($250) I tasted this wine in three components from stainless steel tanks, where it was awaiting bottling this winter. #1: Red berries and flowers on the nose, with strong mineral and floral notes and Asian spices. #2: More masculine and brooding, offering deep cherry compote and blackcurrant scents and suggestions of licorice and black cardamom. Smoky dark fruit flavors are framed by chewy tannins and pick up sweeter red berry qualities with air. The finish is sweet and penetrating, with a strong echo of black raspberry. #3: Fresh raspberry and cherry on the nose, with notes of smoked meat, minerals and violet. Supple, mineral-laced red fruit flavors are joined by allspice and violet pastille on the back. Very fresh sample with strong finishing lift and spiciness. Looks to be an excellent wine that will provide plenty of pleasure on the (relatively) young side.

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The red 2007 Hermitage is a candidate for the wine of the vintage. It is a blend of fruit from some of Hermitage's finest vineyard sites (Les Bessards, Meal, l'Ermite, Peleat, and Les Beaumes). The latter two vineyards tend to offer finesse, elegance, and aromatic complexity without the power and richness found in Meal and Les Bessards. L'Ermite seems to provide an extraordinary liqueur of rocks and floral character. The 2007 production was very tiny because of serious crop-thinning as well as a strict selection process in the cellar. This should turn out to be a mid-90 point red Hermitage with loads of tannin, and a style not dissimilar from Chave's 1996, but even better. Very structured with superb concentration, noble sweet tannins, and oodles of tar-infused creme de cassis, licorice, fig, and earth notes. It is a large-framed, big-boned effort with a finish that lasts nearly a minute.

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Tight but already alluring, with gorgeous fig cake and warm cocoa aromas slowly yielding to a dark, dense core of plum, blueberry, hoisin sauce, currant reduction and maduro tobacco. Muscular but supervelvety, with a long finish. There's impressive density for the vintage.

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