In the Hermitage appellation there are still some small-scale winegrowers cultivating their vineyards alongside the larger commercial operations. Marc Sorrel is one such producer and his Hermitage Le Gréal is now on par with the area’s best-known wines. In the early 1980s, Marc took over from his father who had decided, at the start of the 1970s, to produce and bottle his own wine instead of selling it to the trade. When his father died, he inherited some of the vineyards and bought just over one hectare of other parcels on the Colline de l’Hermitage. Today, he tends his old vines on some of the finest plots on the hillside meticulously and with a passion.

This hermitage comes from the terroirs of Rouméas, Pierrelles and Les Diognères. These vines, which are about 60 years old, grow on clay-granite soils and 30% of the harvest is not destemmed. The resulting wine will be aged in new barriques (Allier and Tronçais) for twelve months then in foudres for a further year. It is neither fined nor filtered.