Domaine De La Chapelle Hermitage

The History of Domaine de La Chapelle

The history of Domaine de La Chapelle is inseparable from the Hermitage hill, which overlooks the Rhône at Tain-l'Hermitage. According to the estate's history, in the 13th century, the knight Henri-Gaspard de Stérimberg, returning from the Albigensian Crusade, settled on the hill and had a chapel built there. He also cultivated vines, and his life as a hermit would give Hermitage its name.

Since 1919, the Jaboulet family and then the Frey family have succeeded one another on these steep slopes to tend the vines behind La Chapelle Hermitage. This cuvée is now at the heart of the estate's identity and is based on a blend of several of the hill's great terroirs. Today, the Frey family has selected a new technical director for the estate, Chiara Pepe.

Viticulture and Vinification: The Domaine's Philosophy

At Domaine de La Chapelle, terroir takes center stage. The Hermitage hill features a particularly varied geological mosaic, with granite at Les Bessards and Varogne, pebbles on the terraces of Le Méal, Les Rocoules and Les Murets, and loess at Maison Blanche and Les Murets. This diversity directly shapes the different expressions of the wines.

Syrah is at the heart of the red Hermitage wines, notably from century-old vines. For the whites, Marsanne and Roussanne find their expression across the hill's different terroirs.

Harvesting is done by hand in small 12 kg crates, in order to preserve the integrity of the grapes until they reach the cellar.

The estate also works to preserve this plant heritage through a conservatory that brings together, each year, ten massal selections from old vines, each one monitored and vinified separately thanks to a micro-vinification cellar.

The Wines of Domaine de La Chapelle

Two wines particularly embody Domaine de La Chapelle: La Chapelle Hermitage in red and Le Chevalier de Stérimberg in white.

La Chapelle Hermitage is a red Hermitage made from Syrah. It draws its personality from the blend of several emblematic parcels on the hill, notably Le Méal, Les Bessards, Les Rocoules and Les Greffieux, with vines aged 40 to 100 years. Each terroir contributes its own aromatic characteristics and structure, with the blend seeking balance, depth and aging potential.

In white, Le Chevalier de Stérimberg pays tribute to the knight associated with the hill's history. The cuvée is made from Marsanne and Roussanne, grown notably on loess and pebble terroirs. The estate seeks a full-bodied and complex white Hermitage here, combining fruity expression, minerality and aging potential.

These two wines thus offer two complementary readings of Hermitage: on one side the depth of Syrah, on the other the expression of Marsanne and Roussanne, with the hill's geological diversity as the common thread in both.