2004 Hermitage Cuvee Emilie

Desmeures has very small holdings in Hermitage, and his 2004 Hermitage Cuvee Emilie (named after his daughter, who is now helping him in the cellar) has notes of road tar and barbecue smoke along with creme de cassis and licorice. Full-bodied, powerful, and backward, it is a monolithic wine that will need cellaring. Give it 3-4 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 10-15 years. In 2003 Remizieres produced some extraordinarily thick, almost super-concentrated, over-the-top wines that were named Cuvee l’Essentiel for the Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage. Readers should note that in 2004 the wine was renamed Patience, and in 2005 it’s called Autremonde. Proprietor Philippe Desmeures, along with the Chave and Sorrel families, are among the very few small family operations still left in Hermitage. Hermitage, which only consists of just over 300 acres, is dominated by the large firms of Paul Jaboulet-Aine, Chapoutier, Delas, and Guigal, with very few small operations still in existence, but this is one of them. Desmeures has clearly moved into the more modern style of winemaking in the northern Rhone. In the richest vintages his aggressive new oak regime works well, but in the lighter years, it is a gamble. A Patrick Lesec Selection, various American importers, including Chemin des Vins, Sherborn, MA; tel. (508) 545-1532; Vermont Wine Merchants, Burlington, VT; tel. (802) 658-6771; Noble House, New York, NY; tel. (212) 736-0040; Wm. Harrison Imports, Manassas, VA; tel. (703) 815-9463; The Stacole Company, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 998-0029, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, Silver State, Reno, NV; tel. (775) 331-3400; and Wine Warehouse, Commerce, CA; tel. (323) 724-1700