- These Are Revered Wines
- They Normally Cost Hundreds / Thousands of Dollars
- Luyton is a Fass Discovery and Even the French Are Behind the Curve
- A Relatively New Producer That Leapt up the Quality Hierarchy with Her Stunning 2015s (and Has Stayed There in 2016-2019)
- Prices Are Shockingly Low
2019 Michele Luyton Hermitage (Rouge)
- Luyton's Elegant, Complex Style Has Continued Even with The More Dense Vintages
- Epic Nose: Blackberry Fruit, Red Raspberry
- Grilled Meats, Blood, Mashed Dark Flowers
- Stunningly Gorgeous, Dense, Tiny Berry Fruit, Velvety Tannins
- This Is a Remarkable Wine at Any Price and for Under $56, It's an Insane Buy
- Only 1,000 Bottles Made
- 94 PTS, VINOUS, Josh Reynolds (2017)
2019 Michelle Luyton Hermitage Blanc
- PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS
- I REPEAT PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS
- Please Buy at Least a Bottle to Try
- This Will Change How You Think About White Hermitage
- An Utterly Majestic Wine
- Smallest Production White Wine in Hermitage
- Nose: Gorgeous ... Beautiful
- White Flowers upon White Flowers
- A Bride in White in a Field of Daisies
- The Richness Is an Element, Not the Story
- When This Matures, the Nose Will Be a Death Bed Wine
- Palate - Integrated Juicy Fruit, Acidity, Minerality,
- Grilled Nuts and Marzipan
- Explosive Internal Aromatics
- Gets to Every Nook and Cranny of your Palate
- Can Compete with Any Wine in Hermitage in 2018
Getting Exquisitely Well Made Hermitage for Under $57 Is A Ridiculous Opportunity
- A Chance to Try one of the Great Appellations in the World for an Affordable Price
I almost feel like a parent whose child showed promise at an early age and then grew up and graduated valedictorian from a top college. When I met Michelle, her wines were beautifully elegant and I loved them. They were incredible but they lacked the typical density of Hermitage. In 2015, her wines started showing that typical Hermitage density while retaining her unique style. What you get is the holy grail of winemaking: density and elegance in the same wine. And the critics have taken notice. Her regular Hermitage got 94 points in 2017 and the 2015 of her top Hermitage (Allegresse) got 96. 18 and 19 have not been reviewed because of the pandemic.
The value for these prices in Hermitage is almost preposterous. Hermitage is a tiny appellation and demand is incredibly high. They are some of the great wines of the world and recognized as such.
The Wines
It's absurd to me that today's wine, the 2019 Michelle Luyton Hermitage Rouge is only $56.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a wine from one of the most revered appellations not only in the Northern Rhone but in all of the world. This is her best regular Hermitage since the 2015, and before that the 2013, which is a very underrated vintage. What we do know is the 2019 is a very highly rated vintage and Michelle's 2019 is the best value by far in Hermitage. For the 7th year in a row. We started with the 2011 which was $44.99 and now we are only up a few dollars more.
The nose is mineral and so deep and refined. Just stunning aromas of blackberry fruit, red raspberry,
grilled meats, blood, mashed dark flowers and almost feral vibe but in the best way possible. Spice and flowers and and much olive and lavender develop after some air. It's got cassis as well and one can smell the density.
The palate is deep, velvety and so sleek. There is massive power and huge concentration but also a sense of grace and refinement that is utterly gorgeous. Man this is dense. Likely her densest effort yet for the Hermitage. There is so much material but it's all on a silky string versus a thick gym rope. I've never had a Luyton wine this structured, dense and refined while also at the same time so unbelievably fresh. The palate impact is intense and so, so pretty. The tiny berry fruit explosion is so wonderful. It explodes and dissipates so wonderfully. Michelle has upped her game so much. The combo of intensity and grace is something. Some of her earlier wines were beautifully elegant but also less dense. No longer. Amazing how she kept her complex and elegant style and still retains deep structure and intensity. The intensity in her wines is something. It transcends whatever price I charge which is not much. There are incredible inner mouth aromas and the longer it is open, the longer the finish is. This was in barrel when I tasted it and I thought I could drink it that night it had that mother's milk quality to it as the purity of the young puppy like Syrah was so enthralling. I think this is a 12-18 year wine at least. For $56.99 this is a brilliant value and a brilliant Hermitage.
"Inky ruby. Powerful dark berry and cherry liqueur, fruitcake, candied violet and licorice aromas are complemented by building olive and exotic spice flourishes. Palate-staining, mineral-driven black currant, cherry compote and fruitcake flavors show superb depth, and a juicy core of acidity adds back-end lift and cut. Expands steadily with air and finishes with sharp clarity, steadily building tannins and outstanding persistence." - 94 Points Vinous, Josh Reynolds (2017)
This is an INSANE value. Every Hermitage costs hundreds of dollars. This will be limited.
Brief Discussion of White Hermitage
Now I have one of the best value and most achingly beautiful white wines I will ever sell. So Hermitage is a monster. The hill is iconic and so are the wines. But they are so huge and over the top when young, it's almost pointless to drink them. They need 10-20 years and then they become things of beauty - as good as top Burgundy in good years. The iconic producer is Chave - and this paragraph describes his Hermitage perfectly.
But there are a small number of producers that produce Hermitage that is on the elegant side whose wines taste more like very dense Grand Cru Burgundy. One is a hero of mine, Marc Sorrel (who I've never been able to sell). The other is Michele Luyton. Michele's archingly elegant style produces Hermitage Blanc that marries the density of the terroir with minerality and acidic balance. Make no mistake - this is an utterly majestic wine.
The Insanity of Hermitage Blanc Pricing
How much does Montrachet cost? How much does G-Max cost? And on and on. How much does Chave Hermitage Blanc in a great vintage? All of these wines are in the quadruple digits realm and Chave is in mid triple digits for a great vintage. I believe high quality White Hermitage is one the greatest high quality white wine values in the world. I'll admit it's not for beginner drinkers. Drink enough St. Joseph Blanc and Crozes Hermitage Blanc and you'll have an itching for something more and then you can appreciate all the complexity and regal character of a great White Hermitage. I strongly believe in the ladder. You can't have 85 Chave and then have a 2010 Sorrel Crozes-Hermitage Blanc and appreciate the Sorrel. You started at the top. There's nothing higher. Maybe 59 Chave Blanc. I sell an awful lot of Crozes Blanc and St. Joseph Blanc as I believe these are terrific values and also I believe they are some of the most interesting, dynamic and food friendly wines on the planet. Luyton is a gem in our portfolio as she absolutely hands down makes the most regal, aristocratic and most stunning Hermitage Blanc in all of the Rhone for the money. No one comes close.
The 2019 Michelle Luyton Hermitage Blanc is magic. For $56.99 a bottle on a 4-pack! Pure magic. When I emailed Michelle to get the price, she said do you remember tasting it? I said, How could I forget? It is a memorable, magical elixir. You'll be lucky you own some.
This is a profound bottle of white wine and one of the greatest N. Rhone whites I've sold. Maybe the greatest as what is so profound about this is how expensive it drinks. 2019 is one of the best White Rhône vintages I've ever tasted. Finesse and electricity married with typicity makes these something else. I have made this a 4-pack because you need to drink a bottle of this wine young. It is stunning. Yes it will be better down the road but the aging curve of Marsanne is odd and the wines can shut down and seem over the hill and then re-emerge after this dumb/dead period. So drink one young. Then I'd wait 10 years. This is the smallest production white wine in Hermitage.
The nose is gorgeous and beautiful. Slamming. Honey and flowers are there to start and it takes around 20 minutes to open up into the regal majesty this vineyard is known for. There are white flowers upon white flowers. So, so clean - like a summer bride in a field of daises on her wedding day. Unreal granite minerality. It punches you in the face then kisses your cheek with its aromas. It's so stunning and I cannot imagine what it will smell and taste like once it matures. It is ultra refined on the nose. Great White Hermitage can be one of the most refined wines on the planet.
The Palate Oh man. Incredibly juicy and elegant with pure flavors like fresh powder after a snowfall. Amazing balance, structure and freshness. 4 dimensional texture. It's almost perfect on the palate. The depth is incredible but in a complex way, not a blowsy way. It is buffered by gorgeous acidity. It's so energetic on the palate with loads of nuts and honeysuckle with insane inner mouth white flower aromas. It is just perfection. It gets to every nook and cranny of your palate and floods it with glycerin. Yet due to the conditions of the vintage (hot days, cool nights) you have insane freshness and great acidity to buffer and frame all that glycerin. The level of finesse Michelle has brought to the 2019 can compete with the top examples of white Hermitage. So much structure and density. The length is outrageous! It never ends. Yet so delicate. The palate is so pure it is almost like a mountain spring water of Hermitage. Flavors of grilled nuts and marzipan are dominant on the palate with brilliant minerality and insane inner moith florals. There is a the most discreet and brilliant application of oak that adds so much. Michelle is brilliant when it comes to oak. Never ever too much, never too little, just right. So juicy. I mean super juicy. So fresh, so pure. There is terroir footprint like no other. Wet earth. It's like raining in the glass
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