2019 Hermitage la Maison Bleue
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Tasting notes
Inky violet color. Heady, smoke- and spice-tinged cherry, blueberry, peony and incense aromas show excellent clarity; mineral and cured meat notes build with aeration. Juicy and energetic, especially in the context of the year, offering sweet red and blue fruit preserves, exotic spice flavors and a suave floral top note. Shows real energy on the seamless, strikingly long and floral-accented finish, which is firmed by well-integrated tannins.
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
First vintage 2015. A replacement for La Petite Chapelle. From the south-eastern part of Hermitage. Young vines. Intended as a younger-drinking Hermitage. Liquorice, tar, dark berries. Such sweet fruit! Forceful, youthful, potent. The nose has headiness and fumes. There is complexity too, and it's very open for such a young Hermitage. Finishes with violet perfume. (RH)
The 2019 Hermitage La Maison Bleue showed well, with impressive notes of ripe black fruits, iron, leather, and hints of camphor in a medium to full-bodied, fine, elegant profile. It’s well made and will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and evolve for 15+. While the wheels haven’t come completely off at this estate, there’s a significant drop in terms of quality starting with the 2019s and continuing with the 2020s. Whether this is simply COVID related or indicative of a larger issue is yet to be determined. To be sure, the wines are still well-made, but to have access to some of the greatest terroirs in the world and to be producing mid-weight, lean wines is disappointing to say the least.
A superb Maison Bleue, the 2019 Hermitage La Maison Bleue seamlessly blends cherries and cassis into a purple mashup of fruit carried on rich, velvety waves of texture. Full-bodied and intense, it finishes complex and savory, adding notes of olive, clove and cedar on the long, luxurious finish. Already approachable, it should drink well through 2040.