2015 Hermitage

In the opinion of Philippe Guigal, the 2015 growing season “was so perfect that it was surreal. Nobody had experienced such a year when nothing went wrong.” The wines are clearly for the ages and should be drinking well for some time after those reading (and writing) this have shuffled off this mortal coil. Guigal thinks that those who want their wines to be enjoyable and complex when young “really should be buying another vintage.” Speaking of other vintages, the 2016s are showing plenty of charm already and the 2014 La La wines (La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque)are also on the forward side, based on the three times I tasted them side by side this spring. I suspect that those 2014s are going to be living in the shadow of the 2015s and, probably, the 2016s for some years to come, so some good buys might be out there soon.