More structured and tannic, yet sensationally concentrated, the 2016 Ermitage Le Pavillon comes all from the broken granite soils of the Bessards lieu-dit and was brought up in just 30% new French oak. It gives up awesome notes of blue fruits, crushed rocks, graphite, and lit gunpowder. Rich, full-bodied, and incredibly massive and opulent on the palate, yet with serious amounts of tannins, extract, and depth, it's a tour de force and one of the gems in the vintage as well as a monumental Hermitage. Hide bottles for 5-7 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 4-5 decades. 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.

Matured in 28% new oak for 20 months. Aromas of soy, plum sauce, blackberry and blackcurrant. Exceptional smoothness of tannin, very seductive, almost drinkable now. There's lovely purity and acidity running through to a long finish. Exceptionally pretty and pure, but powerful. A black stallion of a wine.

A 30-year wine, the 2016 Ermitage le Pavillon is inky in color, displays the essence of crushed rock on the nose, offers flavors of dark chocolate, espresso and scorched meat on the palate and lingers forever on the finish. This full-bodied, intensely concentrated and tannic wine represents the essence of Les Bessards. Looking at my notes, the rating may well prove to be conservative. Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate #234, December 2017

Full purple. Heady, spice- and mineral-accented black and blue fruit, exotic spice, olive and incense aromas show superb clarity and pick up hints of woodsmoke, mocha and candied licorice with aeration. Sweet, seamless and penetrating on the palate, offering intense boysenberry, cherry liqueur, spicecake and cola flavors and a touch of salty olive paste. Deepens steadily on the strikingly persistent finish, which features polished tannins and resonating floral and blue fruit qualities.

Gorgeously pure black fruit on the nose and palate with a lifted black cherry and blackcurrant intensity. Firmly tannic, leaving a sticky grip on the finish. Hardcore, savoury, dense. Not an easy wine to taste young, but should give much greater pleasure with (lots of) bottle age. (RH)

Aged entirely in barriques (25% new), the 2016 Ermitage le Pavillon shows only a hint of warm pencil shavings on the nose, beautifully setting up notes of fresh blackcurrants. Full-bodied, concentrated and plush across the mid-palate, it turns rich and velvety on the nearly endless finish, marked by savory notes of beef, licorice and espresso. If you wish to catch a glimpse of this wine's greatness, it would be no crime to open a bottle upon release, as I suspect it will close down for a number of years soon afterward.