The 2005 Ermitage l’Ermite blanc is a wine with incredible fruit and an amazingly layered mouthfeel. There are flowers, there are minerals, there’s quince, white currants, perhaps peach as well, but the sheer minerality of the wine and its force and richness without tasting heavy or over-the-top is simply mind-boggling. It is backward and more intellectually challenging than l’Oree, but it is a tour de force in winemaking. It will be a 50+ year wine. Drink 2007 - 2057; Wine Advocate # 170; Apr 2007 Robert Parker (95-98)

M Chapoutier, Ermitage L’Ermite 2005 Hermitage Blanc 18.5 Drink 2010-18; Broad putty-like, almost (attractive) varnish on the nose – then extremely nervy on the palate with a really strong vein of liquorice, plus a hit of lemon cough drops. More muscular and sinewy than the Meal. Lots of energy here too. Still quite chewy. Best wait for quite a while. Just a slight weakness on the finish. Chapoutier’s oldest Marsanne vines on granite at the top of the hill. Jancis Robinson

I began with the whites and just one sniff was enough to conjure up all that wild, nature’s cocktail, positively-pulsating-with-molecules sensation that so many biodynamic wines seem to me to have. With a few exceptions noted below, many of these wines, all cask samples taken several weeks before they were tasted by me, were in excellent condition and actually rather good drinks even now. I was particularly struck by their freshness in most cases. There was obviously real concentration and extract here but is most cases no trace of heat or alcohol on the finish.The balance is exceptional. I am very excited about these wines (which I tasted alone at home, so certainly not swayed in any way by anyone making or selling them) and reckon they have a glorious future ahead. 2005 Rhone - Chapoutier Really Shines publication date: Dec 11, 2006