worthy Syrah and richly textured Marsanne.
Overview
About Hermitage
Hermitage is a steep hill overlooking the town of Tain-l'Hermitage, said to be named for a medieval knight who retired as a hermit to a chapel on its summit. The hill's terraced vineyards make some of the most powerful and long-lived reds in France, from Syrah, and rich, waxy whites from Marsanne and Roussanne.
The reds are dense and structured, with black fruit, spice and smoke, and typically need a decade to soften, and the best last for decades. The rules allow up to 15% of the white grapes to be blended into the red, though this is now rare. A sweet vin de paille is also made from grapes dried on straw.
Hermitage is marked on the map.
France
Shaded: Drôme. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Continental
Continental, with the south-facing hill catching maximum sun. Sheltered from the west, it is warm enough to ripen Syrah fully in most years.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Granite in the west of the hill, giving structured wines, with loess, gravel and pebbles at the eastern end. Different parts of the hill are often bottled separately and blended.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Hermitage is a single appellation. There is no official vineyard ranking, though its named hillside sites are well known.
AOC Hermitage (red)
Syrah, with up to 15% Marsanne and Roussanne permitted.
AOC Hermitage (white)
Marsanne and Roussanne.
Named sites
Le Méal, Les Bessards and L'Ermite are the hill's most celebrated sites, bottled individually or blended by some producers.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.