2007 - Hermitage l'Ermite Rouge, M. Chapoutier

Ruby-red. Seductively perfumed bouquet of dark berry preserve and cherry aromas, with complicating notes of pungent herbs and anise. Pliant, deeply concentrated dark fruit and floral pastille flavors, with a smoky, pungently herbal quality adding another element. This smooth, alluring wine finishes with noteworthy sweetness and persistent fruit and violet notes.

A more near-term candidate for consumption is the 2007 Ermitage l’Ermite. It is a more austere, slightly less concentrated effort possessing notes of powdered rock as well as red and black fruits, full-bodied power, and a long finish. It is not among the pantheon of the most compelling Ermitage l’Ermites made by Michel Chapoutier, but it is certainly an outstanding one. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035.. (Not yet released) While Michel Chapoutier produces some of the world’s greatest wines from single parcels of old vines spread throughout the northern and southern Rhone (see my ecstatic reviews of his 2007 and 2006 Chateauneuf du Papes in issue #179), he also has an impressive portfolio of value-priced wines that are often over-looked when this impressive producer is discussed. Following are some top-notch picks that all sell for exceptionally fair prices. Chapoutier has not achieved as great as success in Cornas as he has in the other northern Rhone appellations, although his Cornas wines get better with each vintage. There are four extraordinary single vineyard white wines, all of which are among the greatest dry white wines of the world. While all of them can be drunk young, they are meant for extended cellaring. Made from very small yields, they represent the essence of a varietal as well as a vineyard site. As the following notes demonstrate, 2006 was one of the greatest vintages for white wines at Chapoutier. The single vineyard selection parcellaire red wines range in production from 500 to nearly 1,000 cases. 2007 is a very good vintage for these selections, but 2006 has an edge. It is reminiscent of 1996 because of the wines’ freshness and acid levels, but Chapoutier’s 2006s are even more concentrated than his 1996s. Chapoutier’s four 2006 cuvees of single vineyard Hermitage are exquisite. Most of the yields were between 10 and 20 hectoliters per hectare, and the wines are extravagantly rich. The 2006 and 2007 luxury cuvees of Chateauneuf du Pape Cr

Essence of 'manly' Hermitage. Every male dressing room you have ever smelt (I'm not talking rugby clubs here but hair brushes and leather and pomades) distilled into a single liquid. This will surely be a standout classic red Hermitage. Very dry, solid, concentrated and tight on the finish but with wonderfully fine tannins in real abundance. (JR)