2016 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Greal

Opaque ruby. Spice- and mineral-accented aromas of candied black and blue fruits, violet candy and olive, along with a gamy topnote. Chewy and energetic on the palate, offering pliant, appealingly sweet blackberry and boysenberry flavors that deepen and pick up a peppery note with air. Closes with impressive power, building tannins and solid dark fruit thrust, leaving a suave floral note behind. 94 points

(used 228-litre cask) dark red; there is a cassis burst on the nose, hedgerow fruits, a tarry backdrop. It keeps up well, prolongs, has lift. The palate links well to the nose, serves rolling gras richness, a good continuous run of red fruits, raspberry and mulberry; the gras richness lasts OK. It’s not especially deep in fact, but is continuous. It’s a tricky vintage wine, I feel. The elements are separate now, not an ensemble. The tannins crunch out on their own at the end. It gets a bit vegetal on the close, which is smoky, and it needs to be allowed time to fuse. I usually find the two Hermitage reds more apart in quality than this. `The yield effect has closed the gap,` Marc Sorrel. 4 stars