Full-bodied, creamy and supple, the 2017 Hermitage La Maison Bleue looks to be a thrilling Hermitage to drink over the next 10-15 years. It's loaded with mixed blueberries and raspberries, adds subtle notes of mocha and baking spices and picks up a savory hint of black olives on the long, silky finish. Don't make the mistake of thinking only the La Chapelle is worth drinking, this should be a real beauty when it's released next year.

Opaque ruby. Vibrant, sharply focused black/blue fruit aromas are complicated by exotic spice, olive and mineral flourishes. Juicy and precise on the palate, showing energetic lift and thrust to its sweet blueberry, black raspberry, violet pastille and spicecake flavors, which deepen steadily on the back half. Picks up a smoky quality with air and finishes spicy and impressively long. Discreet tannins add shape and gentle grip.