The 2023 Hermitage Le Gréal is exquisite, wafting from the glass with an exotic bouquet of wisteria, violet, cassis, mulberries and pepper. Full-bodied, velvety and enveloping, it’s built around a fleshy, even unctuous core of fruit underpinned by a delicate chassis of sweet, powdery and perfectly integrated tannins, concluding with a long, ethereal, violet-inflected finish. One of the most precise and seamless renditions of Le Gréal in recent years, it remains harmonious and finely balanced, representing the essence of this remarkable address. Domaine Marc Sorrel, based in Tain-l’Hermitage, remains a small, firmly rooted estate on the hill, with four hectares split between 2.5 hectares in Hermitage—across five lieux-dits—and 1.5 hectares in Crozes-Hermitage. Now in its fourth generation, the domaine has entered a new phase with the arrival of Guillaume Sorrel, whose first vintage was 2018. The transition remains measured, but Guillaume brings a more precise vision, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. He pushes the use of whole bunches further and introduces a form of precision viticulture, refining decisions parcel by parcel without altering the domaine’s underlying identity.(YC)

Powerful, explosive, peppery mulberry fruit. Very smoky in style, with iodine notes and lots of dense, ripe tannin underneath driving fruits. Very fresh and focused, with good acidity, but has that Hermitage size and body, that majestic, impressive attack and grandeur. Very tannic, again with some stalky notes from 100% whole bunch. 8% co-planted white varieties, all planted in 1926, the same date as the Rocoules vineyard. Will be epic when it's ready. Very ageworthy for a 2023. (MW)