Hermitage 2019: Report and top scoring wines

Driving sparky freshness, it seems to explode from the glass. This smells somehow salty, mineral, very intense, so straight and energetic with a thrilling tension. This has an incredible, soaring power with textural finesse and freshness and extraordinary depth. A majestic wine which will be long lived. Yes, the acidity is low, but it's like saying Elvis was overweight. Elvis is still the King. Chapoutier has 1.7ha of Syrah planted in this lieu-dit, compared to 0.5ha of Marsanne. 20% new oak.

Remarkable tannic finesse is immediately apparent, teamed with great freshness, good acidity and deep concentration.There is a great sense of focus and direction and this has that Bessards salinity and straightness. Sweet fruit flavours combine with shoe polish, juniper, sloe, and damson juice. Incredible finesse and seamless character. 3,900 bottles made. Their oldest parcel of lieu-dit Les Bessards, fermented in concrete, then aged for 12 months in new and one-year-old barrels.

This has the silky, flowing, thoroughbred style of Le Pavillon - incredible tannic finesse, but so big and shot through with ripe tannin. The alcohol does peep through a little, it's just perceptible, but the concentration and tannic load are enough to bring balance. Will be a velvety opulent treat when it's ready. But for now, the tannic frame is immense. A statuesque vintage of Le Pavillon.

A tasting of barrel samples of different lieux-dits: Péléat, Beaumes, Ermite, Le Méal, Bessards. Long, slow fermentations due to the high potential alcohols this year, some barrels reaching over 15% - at the limit of what the indigenous yeasts can handle. Even the Bessards component, which is usually so strict and skeletal, is full of fruit this year. The last exceptionally hot year was 2003, which produced a wine that was highly atypical, with notably jammy fruit. That's not the case in 2019 - the fruit is fresh and lively. It's hard to make a judgement at this stage; the alcohol is high, and may always feel warming. Either way, it will provide great pleasure and impact, despite its extreme style.

This is very much keeping its aromas to itself for now. On the palate it is smooth, silky, full-bodied and dense. This has great driving power, very intense with slightly warming alcohol on the finish. Fine tannins, the oak is well integrated, not drying or dominating with a long finish. It's ripe, but finishes dry and savoury. A south-facing parcel of Le Méal, all destemmed, fermented in concrete then will be aged for around 18 months, 30-50% new oak.

There's a gently resinous aspect to the savoury blackberry fruit alongside menthol and blackcurrant bush. A very powerful, muscular year, this has a huge tannic framework, almost impenetrable, with great depth and a very long length.

The fruit does just about match the oak this year. This has the rounded, muscular form of Hermitage, with very bright, ripe berry fruit, gently saline and long. Tannins are just a bit massy and extracted. Certainly impressive in depth, length and volume. At the start of its 42 months in new oak barriques. Old vines from Les Bessards, Les Greffieux, L'Ermite and Les Murets.

Plum, damson and blackberry coulis. Dense fruit, very fine tannins and a seamless texture. The alcohol here is quite high, but it's a very impressive wine nonetheless, with great concentration and length, not to mention fine tannins and balanced acidity. An authentic expression of the Hill. There is some cinnamon and cola oak spice running through it and the fruit can take it, it's well balanced. From lieu-dit Les Grandes Vignes, the highest plot on the hill of Hermitage, a new cuvée first made in 2015.

Curious nose - menthol, hay, plum and iodine, but mainly dense black fruit coulis. Fresh, palate-coating fruit and thick tannin base with a smoky hint on the mid-palate and touch of cassis that makes itself known. Very powerful and backward, with good weight of fruit. Intense and driving, it has the energy to last, even if the tannins are currently just a little fibrous. From clay limestone soils on lieux-dits Beaumes et Diognières, fermented in concrete than aged for 18 months in demi-muids (30% new, 70% second use).

Glass-staining purple colour. Incredibly powerful with searching perfume, leaf tea and glove leather behind the intense black fruits. Very fine and deep, perhaps just a touch too high in alcohol, a little overextracted. Phenomenal concentration and length however. A growling, brooding power, this could only be Hermitage. From vines of nearly 50 years of age grown organically on lieux-dits Beaumes and Péléat, matured in demi-muids with malolactic fermentation in barrel.

Some tangy berry coulis can be coaxed out with air, but it's very closed for now. Very dense with fine tannins. Huge power and concentration, though the alcohol is high. Great surge of fruit and tannin that coat the palate. Intense, though without the same finesse and balance of Le Méal. From clay limestone soils facing south, fermentation in concrete. Will be aged up to 18 months, with around 25% new oak.

Full-bodied, full of fruit, very concentrated. The tannins are quite massive, this will take time to come round. But the fruit is concentrated, sweet and ripe, and there's enough of it to last. It has an old-fashioned, slightly rustic style but is likely to be complex and engaging when it's ready. The best wine from this quirky estate in some time. From 30 to 45-year-old vines from lieu-dit Les Dionnières, a parcel with a good proportion of clay. Whole bunch fermented in stainless steel, then 15 months in barriques of at least 10 years of age. The whole bunch influence is quite clear, it contrasts with most other producers’ cuvées - it adds thyme and lavender to the aromas.

A distinct smoky vein running through this year. Powerful, very ripe, muscular but juicy with great freshness and power. The alcohol is slightly raised, but it’s such a big, impressive wine with very ripe, massy tannins.

A fresh, lifted, intense nose with star anise, incense, and clove among the black fruits. Very powerful but not massively full-bodied, the alcohol however is high. Though fine, the tannins just a little hard, and there's a touch of slightly drying oak tannin. Finishes long and will be good in time. The oak influence is pronounced but it works with the wine. From a 0.28ha plot in lieu-dit Les Dionnières at the foot of the hill. 60-year-old vines, all destemmed. Vinified in open demi-muids, manual punching down two or three times a day. Followed by malolactic fermentation and 14 months ageing in barriques.

A rich, full-bodied style. Velvety tannins, there's more fruit here than in their cuvée classique with finer tannins and a long finish. . Good balance between aromatic freshness, acidity and tannin. The alcohol is higher than a normal year. 100-year-old vines, a yield of 18hl/ha. 100% whole bunch, A yield of 25hl/ha from lieux-dits Les Greffieux and Le Méal.

An inky, deep concoction of damson, sloe and raspberry, with lifted, high-toned cinnamon spice. Good sense of freshness and liveliness to the aromatics, a little touch of resin. Very smooth, fine and silky on the palate with well-integrated oak, there's a spicy nutmeg and cigar tobacco kick on the long, tapered finish, but it's not dominating. Great sense of harmony and finesse, should take on some complexity in time. Clay limestone subsoil overlaid with alluvial pebbles. Destemmed, fermented in concrete vats. Aged in barrels, 10% new.