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Walls: Tasting Hermitage 2001 20 years on

It is said that Hermitage truly comes into its own after 20 years in bottle. Matt Walls tastes through 11 bottles of 2001 Hermitage to test this theory and see how they're drinking now.

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


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

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