E. Guigal Ermitage Ex-Voto Rouge 2018

“The balance, as well as the purity, are just about off the charts. This is another magical 2018 from this team that flirts with perfection.” – Jeb Dunnuck, 98 points

From the iconic Guigal winery that Jeb Dunnuck calls “one of the world’s greatest wine estates for over seven decades” and a wine that is only made in the VERY BEST vintages, with 98 POINTS – from both Vinous and Jeb Dunnuck, as well as heaps of other praise from critics everywhere...Northern Rhone doesn’t get much more collectible than this!

100% syrah, from vines up to 90 years old, and some of the tippy-top best plots of Hermitage Hill. If you know Guigal from their iconic and revered “La Las” wines from Côte Rôtie...well, EX-VOTO is their Ermitage flagship – and the fulfillment of a life-long dream for Marcel Guigal to have his own estate vines on the wine world’s most famous hill. For just over two decades, Guigal has made this wine – without question one of the finest examples of syrah, heck, of red wine from anywhere in the world – period.

Fresh drawn coffee, dusty chocolate, perfectly ripe blackberries, crisp plums, Tahitian vanilla, fresh cedar, lavender pastilles, heady violets, inky cassis, black olive tapenade, new leather, thick cut bacon, blueberry pie, black pepper, sweet smoke, kirsch, and just buttery smooth, ever-changing, ever-expanding, incredibly persistent, and explosive wine that lingers on, and on. Hyperbole is not possible...this is stunning. Aged for 42 months in new French oak, but neither oaky or sharp...just perfect. If this is the best wine I have tasted in all of 2024 – even only a few months in – I would not consider the year a failure. It’s that good.

The four Hermitage holdings of Les Bessards, Les Greffieux, Les Murets, and L’Ermite give their fruit to this wine – a combination of granite, glacial gravel, alluvial pebbles, sandy loam, and loess soil types, spread across various elevations, and all facing south to a great bend in the mighty Rhône river. Now, or thirty-plus years from now – this is a top, top wine to have in your collection. To snag some for hundreds less than the retail price? That’s just a cherry on top! Less than FOUR CASES available, friends! Don’t miss out!

PAIRING IDEAS: This is a perfect match for one of my oldest staples...seriously, I’ve turned multiple vegetarians with this dish. Rack of lamb, marinated in garlic, olive oil, and rosemary, then quickly seared with a bit of salt and pepper, and then finished with a brushing of dijon mustard and a rub of finely ground coffee, cumin, brown sugar, and sea salt. Roast it in the oven to finish to a medium-rare, then serve with fingerling potatoes and roasted carrots. [Chef’s kiss.]