2015 Domaine des Remizieres Hermitage Cuvée Emilie

The 2015 Hermitage Cuvée Emilie comes from the Les Grandes Vignes region of Hermitage (a small part is from Les Rocoules) and was brought up in 100% new French oak. Its inky purple color is followed by sensational notes of charcoal, burning embers, blackberry liqueur and graphite. A huge, rich, and enormously concentrated wine, it has sensational mid-palate depth and stays fresh and lively on the palate, with a firm, concentrated, age-worthy style. It's certainly not for instant gratification and is going to need time. Forget bottles for a good 7-8 years. Unquestionably one of my favorite estates in Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine des Remizières is run by the Desmeures family, with Emilie Desmeures making the wines and her father Philippe managing the vineyards. They have 34 hectares spread between Crozes-Hermitage, Saint Joseph and Hermitage. While they make a relatively modern styled wine, these beauties never lose their Northern Rhône soul and age gracefully.

Roasted beef, savory herbs and espresso notes mark the nose of the 2015 Hermitage Cuvee Emilie. This full-bodied, massively endowed wine is rich and velvety, pushing the limits of ripeness toward fruitcake and dried fruit but staying just this side of my tolerance for that sort of thing. It’s already remarkably approachable.

Dark purple. Heady, smoke-tinged blueberry, cherry, vanilla and violet aromas show excellent clarity and a touch of olive. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated black and blue fruit and floral pastille flavors along with a suggestion of fruitcake. The impressively long, supple finish features bright minerally cut, an echo of sweet blue fruit and velvety tannins that come in late.