1999 Ermitage L'Ermite

Chapoutier's 2000s tend to be higher in alcohol than either the '99s or '97, according to assistant winemaker Bruno Mathieu. Still, Mathieu told me he likes the '97s best of all for their sheer opulence. A tasting here is a true marathon due to the huge number of bottlings each year, but the real excitement is generally limited to Chapoutier's cuvees parcellaires and especially its wines from Hermitage, the firm's home base.

My annual tasting at Chapoutier is always something of a marathon, what with the growing number of special limited bottlings and the array of Northern Rhone whites demanding attention. The tasting generally begins in Chapoutier airy tasting room with a succession of bottled and not-yet-finished whites, then continues with a large collection of finished and unfinished reds. Then a quick walk to Chapoutier's cellar on a side street of Tain l'Hermitage, where the producer's top limited-bottling reds rest comfortably in barriques I was not able to taste with Michel Chapoutier this year and thus cannot report his comments on the '99 vintage. But I came away with the distinct impression from his associates that he considers the '99 reds from the Northern Rhone to be among the best wines he has made to date. Unfortunately, the 1999 samples from Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas were underwhelming in November, and it was unclear how long prior to my visit they had been drawn from barrel. So my notes on these wines should be taken as provisional; I will report on the bottled wines next year.