Not a single new oak barrel can be found in Sorrel's wine cellars, which are on the main street of Tain l'Hermitage in Northern Rhone. His one concession to modernism is his air-conditioned cellar. Production is small, with 1,000 cases of white and red Hermitage wines, and the rest Crozes-Hermitage.

Marc Sorrel took over the lion's share of the family wine business from his father in 1982. Somewhat thrown in at the deep end, his first efforts were less than spectacular. He bounced back, however, with his next vintage and has been on the up ever since and is now one of the finest producers of traditionally styled Hermitage.

His winemaking technique is distinctly non-interventionist - he rarely de-stems, he doesn't use new oak and his wines are often aged for up to two years before bottling. This traditional approach gives an old-fashioned style of Hermitage which is full, well-structured and very long-lived.