The 2016 Hermitage Monier de La Sizeranne checks in as 100% Syrah that's from a multitude of terroirs on Hermitage, and it spent 16 months in 25% new French oak. It's the finest vintage of this cuvée I can remember and offers sensational notes of currants, blackberries, smoked earth, new saddle leather, and graphite. Just a classic Hermitage, with sweet tannins, a rounded, sumptuous texture, and a serious core of fruit, don't miss this beauty! It's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and have 2-3 decades of prime drinking.

Initially closed and earthen, this classic Hermitage takes a bit of time and patience to open. Past the layers of smoke and granite, it reveals a core of intensely ripe, pure blackberry and cherry flavors. An intensely mineral, tightly tannic wine now, it should gain perfume and depth well through 2035 and hold much further.

Full-bodied and rich while at the same time silky smooth, the 2016 Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne is a fine effort that needs only a couple of years in the cellar. Pencil shavings and crushed stones frame cassis and black olive flavors, turning to charcoal notes on the long, softly dusty finish.