In 1224, a knight named Henri-Gaspard de Sterimberg returned from the Crusades and sought solace on the hill now known as Hermitage, where he built the Saint Christophe chapel and began cultivating vines. He was deemed a hermit and was the inspiration behind the name of the Hermitage appellation, a single hill with a diversity of soil types. Nestled on Hermitage hill, the Maison Bleue - meaning "blue house" in French - is a small stone house with blue shutters that provides a shaded place to rest for winegrowers and horses. The 40- to 60-year-old Syrah vines are located primarily on the eastern side of Hermitage in alluvial soils with an exposure to the South. The vines on a flatter slope are cordon trained while the vines on terraced 30-percent slopes are goblet trained. The organic grapes are hand-harvested with an initial hand sorting in the vineyard. The grapes are completely destemmed. The wine undergoes three weeks of maceration with daily pump overs. It is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels – 15% of which are new. Potential to age up to 20 years.
