Chave at Palate
Glendale, CA.
Tasted Sunday, January 24, 2010 by gregg g with 972 views
Introduction
In January I was honored to be among a privileged group of wine lovers that gathered for a vertical tasting of Jean Luis Chave Hermitage. This was a tasting that I anticipated for quite some time. Chave is one of those producers that comprise my holy grail of winemakers. The domaine is older than many dating back to 1481. The family began cultivating vines in the current area of St. Joseph. During the 19th century phylloxera epidemic, the family was forced to seek a new site for cultivation. The hilltop of Tain l’Hermitage became the ideal site. The Chave family are diehard Ardechoise through and through. It was ironic to learn that Jean Louis has bucked family tradition and moved east of the river to a home a top the hillside of Hermitage, thus making him Valencoise. This story and many others where shared by our guest attendant, David Shiverick. David imports the Chave wines nationally. He is a fountain of knowledge sharing both antidotal stories and production facts throughout the evening.
We learned the Chave family owns the majority sites of Hermitage with about 14.5 hectares in Hermitage. J.L. Chave also produces estate St. Joseph as well as the negociante J.L. Chave Selections which produces the St. Joseph Offerus and Cotes du Rhone Mon Ceour. What makes Hermitage so dynamic and compelling are the many varied soil compositions that comprise the AOC. From clay, chalk and limestone to granite, sand and rocky soils. each site adds a dimension and specific component to the cepage. Jean Louis becomes obsessive when contemplating the final blends for the Blanc and Rouge. With so many vintage variables and the weight of over 500 years of family tradition, ot to mention, making one of the world’s greatest wines, it’s no wonder Jean Louis spends a majority of time obsessing about the blends.
Chave’s elevage consists of destemming, with each vineyard site fermented and aged separately. Fermentation is done in both stainless steel and open wooden vats with punch down via pigeage a pied (by foot). To maintain and respect the terrior, very little to none new wood is exposed to the juice. J.L. Chave produces a Blanc, Rouge, Cuvee Cathelin (Rouge) and a vin de paille (sweet) in some vintages. The Cuvee Cathelin was introduced in 1990 as a homage to artist Bernard Cathelin. Contrary to some theories, this is not a super cuvee a la Robert Parker. Rather Jean Luis insists it is Hermitage in a different style.
Flight 1 (1 Note)
Greetings
Flight 2 (1 Note)
A surprise entry at the beginning.
Flight 3 (4 Notes)
On to the Blancs, flight #1.
Flight 4 (4 Notes)
Blanc flight #2
Flight 5 (3 Notes)
Rouge
Flight 6 (1 Note)
A last minute surprise!
Flight 7 (1 Note)
Sweet farewell.
Closing
After tasting these wines, there is no doubt, Chave is a truly one of the greatest wine estates in the world. I've thought long and hard about how to sum up these wines and keep coming back to one word, "elegance". There's a lot of tasty juice out there, but what distinguishes good from great? I think that is a personal preference, but for me elegance cannot be made so easily. It comes from generations of wisdom, the terrior, and most importantly the obsession to make greatness. The grail that Chave is has earned its reputation deservedly.
I can't eloquently put into words how amazing this event really was. As I ponder it several weeks later, it seems to have grown to mythical proportions. I can't thank the organizer and participants enough for their generosity and insight. I'm truly blessed to know these individuals.
2002 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Started the night off. Classic Zilliken, drinking well and showing just beginning of complexity. Good length and enjoyable, but we knew what was ahead so we made a quick finish to this one.
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