HERMITAGE is the most magnificent vineyard in France. It rises high above the River Rhône and traps all the warmth of the sun on its steep, south-facing, granite slopes.

Syrah (Shiraz) reigns on the hill. Nowhere does it make better wine. A small amount of white wine is made almost entirely from Marsanne too, but is seldom as exciting as the majestic Syrah.

Just below the hill, in the middle of the busy, bustling little town of Tain l’Hermitage, are the cellars of Michel Chapoutier.

Chapoutier is the oldest winery in Tain. It was founded in 1808 and it is still family-run. Other people make memorable bottles of Hermitage, but Chapoutier’s is always among the very best.

It is a remarkable achievement for a house that makes wine not only in the Rhône Valley, but also from Roussillon near Perpignan in the far South of France, in Alsace, Portugal and in Victoria.

I took a short walk into the vineyards with Nelly France, Chapoutier’s export manager. She recently joined the firm after six years in the wine trade in New Zealand and is clearly much enjoying her new job, but struggles, as do most of the team, to keep up with Michel’s tireless stream of bright ideas. He’s keen to expand the business further if suitable sites come on the market, ideally on granite.

“He thinks granite is the best soil ever,” says Nelly. Michel is even looking to buy a vineyard in England or Wales, as long as one can be found to meet his strict criteria.

The family’s own vineyards are managed according to biodynamic principles, the idea of which is to “allow the earth to live and express itself”. A strict programme of homeopathic sprays and meticulous observance of the cycle of the moon, stars and planets supplements an organic regime. A 1961 Porsche tractor, beautifully restored, sits idle in the winery yard. Horses are used on Hermitage to avoid compacting the soil.

“Michel believes that a good soil is one that you can put your hand into,” Nell says.

Chapoutier’s priceless vineyards on Hermitage are full of life to the point of scruffiness. There are weeds in abundance and gaps in the rows where old vines have died and been grubbed up but not replaced.

This is because Michel believes that because the fruit of young and old vines tastes rather different, it should not be mixed in the best wines so gaps are not filled. It may all look a bit of a mess, but the vines are healthy and the soil smells wonderful.

Another aspect of Michel’s obsession with what the French call terroir, the unique expression of place created by soil, site, climate, and the human interaction with them all, is that wines should be a true expression of what nature provides each year. He always wants to make the best wines possible, but they will never be quite the same from year to year.

It’s an impressive achievement in a business that sells around five million bottles each year, half of which are exported, with the UK one of the best markets. Their wines are fairly widely distributed here, with the excellent entry-level red Côtes du Rhône, Belleruche 2009, a fine bargain in Majestic at £8.99 or just £6.99 if you buy two bottles. For the very best selection go online to Berry Bros and Rudd at www.bbr.com, but be prepared to dig into your savings.

We retreated from the afternoon sun into the cool of a tasting room in the winery. I was greatly impressed by my first taste of a wine from their new estate in Alsace, a 2009 Riesling Grand Cru Wibelsberg, from the village of Andlau – not from granite soils, but quartz over sandstone.

“Michel loves the minerality of Riesling,” Nelly told me, and this gorgeous wine showed a near perfect balance between honeyed, lemony fruit, fine acidity and lingering salty minerality. It is a fabulously sure-footed debut and promises so much for the future from this estate.

Notes on the full range of wines that we tasted, including some from Roussillon and Australia, are on my website, www.helensavage.com

Never pass up an opportunity to try any of the Prestige wines in the range, which include the red Hermitage Monerie de la Sizeranne.

The 2007 is perfumed, yet intense, with fine silky tannins and lovely purity of fruit, but the specially selected single site wines are a revelation.

Le Méal 2008, for example, from a terrace of shingle and clay, has an extraordinarily exciting smell of wild cherries and even rose petals, with a seductively soft, ripe, yet elegant flavour, with fine tannins which tail off into a long, lingering finish. Les Greffieux, lower down the slope with more alluvial material in the soil, makes quite different wine.

The 2001 is fabulous with a smell and flavour encompassing liquorice, walnuts, coffee and iodine, all supported by a silky texture.

I do hope that Michel succeeds in finding a site over here on which he can weave his magic. It certainly won’t be Hermitage, but it will be fascinating to discover what he can craft from the best of our soils.

WINE EXTRAS

THE gravelly or clay-rich soil beside the river and on the rolling hills around Hermitage is source of a much cheaper, but often excellent wine called Crozes Hermitage. Most of it is red, made from Syrah. One of the best I've tasted recently form the rather challenging 2008 vintage is by Jean-Luc Colombo: Les Gravières Crozes Hermitage (£13.99 at Waitrose) is a classy red wine with a smell and juicy taste of black cherries, brambles and white pepper.

The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety,com) offers a couple of excellent wines for summer drinking from further south in the Rhône Valley. Domaine Jaume, Côtes du Rhône 2008 (£7.50) is full of peppery berry fruit, softer and richer than the Crozes, though less refined. Lirac, Domaine Maby, La Fremade 2010 (£8.75) is a super example of a white made just across the river from Châteauneuf du Pape. Dry and creamy with peachy, spicy fruit and a kiss of oak, it will partner white meats or grilled fish very well indeed.

WINE OF THE WEEK

Réserve du Boulas, Côtes du Rhône, Rosé, 2010 £5.99 Marks and Spencer (normally £7.99).

Deliciously fresh, dry but fruity rosé from the southern Rhône, it smells and tastes of cherry and rhubarb with a dusting of wild herbs. Great value and lovely with Chinese food or prawns with pasta.