M. Chapoutier, Hermitage, l'Ermite Blanc 2018

Another truly flawless wine from this dream team is the 2018 Ermitage L’Ermite Blanc, which comes from a vineyard located at the top of Hermitage Hill and was brought up in 20-25% new demi-muids. Offering a magical bouquet of liqueur of rock, quince, poached pears, orange blossom, and honeysuckle, it's a powerful, super-rich, expressive, full-bodied white that could come from nowhere else in the world. It's approachable today it needs plenty of air) yet won't hit prime for another 7-8 years or so.

Drink 2027-2057

Chapoutier's colossal 2018 Ermitage l'Ermite Blanc is a candidate for a perfect score, marrying crisp, stony, structural elements with an off-the-charts level of pineapple, citrus and melon fruit. Full-bodied yet fresh, round yet focused, it's a somehow harmonious expression of several seeming contradictions and should amaze drinkers for decades to come.

Drink 2020 - 2050

Deep, bright-hued yellow. Mineral-driven citrus pith, orchard and pit fruits on the highly perfumed nose, along with iodine and pungent floral nuances. Sappy pear nectar, Meyer lemon and peach flavors stain the palate and take on a hint of smokiness as the wine opens up. Displays superb tension and sharp focus on the finish, which lingers with noteworthy, mineral-dominated persistence.

Drink 2025-2035.

This has a gentle, almond nougat aroma and a touch of rhubarb with gentle honeycomb edging to the pear and mango fruit. It's still distinctly saline and buzzing with energy, but more immediately drinkable than a more classic recent vintage of L'Ermite Blanc. The yields were 32hl/ha, very high for this domaine, and it doesn't currently provide the impact of more concentrated, lower yielding years. From some pre-phylloxera vines from 1860. Michel explains that the soils on this lieu-dit are ‘granilite’ - granite with a touch of calcium - a rare kind of alkaline granite. 80% matured in demi-muid, 15% new oak; the rest in stainless steel barrels.

Drink 2020-2035