Domaine Marc Sorrel Hermitage 2022

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The Marc Sorrel estate is one of those family jewels passed down from generation to generation, in the secrecy of notary offices. Here, there's no need to make an appointment; the Sorrels are notaries from father to son! Marc's father's and grandfather's vineyards, a few acres on the Hermitage hillside, Les Rocoules and Le Méal, purchased in 1928, were said to have cost more than they brought in, but the pride of being a winemaker outweighed the lawyers' calculations. In 1982, Marc Sorrel took over management of the family estate, abandoning a career in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It was he who transformed the estate from a family hobby to a true winery. To achieve this, he seized opportunities to expand the vineyard. A rare opportunity on this coveted hillside presents itself to him with plots in Les Greffieux and Les Bessards, then a possibility of tenancy in Crozes-Hermitage, on superb white terroirs. Les Rocoules, convex in shape, benefits from constant sunshine during the day, the soils are limestone with iron oxides, soils for white grape varieties, the vines are more than 60 years old. On Le Méal, there are large limestone pebbles, with brown limestone soils, sandy-pebbly at the bottom of the slope. Warm to red soils. Marc Sorrel owns one hectare of old vines there, planted in 1945. Just below, Les Greffieux sits on sandy limestone, with more land than in Le Méal, and younger vines. Beneath Les Greffieux, a portion of the Clos des Plantiers, with richer clay-limestone soils, completes the Sorrel portfolio. In total, 2.5 hectares in the Hermitage, with these diverse plots adding complexity to the blends.