M. Chapoutier - Côtes-du-Rhône Belleruche 2014

Michel Chapoutier is now ably supported by his children, Mathilde and Maxime, in running the largest wine house in the Northern Rhône, a long-standing specialist in Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage. Chapoutier is, on the one hand, a major wine merchant, but also produces top-tier estate wines, with the estate’s vineyards having long been cultivated using biodynamic methods. The single-vineyard selections—the top of the line—perfectly reflect the owner’s philosophy: produced from specific plots, made from a single grape variety, and released annually, they are above all a reflection of the terroir, showcasing both its best qualities and, at times, its extremes.

This venerable (19th-century) and must-visit winery, propelled onto the international stage by Michel Chapoutier beginning in the 1990s, offers a wide range of wines sourced from its own vineyards (345 ha, cultivated biodynamically) or from purchased grapes, across most of the Rhône Valley’s flagship appellations, as well as in Roussillon and Alsace. His children, Mathilde and Maxime, have recently joined the family business.

Under the name Maison M. Chapoutier, we feature wines from the wine merchant division of this 200-year-old institution based in Tain-l'Hermitage. Michel Chapoutier, now joined by his daughter Mathilde, offers a very wide range of Rhône appellations here, with a production volume approaching one million bottles. But the Chapoutier name is also present in other regions (Champagne, Alsace, Languedoc, and even Australia), a testament to this family’s dynamism. While some vintages are impressive, others, on the other hand, are far more run-of-the-mill. This inconsistency has led us to remove the star from the estate this year.