2003 Ermitage Le Pavillon

"You had to wait in order to get full maturity and proper acidity in 2003," director Pierre-Henri Morel told me."Only by waiting out the heat was acidity able to climb back and were we able to make wines with real backbone."Indeed, Chapoutier's red wines from the north are firmly structured and fresh, and for the most part belie the heat of the vintage.The 2004 white wines, as at most of the top addresses in the north, were highly successful, with impressive complexity and balance.

Winemaker Alberic Mazoyer noted that the vinifications were difficult in 2003, due to his fear of extracting tough tannins. He volunteered that when it comes to the young 2003s, he finds wines from syrah to be more typical of their origins than wines from the South. As in so many recent vintages, I found Chapoutier's bottlings from their home base in Hermitage to be of consistently higher quality than their other wines-and among the most concentrated and impressive wines of the appellation. Incidentally, Mazoyer pointed out that in the difficult 2002 vintage, the tannins were generally riper in Hermitage than in the other appellations of the NorthernRhoneValley. (Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL) Also tasted: 2002 Crozes-Hermitage La Petite Ruche Blanc, 2002 Saint-Joseph Deschants Blanc, 2003 Condrieu, 2002 Crozes-Hermitage La Petite Ruche, 2003 Saint-Joseph Deschants, 2003 Cornas.