More forward, open and textured, the 2000 Hermitage is an almost promiscuous effort that’s just hard to resist. According to Jean-Louis, this wine has never shut down and has always delivered plenty of pleasure. It has classic cassis and blackberry fruit, bacon fat, violets and herbs to go with a full-bodied, layered and seamless, if not voluptuous, style on the palate. I’d line bottles up for drinking over the coming couple of years, but it should hold nicely for upward of a decade.