Walls: Tasting Hermitage 2001 20 years on

In 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. Meanwhile in the UK, Tony Blair led the Labour Party to its second landslide victory. A lot can change over the course of 20 years.

According to many Rhône winemakers and wine collectors, this is how long a bottle of Hermitage should lay undisturbed until you open it. Is it really worth the wait?

I recently tasted 11 Hermitage 2001s – seven red, two white, two sweet – to test the 20 year hypothesis and see how these wines are looking today.

See Matt’s tasting notes and scores for 11 different Hermitage 2001 wines

Red, white and sweet

Red Hermitage is Syrah at its most statuesque. The wines can feel uncomfortably massive when young and are prone to extended periods of inexpressive introversion. It can take many years for their tannins to soften and their inborn complexity and charisma to surface.

A third of Hermitage hill is planted with white varieties, mostly Marsanne and a little Roussanne. White Hermitage drinks from the same potion as the reds and shares their Obelixian might. They can last just as long as the reds, arguably longer. Rarer still is the sweet white Hermitage Vin de Paille.

The 2001 vintage

A vintage that’s more commonly associated with excellent Côte-Rôties, it was also very good in Hermitage in both reds and whites.

‘I really think it was a good example of a classic year, very loyal to the place,’ says Jean-Louis Chave. ‘It’s easy to forget about [this vintage] but it has always been good.’

He remembers a fairly large crop, with a clear difference in quality between wines grown on the hillsides and those on the flat. This was due to a large storm just before picking – rather like 2021 – so they had to wait for the vineyards to dry out before the harvest.

Aside from this interruption, both rainfall and average temperatures over the year were very typical for the period.

2001 Hermitage tasting: the results

All of the reds in this tasting were safely out of any awkward phase and were all drinking well. None of the wines were deceased, though the Cave de Tain Classique was beginning to tire and arguably would have been better a few years ago.

The other reds had many years ahead of them, but none of them necessarily require further ageing. They’re not going to improve as such, though they will continue to change and develop in bottle. From here on in, it’s really a question of personal taste and how old you like your wines to be.

Whilst I wouldn’t have wanted to open the Domaine JL Chave much before now, the other bottles of red Hermitage would all have provided a lot of pleasure before today. So for a classic (rather than exceptional) vintage, perhaps waiting 15 years before opening might be a better rule of thumb.

The same goes for the two bottles of dry white Hermitage: neither of them needed to wait this long before being opened, but they were both in a great place.

The Cave de Tain Classique white was the surprise of the tasting. The Classique red might have been fading, but the white was fresh, balanced and delicious, with more in reserve. It suggests that white Hermitage can indeed last longer than its red counterpart.

Chapoutier’s Le Méal blanc was also exquisite and of the dry wines, only the Domaine JL Chave red Hermitage will outlive it.

I was surprised to see two Hermitage Vin de Paille submitted, as only a few producers still make it. It’s more costly to make a Vin de Paille than a dry white, and with global interest in sweet wines waning over the past few decades, it isn’t an easy sell.

But the wines tasted were a vindication of this traditional style. Dry white Hermitage is powerful already, so imagine it riper yet more concentrated, with an oily, mouthcoating sweetness. Years matter little to wines like this. They will probably outlive me.

Who knows what the world will look like in in 2041. With the constant barrage of negative news worldwide, it can be hard to stay optimistic.

But tuck away some 2020 Hermitage in your cellar and at least you know you’ll have something to look forward to.

See Matt’s tasting notes and scores for 11 different Hermitage 2001 wines:

Wines in order of colour and style then score

Related content:

Walls: Tasting the first five vintages of Delas’ Hermitage ‘Ligne de Crête’

Hermitage vintage guide

Getting to know red Hermitage