M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2016

The 2016 Ermitage le Meal Blanc is all Marsanne and all power, with ample weight and richness on the full-bodied palate. Grilled melon and tangerine flavors are big, bold and round yet balanced by a hint of bitterness on the finish. It should drink well for two decades or more.

Similarly colored, the 2016 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc comes from a warmer terroir of pebbly and more loess soils and was brought up in 10% new demi-muids. It's a bigger, richer wine than the de l’Orée and boasts rocking notes of honeyed citrus, orange marmalade, baking spices, and licorice. Rich, powerful, and layered on the palate, it's another rocking white from this team that will drink nicely for two decades or more.

Initial notes of smoke and earth dissipate with aeration to reveal perfumed notes of quince, ginger and pear. It's a rich, expansive white made from 100-year-old Marsanne grapes grown on the chalk and alluvial soils of the Le Méal vineyard. In youth, it offers pristine orchard fruit and spice, but it's a wine that's better left till 2022 at least. It will reward cellaring for decades. 300 cases produced.