2015 Ermitage Le Meal

(20% new oak) Inky purple. Dark fruit preserves, incense, candied flowers, olive and smoky Indian spices on the deeply perfumed nose. Sappy and seamless on the palate, offering densely packed black and blue fruit flavors and suave spicecake and mineral accents. Opens up very slowly with aeration and finishes very long and sweet, featuring lingering dark berry and floral pastille notes and smooth, slow-building tannins.

One of the finest wines ever made from this estate is unquestionably the 2015 Ermitage Le Méal, which has just about everything you could want in a wine. Loaded with notions of black raspberries, sweet spice, saddle leather, graphite and dried Provençal herbs, this full-bodied, unctuous beauty has loads of sweet fruit, perfectly balanced, sweet, polished tannin, and a huge finish. Brought up in 20% new French oak, it’s a profound Hermitage that can be enjoyed anytime over the coming 2-3 decades. Hats off to the team at Ferraton! The only downside to these latest releases from Ferraton? They’re made in tiny quantities and there’s just not enough to go around. For readers who don’t know, this estate is managed by Michel Chapoutier, yet they have their own vineyard sources and winemaking team.

Cedar and crème de cassis mark the nose of the 2015 Ermitage Le Méal. This is a big, powerful, intense bottle of Syrah, packed with dark fruit and layers of crushed stones and pencil shavings and buoyed by hints of savory spice. Full-bodied and tannic yet velvety and rich, this is a wine that should last 30 years.