Vivid yellow. Intense apple and pear aromas are complicated by smoky minerals, ginger and honey. Rich, dense and supple, with ripe orange and orchard fruit flavors that fully coat the palate. Clean and penetrating on the long, smoky finish, which features exotic tropical fruit and floral qualities.

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There are 477 cases of the light gold-colored 2009 Ermitage Cuvee de l'Oree, which I would be happy to insert in a blind tasting against the world's greatest dry white wines, including Montrachet. The famous gout de petrol is there along with hints of citrus oil, wet steel, crushed rocks, quince, white currants, anise and honeysuckle. Very full, with off-the-charts intensity, this wine was fashioned from yields of 13 hectoliters per hectare (which is financial suicide) from 90 to 100-year old Marsanne vines. The result is an amazingly concentrated white wine that should drink well for 50+ years.

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A ripe, full-bodied style, with fig, creamed pear, McIntosh apple and melon flavors laced with sweetened butter and guided by a macadamia nut edge on the finish. Youthfully raw and a bit unbridled right now, but this should settle into itself with time.

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