Hermitage

A walk to the top of Hermitage hill is a must for any Rhône wine lover. Sitting 150m high above the village of Tain l'Hermitage facing due south, the peace and tranquillity only broken by the occasional runner, it is the perfect place to share a sandwich and a glass of wine outside the famous Chapelle. With 140 hectares of vines, mostly clinging to south-facing granite slopes, it is, along with Cornas, one of the smallest appellations for red.

The Syrah here tend to be big and bold and repay patience in the cellar, the whites (Marsanne and Roussanne) are textured, opulent and long-lived as well. As Matt Walls notes in his great Rhône book 'Wines of the Rhône': 'Hermitage is, after all, the very apogee of one the greatest grape varieties of all'.