Michelas St. Jemms, Crozes-Hermitage (Rhône Valley, France) 2015

 I was floored by this wine when encountering it in August among many other bottles during a giant consulting project, and was eager to taste it again to see whether it would look as good when focused upon in a more sustained way.  I hereby answer in the affirmative, and emphatically so.  It is very complex, with lovely aromas including floral scents along with ripe fruit notes and suggestions of smoked meat and oak spice.  The flavors are similarly intricate, with superb depth and persistence as well as excellent balance between fruit, tannin and acidity.  What is most interesting and impressive is that the wine’s proportionality and integration are so exceptional that one could focus on it as a gorgeous monolith or as an intricate multiplicity — rather like a cleverly drawn two-dimensional cube that shifts as one alters one’s gaze.  Wicked good.  I’ll see you in the checkout line.