M. Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Les Varonniers 2016 750ml

On another level, the inky colored 2016 Crozes-Ermitage Les Varonniers comes from the granite hillside just beside Hermitage hill and is more Hermitage than Crozes. It has a huge nose of currants, smoked earth, graphite, pepper, and cured meats. This carries to a rich, powerful Crozes that has a real sense of minerality, beautiful mid-palate depth, ripe, present tannins, and a great, great finish. Aged 18 months in 20% new French oak (a mix of Burgundy barrels and demi-muids), it has two decades or more of longevity ahead of it.