2016 Hermitage Rouge Guigal

Saturated ruby color. Displays expansive aromas of fresh blueberry, cherry, incense and candied flowers. A subtle olive nuance builds with air. Juicy, youthfully chewy and deeply concentrated, offering smoke-tinged dark fruit preserve, candied violet, olive paste, licorice and cracked pepper notes that build on the back half. In a powerful yet graceful style, with building tannins adding grip to an impressively long, floral- and spice-tinged finish. All of the Ex-Voto fruit went into this bottling in 2016. -- Josh Raynolds 95 Josh Raynolds 2025 - 2035.

There's no ex-voto release from 2016, so all the wines are here, as hail affected volumes. The nose has a hauntingly spicy and gently smoky edge to the dark berries and plums. Succulent, powerful palate with deep-grained tannins and a very rich, long and ripe, dark berry and plum core. Drink or hold.

There's no Ex Voto red in this vintage, so that wine has been blended into the 2016 Hermitage. The result is a firm, sturdy wine that needs some time to come around. Cedar and dried spices mark the nose, while the palate is fleshed out by cherry and espresso notes. Full-bodied and supple on the mid-palate, it tightens up considerably on the finish, ending with firm, dusty tannins.

There wasn't an Ex Voto produced in 2016 (at least in red), so the 2016 Hermitage got all the prime grapes designated for top cuvée. Readers looking for a classic, balanced, age- worthy Hermitage could do well with a case of this. It offers lots of blue fruits, violets, and toasty oak notes as well a full-bodied richness and depth on the palate. It plays in the more elegant, finesse- oriented style of the vintage, yet has depth. Drink it over the coming 20 years or so.

Guigals hermitage bliver klart bedre, og denne åbner smooth og lækker i husets stil, men efter nogen tid i glasset kommer kraften frem i al sin magt og vælde. Egetræet er ganske markant endnu, men her er frugt til at bære det. Bør gemmes i 10 år, men det bliver den nok ikke.