2004 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Blanc

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 91.8 points

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  3/26/2021 - Niagara wrote: 95 Points

  not an ugly duckling in it's youth -- maybe just a bit plain -- but now, has this one ever become a swan. Just gorgeous wine. Best $65 Hermitage ever.

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  7/23/2014 - Paul S wrote: 91 Points

  Whites and Fish @ Tonny's (Tonny Restaurant, Geylang Lor 3, Singapore): I had quite forgetten having drank (and enjoyed) a bottle of this some 3 years back. Tonight, I found it a bit too heavy for me, but this was very much a wine of character that went well with food. A rich nose was a precursor to the rest of the wine, with slightly sweet, weighty aromas of beeswax, stone fruit and spice, and then more savoury tones of mushrooms, mineral and a little nutty creaminess. The palate had a rich, waxy texture, with very honeyed shades of nectar, white peach and Chinese pears. Tons of creamy depth and texture hear. However, even punctuated as it was by some of the freshness of the vintage, this still seemed heavy, with an impressive of lower acidity, especially towards the finish, where the freshness gives out and the wine got just a little plodding. It certainly had length though, with a powerful finish with mineral, spice and a little almond nut note. Not bad, but not quite the style of wine I enjoy at this point of its evolution. I am not sure this is going to get much better given the lack of freshness and the already honeyed maturity in the wine’s flavours either.

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  6/26/2013 - JamesTye wrote: 88 Points

  From 750ml. Decanted and served an hour later at Annisa in New York. Served at cellar temperature. Beautiful golden honey colour in decanter, not especially bright. The nose is a panoply of spice, honey, pear and minerals. On the palate the wine was a little shy for a white Hermitage. Lots of honey swilling around, nuttiness, complex spice and a dash of white pepper. The wine continued to develop over the evening but never really hit great heights. Good balancing acidity. Matched the rich, nutty chicken main well.
  
  I would expect more power and complexity from a white Hermitage, and although this wine was balanced, fresh and honeyed it lacked in spice, complexity and finish. A competent but relatively unexciting wine from Sorrel. No hurry to drink up here, and the complexity might evolve further with a year or two of bottle age.

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  5/11/2011 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points

  Pre-Burgundy Dinner (Asia Grand, Odeon Towers): This was absolutely lovely. It had a very attractive nose, with a little layer of oak, then beeswax, honey, spiced pear scents and lots of rocky mineral. No mistaking this for anything other than an Hermitage blanc really. The palate was really nice too, with tons of character. Some damp earth notes, mushrooms, wet stones, just lovely minerality layered over some more beeswax and gentle yellow fruit moving into a very respectably long finish with lemon zest, a hint of honeysuckle and a touch of bittersweet almond skins. Lots of lovely complexity in a really well-integrated package. This benefitted from the freshness of the vintage as well, coming across very nicely alive. With time, all sorts of lovely Provencal notes started emerging on the nose and palate - garrigue, wild lavender, marigold, dried earth. Beautiful stuff. It was an absolutely perfect pairing with braised scallop vermicelli, with the 2004 acid on the wine cleansing the palate with each mouthfull, and the seafood in the vermicelli bringing out a wonderful nutty length on the wine that just went on and on.

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  5/10/2011 - celk wrote: 92 Points

  Nice depth on the palate. Blooming well after time in the glass although still somewhat shy and restrained.

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