The biggest production cuvee, the 2005 Ermitage Le Pavillon (1,067 cases in this vintage) has a dense purple color, the classic acacia flower, graphite-based, smoky creme de cassis nose with a tremendous intensity and a full-bodied power and richness that is awesome. These are monumental wines, and when you think that this wine, much like most of its siblings, is made from yields of 12-18 hectoliters per hectare, the explanation for its concentration and extraordinary expression of terroir is obvious.

Any young readers with plenty of discretionary income and good DNA for longevity should check out the opaque purple-colored 2005 Ermitage Le Pavillon. A monumental wine made from 15 hectoliters per hectare, the wine has an inky purple color to the rim and an extraordinary nose of acacia flowers, graphite, blackberry, and creme de cassis. With huge body, monster tannins, but elevated acidity, this is a primordial beast of a wine, yet the brilliant harmony/symmetry and profound character are easily the hallmark of a prodigy in the making. Give it 10-15 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 75-100. Importer: Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900

A deep garnet/ruby hue. The nose here is more broody than Meal with blackberry, raspberry and garrigue scents. Just a little reductive. The palate is still a little disjointed, quite tannic and masculine, more aggressive than the other Ermitages. Broody and sullen, foursquare on the finish. Keep at bay for at least a decade by it has masses of potential. Tasted October 2006. Drinking 2015-2035

My favorite of the 2005s from Chapoutier, the 2005 Ermitage Le Pavillon is a heavenly wine that comes from one of the greatest sites for Syrah in the world, the steep, granite-dominated hillside of les Bessards. Getting a bevy of expletives in my notes, this insanely good Hermitage offers classic notes of smoked meats, charcoal, liquid rock, burning embers, chocolate and cassis, as well as a thick, unctuous and massively concentrated style on the palate. Changing in the glass, with exotic aromatics, incredible purity and building, polished tannin, Syrah doesn’t get any better. Given the youthful profile here, I’m sure this will see its 50th birthday in fine form, but it still delivers plenty of pleasure today given its texture, purity and balance.