As good as Hermitage can get, the 2015 Hermitage from Jean-Louis Chave reminds me of a hypothetical mix of the 2010 and 1990 with its incredible purity, finesse, and elegant paired with awesome depth and structure. This heavenly wine exhibits a deep purple color as well as a powerful bouquet of crème de cassis, blackberries, dried violets, graphite, and crushed rocks, with a liquid mineral component that’s just about impossible to find outside of the Bessards lieu-dit in Hermitage. Full-bodied and massively concentrated on the palate, yet with laser-like precision and clarity, it needs a solid decade of cellaring and will keep for 40+ years or more. It’s not as sexy or overt as the Cuvee Cathelin, but is every bit as good.

I had the opportunity to retaste the wonderful 2015 Hermitage and have taken this opportunity to up my rating of it a couple of points, more in line with how I thought it would turn out from barrel than when I first tasted it from bottle last year. Yes, it's closed up pretty tight, but the potential is clearly enormous, with pungent, peppery aromas accenting espresso, black olive and blackberries. Full-bodied, dense and supremely concentrated, with a tremendously long finish, this is a vintage to put away and forget for at least 5-6 years, maybe a decade.

This delivers a broad swath of gently mulled blackberry, plum and boysenberry fruit flavors, inlaid deeply and seamlessly with anise, roasted apple wood, graphite and black tea notes. A mouthwatering mineral edge harnesses everything, adding refinement and cut. The extremely long finish has a wonderful sense of fine detail.

Youthful purple color. Mineral-accented dark berries, star anise, cola, olive and pungent flowers on the explosively perfumed nose. Offers impressively concentrated, expansive flavors of black raspberry, spicecake, smoked meat and candied flowers that are complicated by licorice candy and dark chocolate notes that sneak in on the back half. Sweet, sappy and precise on the floral- and dark fruit-driven finish, which shows outstanding clarity and round, harmonious tannins that build smoothly and steadily.