2009 Hermitage

A wine that flirts with perfection is the inky and opaque 2009 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes. Coming from L'Ermite, le Sabot, and Les Bessards, and aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels, it gives up a heavenly bouquet of crushed rocks, blackberries, leather, wild herbs and earth. Massively concentrated on the palate, with another level of fruit and texture over the 2010, it has brilliant purity, building tannin and a blockbuster finish. There's enough tannin here to warrant hiding in the cellar for 4-5 years, but it should last for 3-4 decades.

Pitch black. Ripe cherry and blackcurrant on the nose, with complicating notes of licorice and black tea. Dense and chewy, with powerful dark berry and bitter cherry flavors that show a slightly roasted element. Becomes livelier with air and picks up a peppery quality that carries through the finish.

Much more structure, smoky, and concentrated, with a burly feel, the 2009 Delas Frères Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes delivers a serious array of blackberry, graphite, mineral, cedar, and charcoal that gives way to a full-bodied, dense, almost painfully structured palate. Fleshing out in the glass, this rock star Hermitage has a deep, layered mid-palate, integrated acidity, and masses of tannin on the finish. This needs time. Give bottles 5-6 years in the cellar, and then plan on drinking over the following two decades!