The name Chapoutier has been present in the Rhône Valley since 1808. Wine grower, wine maker and wine lover, Michel Chapoutier is one of France’s most dynamic wine producers, championing biodynamic viticulture and producing a consistent, impeccably high-quality range of wines from the prominent Northern and Southern Rhône Valley appellations.

Michel Chapoutier is one of the most highly regarded winemakers in France. Since taking over his family firm in 1990 at age 26, Michel Chapoutier has transformed the winery into the leading Rhône Valley producer. He combines the modern and the traditional: crusading for biodynamic winemaking, while expanding operations around the globe and experimenting with cutting edge winemaking techniques.

M Chapoutier, Ermitage Le Méal 2005 Hermitage Rouge 19/20 Drink 2015-30; Some very rich, black fruit elements here. Quite aromatic and then very rich and velvety on the palate. It’s the finish that keeps it dry rather than sweet. Sandy tannins. Zesty. Lots of excitement there. This spreads fully across the palate. A very complete wine indeed. Pretty neat tannins and obvious oak influence here. Fifty year old vines on stony, clay, mid level vineyards. Jancis Robinson. 2005 Rhone - Chapoutier Really Shines publication date: Dec 11, 2006

There are 481 cases of the black/purple 2005 Ermitage Le Meal. As always, classic blackberry, asphalt, charcoal, and beef blood notes jump from the glass of this intense wine. Full-bodied, with staggering concentration and a personality not terribly dissimilar from a first-growth Pauillac, but showing no evidence of oak whatsoever (and that is in spite of being aged in 100% new oak casks), this wine needs 10-12 years of bottle age, and should keep for 50-100 years. Wine Advocate # 175 Feb 2008 Robert Parker 96 Drink: 2018