96 point

This is looking very good, it's very oaky for sure, but there's good intensity and vibrancy. Long and with no excess alcohol, it's nicely balanced beneath the oak, but it will always be dominated by it. 80% lieu-dit Les Murets (20-year-old and 60-year-old vines), 20% L'Ermite.

95/97

95-97P+: Not yet bottled, the 2020 Hermitage Ex Voto Blanc takes the classic Hermitage Blanc and turns up the volume considerably, offering a riveting nose of white peach, acacia flowers, toasted bread, crushed stone, and integrated oak. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated, with plenty of opulence and flesh, as well as integrated acidity, it's going to need a year or two of bottle age, should drink well over the following 4-5 years, then will most likely need a solid 7-8 years of cellaring to hit full maturity.

96 point

The 2020 Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto cruises at the same high altitude as the 2022. Loaded with succulent citrus fruits, honeysuckle, white peach, vanilla, cedar and underlying reductive elements, the 2020 showcases spot-on balance, vivid intensity and classic Ex-Voto scope. It concludes with a saline aftertaste on the persistent finish.

95 point

Plenty of vanilla and a touch of coconut, but also deep Mirabelle plums and candied lemons. Very rich and powerful, the serious concentration enabling the wine to easily carry the oak. Then comes the vivid and stony finish that carries you away. Matured in 100% new oak for two years. Drink or hold.

96 point

This white pulls off the heavily oaked style well. A robe of toasty cedar and grilled hazelnut notes overlays a core of yellow apple, persimmon and melon. Salty and savory, with smoke and herb details filigreeing the creamy palate. Oolong tea, baking spices and butter fleck the powerful palate, while honeysuckle and wild mint hints bring lifted freshness at the end. The oak influence will integrate with time—give this a few years in the cellar. Marsanne and Roussanne.