My favorite of the white Hermitages, the 2016 Ermitage l'Ermite Blanc boasts aromas of gently toasted marshmallow and ripe pear. It's full-bodied and generous, with a rich, grainy texture balanced by brine and zest notes. While it can be enjoyed now, my feeling is that it will get better over the next decade, then drink well for at least another decade after that.

Bright gold. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes fresh pear, orange zest, smoky minerals and jasmine, along with a deeper suggestion of honey. Energetic, sharply focused citrus and orchard fruit and honeysuckle flavors stain the palate while showing zero fat. The mineral note builds steadily as the wine opens up and drives an impressively long, focused finish that features lingering floral, brioche and iodine notes.

The best of the lineup in 2016 is unquestionably the 2016 Ermitage L’Ermite Blanc, which is all Marsanne from the granite soils at the top of Hermitage hill that was brought up in 25% new demi-muids. Boasting a crazy bouquet of exotic tropical fruits, liquid rocks, white flowers, celery seed, and licorice, it’s deep, rich, and powerful on the palate, with the more upfront, elegant and pure style of the vintage, yet has awesome richness, fatness and opulence. It’s a legendary white that I suspect will have 4-5 decades of life. 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.