1996 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon

A wine that just screams “Granite!” is the sensational 1996 Ermitage le Pavillon, which comes all from the les Bessards lieu-dit on the western side of Hermitage hill. As fine, seamless and layered as they come, this beauty offers classic notes of powdered rocks, cassis, graphite, burning embers and flowers. Full-bodied, concentrated and massive on the palate, you can almost feel the rocky soils this wine comes from on the palate, and it still, even at age 20, has loads of mouth-coasting, sweet tannin emerging on the finish. It’s a tiny step back from the mammoth 1995, yet is still an incredible wine that has another two decades of prime drinking, and will keep even longer.

Tiny yields . Very dark blackish crimson. Sweet and the only wine here that seems at all marked by oak. Even though they apparently use only 50% new oak. Treacle toffee nose though bone dry. Very complete and evolved – much more developed than the Chave 1996. Slightly dry tannins on the finish. Not quite as assured as later vintages. But very sweet and smooth and polished. If you were very cruel and crude you might call this slightly 'American'. (JR)

The 1996 Hermitage Le Pavillon needs at least a decade of cellaring. The wine possesses a saturated black/purple color, in addition to fabulously sweet aromas of blackberries, framboise, blueberries, violets, roasted herbs, and meats. Massively concentrated and full-bodied, with staggering levels of extract, this wine is super pure, with high tannin, good but not intrusive acidity, and a 45-second finish. This is one of the superstars of the vintage in France! Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050. Feb 1999, www.robertparker.com