2009 Hermitage

Opaque ruby. Sexy dark fruit compote and potpourri scents expand with air and pick up Asian spice and vanilla qualities. Lush, creamy and seamless, offering sweet blackberry and blueberry flavors and bright, peppery spiciness. Gains heft and smokiness on the finish, which clings with impressive tenacity, repeating the blueberry note with serious authority.

Readers with patience as well as cold cellars should check out Yann Chave’s 2009 Hermitage. Classic aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, roasted herbs, barbecue smoke and graphite soar from the glass of this dense, full-bodied, concentrated, moderately tannic Hermitage. Forget it for a decade and drink it over the following 30+ years. One of the three Chaves making outstanding wines in the northern Rhone, Yann Chave’s cellars are on the outskirts of Tain l’Hermitage, next to the entrance to the famed Autoroute du Soleil. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

Inky purple. A sexy, intensely perfumed bouquet displays cherry-cola, dark berry preserves, potpourri and fruitcake. Juicy, expansive and intensely floral, offering sweet cherry and boysenberry flavors and a touch of finishing smokiness. An exotic Asian spice note lingers on the long, sappy, yet refreshingly brisk finish. This is awfully alluring right now.