Guigal Ermitage Blanc Ex Voto 2017

99 points Jeb Dunnuck: "Just about perfection in a glass, the 2017 Ermitage Ex Voto Blanc is a tour de force, offering a heavenly bouquet of white currants, quince, toasted bread, spice box, and assorted flower oil-like nuances. Deep, full-bodied, and massively concentrated on the palate, it has a distinct salty minerality, a stacked mid-palate, and bright acidity, all making for a Hermitage Blanc that needs 4-5 years of bottle age, yet will keep for two decades or more. Drink: 2024-2044 (Dec 2019)"

97 points Wine Spectator: "[$525 list] Lush, exotic and thoroughly beguiling, with waves of creamed peach, pear, quince and yellow apple rolling through, laced with subtle threads of quinine, chamomile and acacia before picking up a flourish of hazelnut and bitter almond on the finish. A real showstopper. Marsanne and Roussanne. Drink now through 2037. 250 cases made, 40 cases imported. (12/15/21)"

95-96 points Josh Raynolds (Vinous): "Vivid straw-yellow. Highly perfumed scents of ripe pear, nectarine, lemon rind, honey and pungent flowers, with a smoky mineral overtone building steadily. Offers palate-staining orchard and pit fruit flavors that are complemented by suggestions of toasted nuts and vanilla. Weighty yet distinctly energetic as well, betraying no excess fat. Delivers emphatic mineral thrust and repeating florality on the strikingly long, penetrating finish, which leaves a suggestion of dried pear brandy behind. (May 2020)"

95 points Joe Czerwinski (Wine Advocate): "Another terrific year for this wine, the 2017 Ermitage Ex Voto Blanc offers up smoky, bacony aromas, which add a mouthwatering note to the wine's citrus and melon flavors. It's full-bodied, maybe not as rich, dense or age-worthy as the 2016, yet with great freshness and incisive length. Drink: 2020-2035 (Dec 2019)"

95 points Wine & Spirits: "[$525 list] The Guigals make this wine only in vintages they consider exceptional, such as the hot, dry 2017. It’s mostly marsanne with 10 percent roussanne, the vines ranging from 40 years old to nearly 100; their concentrated fruit was vinified entirely in new, house-coopered oak barrels, and all of it went through malolactic conversion. The result is an opulent, powerful white wine, golden with notes of caramel and roasted stone fruit. The wine gets fresher with air, a vibrant, lemony acidity giving it a lively feel, and the wood recedes, becoming a background spice that adds texture and complexity. Although the wine is four years old, it’s still very much in its youth, wanting a decade in the cellar—although if you open it now, it’s pretty great with a gently spicy pumpkin curry. (Feb 2022)"