2016 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Les Greffieux

From the deeper soils at the bottom of the Le Méal lieu-dit, the 2016 Ermitage Les Gréffieux was all destemmed and saw its normal 18 months in a mix of Burgundy barrels and demi-muids, with just 25% being new. This is a rich, powerful, black-fruited expression of this cuvée, offering up tons of blackcurrants, blackberries, smoked earth, chocolate, and spice. Inky colored, full-bodied, sensationally concentrated, and opulent on the palate, it's a killer bottle of wine that can be drunk today or cellared for 25 years or more. 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.

Chapoutier's 2016 Ermitage les Greffieux is a perfumed, elegant expression of this historic terroir. Violet and crushed stone notes perfectly complement the cedar and baking spices of new oak in framing ripe blackberries and blueberries. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated yet silky in feel, it adds savory notes of black olive and licorice on the long, mouthwatering finish.

Glass-staining purple. A complex, deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe cherry and cassis, complicated by suggestions of woodsmoke, incense and minerals. Seamless but juicy and sharply focused on the palate, offering alluringly sweet black and blue fruit liqueur, spicecake and licorice flavors that are given spine by a core of juicy acidity. Rich and fleshy in style, especially in the context of this vintage, finishing with excellent clarity, youthful tannic grip and superb, dark-fruit-driven persistence.