Lush yet precise, with green tea, honeysuckle and quinine notes rippling through the core of green plum, pear and Jonagold apple fruit. The finish has mouthwatering minerality and subtle persistence. Seamless and long. Best from 2012 through 2022. 500 cases made.

Consequently, there is little of the 2008 Hermitage Blanc (which was scheduled to be bottled the week after my visit), but it is one of the finest 2008s produced in the Northern Rhone. The wine offers up scents of almond paste, brioche, white currants and quince as well as a full-bodied, concentrated personality displaying good acidity and a more forward style than either the 2009 or 2007. It is best drunk in its first 7-8 years of life.