A big, broad-shouldered version, with loam, tobacco, currant paste and hoisin sauce notes out in front of the formidable tannin structure. Dark, loamy and muscular through the finish, with a haymaker of black fruit and tarry grip. Best from 2010 through 2030.

Much more open knit, textured and sexy than a bottle tasted earlier in the year, the 2005 Ermitage le Meal is one fruit-loaded, rich and full-bodied beauty that offers classic notes of black raspberries, charcoal, peppery herbs and licorice. Possessing a voluptuous, layered mid-palate, ripe tannin and beautiful purity, this is a sensational Hermitage that can be enjoyed today with considerable pleasure, yet will keep for another two to three decades.