Hermitage 2020: report and top-scoring wines

The 2020 vintage is 'an amazing surprise', according to Jean-Louis Chave. 'It's like the vines adapted to the heat of the vintage - so it's full of hope for me.' A tasting of the different lieux-dits confirms that although this is a hot, dry vintage, the whites have a great sense of freshness, balance and vivacity. This doesn't have the same sense of power and extract as the 2017 or 2019; it is slimmer and more precise, will offer a lot of pleasure early on and will age well, too.

The nose is quite savoury, almond is the presiding aroma, with apple and quince in the background. It has the roundness of De l'Orée but without excessive opulence - this vintage is a little straighter than some. Well-balanced, with a more clearly visible mineral line than a classic vintage of this cuvée, which can be veiled by intense richness when young. Fresh, balanced, more thirst-quenching than a typical De l'Orée, its propensity to opulence slightly tempered. I think this works particularly well this year.

Plenty of richness on the palate, and all the intense mineral facets you would expect from L'Ermite, both on the nose and the palate. Intensely fresh, driving, tense and salty. The oak is very present in this sample, but it's essentially well integrated. I love the steely, uncompromising texture of this wine, it's edginess just tempered by the glycerol softness. Very direct, long if not as long as some recent vintages. Aromatically this has abundant meadow flowers at this early stage.

This is looking very good, it's very oaky for sure, but there's good intensity and vibrancy. Long and with no excess alcohol, it's nicely balanced beneath the oak, but it will always be dominated by it. 80% lieu-dit Les Murets (20-year-old and 60-year-old vines), 20% L'Ermite.

Almond, quince and a touch of rhubarb at this early stage; you sense the ripeness, but it's not exotically fruity in 2020. The silkiness and glycerol on the palate are quite present, this sample shows plentiful oak, lending matchstick and cashew to the finish. An elegant vintage of Le Méal. Well-balanced, far from massive, not as powerful or concentrated as the past few vintages, this will drink well young and age into the medium term. Not a hugely-long lived Méal I suspect, but a delightful one nonetheless. There is generous alcohol, but it’s not unbalanced.

The nose is compelling - crushed almond, lilies, pear - just gorgeous. Rolling, generous juiciness on the palate, but a firm beam of acidity underneath. This has concentration but no excess fat, alcohol or oak - it's well-balanced and has great freshness. Fermented then matured in oak (75% new) for 20 months. 1,500 bottles made.

Almond nougat, dried pear and fresh quince. This has serious intensity and minerality on the palate, with pinpoint acidity. Plenty of glycerol but no gloopiness, this is upright, searching and bright. A 0.18ha plot of 70-year-old Marsanne at the foot of the Hermitage slope. Malolactic was completed.

A fresh, floral style, relatively light for a white Hermitage. It has a remarkable mineral seam on the palate however, which, with the tense acidity, makes for a refreshing and piercing style. Long, slender, tapered finish. An elegant wine, very well-balanced. it's fermented in stainless steel, then spends a year in one to three-year-old barriques.

Beautifully perfumed, so pure, with a floating floral aroma. Apricot and pear on the palate, this has power, definition and a focused, long, tapered finish with an intensely saline, mineral skein. Typically a well-priced Hermitage cuvée and the quality is very good this year.