“Most producers of Hermitage would agree that, after a long period of stasis or even decline, the most exciting appellation in their part of the northern Rhône is St-Joseph. Land prices here are a more affordable €120,000 a hectare on average, about the same as in the Crozes-Hermitage appellation that sprawls behind the hill of Hermitage on less propitious, flatter land that can easily be mechanised and is therefore more profitable.”