99 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

Even better, the 2019 Ermitage Le Méal is blockbuster stuff and is up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Coming from the warmest terroir on Hermitage, this beauty boasts a deep purple/plum color to go with incredible aromatics of blue fruits, lavender, chocolate, burning embers, and violets. These all carry to a full-bodied, opulent Hermitage with a round, expansive mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, no hard edges, and one heck of a great finish. It needs plenty of air to show at its best today, and even then, its tannins clamp down on the finish, and that’s despite being covered by a wealth of baby fat. Give this utterly brilliant Hermitage 4-5 years of bottle age and it should pretty much blow you away over the following 20-25 years or so.

97 Decanter

This is very much keeping its aromas to itself for now. On the palate it is smooth, silky, full-bodied and dense. This has great driving power, very intense with slightly warming alcohol on the finish. Fine tannins, the oak is well integrated, not drying or dominating with a long finish. It's ripe, but finishes dry and savoury. A south-facing parcel of Le Méal, all destemmed, fermented in concrete then will be aged for around 18 months, 30-50% new oak.

96 Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media

Saturated purple. Deeply pitched blackberry, cherry, olive paste, vanilla, bacon fat and pungent floral qualities on the intensely perfumed, mineral-accented nose. Sappy and densely packed yet vibrant as well, offering bitter cherry, dark berry liqueur, smoked meat, mocha and candied violet flavors and a hint of salty olive paste. Shows superb detail and mineral thrust on the youthfully tannic finish, which hangs on with strong, floral-driven persistence.x000D There's a lot going on here but, by all means, give it some time. 50% new oak.