The 1999 Ermitage Le Meal will not be ready to drink for at least fifteen years. One must admire Michel Chapoutier for fashioning a wine that goes against the modern day predilection for wines of immediate gratification. This effort is reminiscent of Bordeaux's famed Chateau Ausone. A dense ruby/purple color is accompanied by subtle notions of powdered stone, chalk, violets, cassis, graphite, and pepper. The wine is dense, tough-textured, tight, and tannic. It possesses considerable weight and depth, but it is not revealing the opulence it did last year. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050. With respect to Chapoutier's red wines, 2000 was a very fine vintage. Interestingly, this offering revealed more fat and flesh than many of his northern Rhone peers.Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-89000