2001 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex Voto

The first vintage and from the Guigal's plots in Bessard, l'Hermite, Greffieux and les Murets, 2001 Hermitage Ex Voto is a classic, focused, age-worthy Hermitage that possesses a still youthful, inky color as well as tons of cassis, olive tapenade, smoked earth and leather. Big, beefy, full-bodied and massively concentrated, with high acidity and tannin, it's still a baby that needs 3-4 more years of cellaring. It will have 40 years or more of overall longevity.

Noticeably more ripe and upfront, and not standing out as much as you would think from the other wines, the 2001 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex Voto showed upfront and youthful fruit with a still borderline primary profile. The sleekness and acid profile on the palate gave this away as the other northern Rhône, yet this has plenty of power and depth, yet is still 4-6 years away from prime time drinking.

(tasted from barrel) Saturated medium ruby. Knockout nose combines superripe, liqueur-like black- and redcurrant, gunflint, pepper, leather, game and chocolate. Huge, spicy and rich, with outstanding sweetness and depth of flavor. A massive but well-delineated Hermitage that finishes with extraordinarily suave tannins. Built for two decades of development in bottle. This is 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3. 87.