A little closed to begin with, it is very young after all, but then with time started to exude some just-ripe blackberry and smoky spice. On the palate this has great freshness and poise, there's nothing excessive or forced, it's well balanced with seamless fine tannin and good acidity. This makes for a Hermitage that you could open early if you wanted, but I would hold on to this until at least 2028 ideally to see it gain further complexity. From 45 to 90-year-old vines across lieux-dits Les Roucoules, Le Méal, Les Greffieux, Les Bessards and Varogne. Aged in French oak barrels, 20% new.

A profound nose of dark cherries, blackberries, black olives, earth, dried herbs, grilled meat, some leather and lots of baking spices. Ample and voluptuous with a full body complemented by fine, firm tannins. Layered with a fine, velvety texture. Harmonious, spicy and focused with a restrained character. Funnelled long finish.

The 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle is also brilliant, and certainly up with the crème de la crème in the vintage. Textbook notes of mulled dark fruits, currants, peppery herbs, smoked meat, licorice, and soy give way to a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, ripe, seamless wine that doesn't have the density of the 2015, but certainly isn't far off. It's still a baby, yet offers pleasure, and it's going to shine for 30 years or more.

The 2016 vintage of La Chapelle is everything one would expect from the confluence of a brilliantly old school, classic vintage and one of the most iconic red wine bottlings in the Rhône Valley. The wine comes in listed at 14.5 percent octane and offers up a vibrant, complex and very pure bouquet of cassis, smoked meats, pepper, beautiful spice tones, stony minerality, a bit of saddle leather, woodsmoke and a nice framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with a rock solid core of fruit, great mineral drive, ripe firm tannins and a long, nascently complex and very, very promising finish. This is perhaps just a touch higher in octane, but it reminds me very strongly of the great 1989 La Chapelle when it was first released. It will be interesting to follow the 2016 over the coming decades and see if the slightly riper character of this wine will impinge upon its longevity, in comparison to past legendary vintages of La Chapelle such as 1978, 1988, 1989 and 1990 (all of which were plenty ripe out of the blocks). But, upon release, this has everything one could ask for to deliver future greatness!

Sourced from the granitic western portion of the appellation, the 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle features mouthwatering aromas of black olives and charred beef. It's full-bodied and creamy-velvety in texture, incredibly lush without being overtly fruity. In fact, it's largely savory, with elegant shadings of leather and spice on the long, silky finish. Yet despite being delicious now, this still has the granite backbone to age through 2040.