Gold capsule. Faurie farms just 0.2 hectares of Le Méal, which was planted in the 1940s. As the name suggests, in 2019 this was blended with selected parcels from his near-100-year-old vineyard at Les Bessards. With its direct southerly exposure Le Méal is perhaps the hill’s warmest site, and produces the most layered and hedonistic wine of the area. Faurie calls the wines from here “vin noblesse”, in this blend providing the opulence and texture. The Bessards component gives “the skeleton”—the wine’s structure and mineral drive—as well as lifted perfume. This particular blend is roughly 60% Les Bessards and 40% Le Méal, assembled at harvest time.
As for all of Faurie’s reds, this was 100% whole-bunch, and the winemaking was the same as for the wine above. It was bottled unfiltered, by hand, from two used demi-muids. Faurie describes this wine as “une force” and he’s right. It’s a Hermitage of devastating intensity and power, with more depth and a darker fruit profile than the wine above. Decades will not weary it!