2016 Ermitage Le Meal

Vivid purple. Assertive, mineral-accented aromas of fresh black raspberry, cherry and violet; a powerful suggestion of exotic spices emerges with air. Juicy, energetic and appealingly sweet, offering palate-staining black and blue fruit preserve, spicecake, smoky bacon and floral pastille flavors that steadily deepen as the wine opens up. The floral and mineral notes repeat emphatically on an impressively long, energetic finish that features well-knit tannins and lingering blue fruit character.

More ripe and flamboyant, the 2016 Ermitage Le Méal has a beautifully rounded, voluptuous yet pure style that's very much in the vintage. Black raspberries, spice, dried flowers, and a touch of minerality all emerge from this incredibly sexy, seamless beauty that has enough tannins and depth to keep for 2-3 decades. It's an opulent, hedonistic dream of a wine to enjoy over the coming 2-3 decades. The estate of firebrand Michel Chapoutier continues to operate on all cylinders, and these latest 2016 and 2017 releases are world class for this address. The 2017 whites show the gradual change toward a more reductive style of winemaking, and the wines at times have an almost Burgundian feel in their minerality, acidity, and texture. Nevertheless, they’re fabulously concentrated and rich and will need 2-4 years of cellaring. The 2016 whites showed beautifully, and I prefer those to the 2017s. The majority of the 2017 reds were tasted as barrel samples. This is a ripe, sexy, expressive vintage for the Northern Rhône, and this shows in the wines. The 2017s don’t appear to have the density of the more blockbuster styled 2015s, yet they have expressive, sunny characters that will deliver loads of charm. The 2016s having slightly more density and cooler-climate styled aromatics, yet are nevertheless some of the richest, sexiest wines in the vintage. In addition to the frightfully expensive top-tier cuvées, don’t miss the value releases from this estate. These wines max out the QPR scale and are great introductions into the wines of Chapoutier as well as the Rhône Valley.

Attractively bright and fresh on the nose, the 2016 Ermitage le Meal is full-bodied yet creamy and supple in feel. Because of its greater level of ripeness, Chapoutier explains that it's aged in 50% demi-muids to lessen the oak influence, and indeed the wine isn't cedary at all. Espresso and mocha shadings give a savory cast to the bold blackberry fruit, while the texture turns to pure velvet on the long finish.