Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2023 Hermitage Les Bessards soars from the glass with stunning black cherries and juicy blueberry notes, followed by wafts of tar, black pepper, lilacs, and iris bulb, plus a touch of wild thyme. The graceful, medium-bodied palate delivers wonderful tension and elegant, finely-grained tannins with intense black and blue fruit layers and a long fragrant finish. This is made from 100% Syrah.

This youthful cuvée was made with fruit from two lieux-dits planted at different altitudes on Hermitage hill. Malolactic took place in barrel, and after 18 months of aging, it was placed in stainless steel for three months prior to bottling. Displaying a linear frame, it's savory and earthbound, with notes of dried herbs, graphite, and forest floor. Blackberry skin accents its sinewy texture with a slight tannic grip. 

At an elevation of 1,066 feet, this plot, called Les Grandes Vignes, is the highest in Hermitage. It's yielded a youthful, tense, and enigmatic red with a sauvage character that's musky and earthy. Violets and aged prosciutto enter midway, joining tart cherry, plum skin, and a hint of umami on the back of the tongue. 

Viscous flavors of baked pineapple join barrel-derived notes of sweet, charred lemon peel in this perfumed, peachy, and undeniably ageworthy Viognier. A concentrated floral core offers an acacia-tinged lift. It aged on the lees for 12 months with regular bâtonnage, and after racking, it was kept in stainless-steel tanks for six months on fine lees before bottling. 

This red upholds Hermitage's greatness with an electric, austere character magnified by the region's granite soils. Satiny notes of white pepper was over plum, licorice, soil, and graphite. Grilled meat gives way to savory tones of roasted coffee bean, and exotic incense with hints of boysenberry and violets wafts over the lengthy finish.