M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2021

From the warmer, south-facing Le Méal lieu-dit and always the first to be harvested, the 2021 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc is another pure, elegant, incredibly impressive white offering notes of honeyed stone fruits, roasted hazelnuts, brioche, and crushed rock. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and opulent, it's more expressive and expansive than the more chiseled, elegant De L'Orée, but the quality is basically the same. It too needs 3-4 years of bottle age.