Wine Advisor
Marc Sorrel, Hermitage Le Greal 2013
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Easily my favorite of the 2013s, the 2012 Hermitage le Greal comes mostly from the warmer le Meal lieu-dit, but incorporates 10% from Greffieux. It has good richness and depth in its peppery dark fruits, cured meat and tapenade-styled bouquet. This is followed by a full-bodied, fleshy, full and textured Hermitage that has solid mid-palate depth and enough structure to warrant a few years in the cellar.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
(made from fruit grown in Greffieux and Méal, half of it destemmed; aged in used barriques for 18 months): Bright purple. Potent scents of cherry pit, blueberry liqueur, licorice and bitter chocolate, accompanied by a smoky accent that builds in the glass. Densely packed and alluringly sweet, offering smoky black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and floral pastille flavors energized by a jolt of cracked pepper. Smooth, harmonious tannins come in late on the sappy, smoky, impressively long finish.
About the Producer
Marc Sorrel is a leading estate in the Hermitage appellation of the northern Rhône, producing traditionally styled, long-lived red wines from Syrah as well as white wines from Marsanne and Roussanne. The estate was founded in 1928 by Félix Sorrel and from 1984 to 2018, was run by his grandson Marc. Today, Marc's son Guillaume is at the helm of the domaine. The estate is best known for its Hermitage wines, sourced from several plots on the famous hillside. Typically, the vines are planted on granite-based soils, and enjoy the region's sunny, south-oriented mesoclimate. Some of the vines are more than 60 years old, and produce tiny yields of intensely concentrated berries. There are four Hermitage wines in Marc Sorrel's current portfolio – two red and two white and are varietal expressions of Syrah and Marsanne respectively. The top red wine, Le Gréal, is produced in tiny amounts from the best old vine parcels of Syrah within the estate with a small portion of Marsanne. The white wine, Les Rocoules, is predominantly Marsanne with a little Roussanne. Marc Sorrel also makes a red and a white Crozes-Hermitage wine. In the winery, the grapes are often whole-bunch fermented. The white varieties are fermented in large used oak barrels to impart a soft oak influence. All wines are aged in old oak barrels in the cellar for a period prior to bottling.
