Even better, the 2017 Hermitage Bessards / Méal boasts a saturated purple color as well as a heavenly bouquet of black and blue fruits, lit gunpowder, pepper, graphite, and wood smoke. This rich, powerful wine has full-bodied richness, plenty of tannic bite, and a monster finish, all while staying in the ethereal, pure, incredibly precise style of this terrific winemaker. It’s going to be a thrilling Hermitage readers will be lucky to have in their cellar. You’ll be hard pressed to find more pure, classic, old school Hermitage than those from Bernard Faurie, who has a tiny cellar just outside of Tournon. A fifth-generation winemaker, Faurie owns vines in three different lieux-dits on Hermitage: Bessards, Gréffieux, and Méal, from which he makes several different cuvées. The wines are not destemmed and are brought up mostly in used barrels. These are singular wines and marry a rare sense of power and elegance that’s not readily found elsewhere. Unfortunately, the wines are made in minuscule quantities and are difficult to find, but life is too short not to try the wines of this Hermitage genius!

(red capsule) Lurid ruby. Vibrant, mineral-accented red and dark berry and floral pastille aromas show outstanding clarity and pick up a peppery spice nuance with air. Juicy and incisive on the palate, offering intense cherry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that are given spine and tension by a core of juicy acidity. Finishes floral and extremely long, displaying resonating minerality and steadily mounting tannins.