2018 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
Community Tasting Note
JonnyG Likes this wine:
91 Points
Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - "Imposter Night" (Los Olivos, CA): Served blind as the authentic Northern Rhone entry alongside an "imposter" from Jonata. I struggled to enjoy more than a few sips of this wine, which came across as overly polished and manipulated. Some wondered if it wasn't Pinot, in fact. Maybe with time that serves this wine well, but it does seem to be an awfully big contrast with the older Chaves I have previously enjoyed so thoroughly. I pegged it as entry level Chapoutier rather than being from elsewhere.
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Comment posted by KPB:
11/12/2021 6:06:00 AM - Chave Syrah is never manipulated in any sense at all. His wines are generally light and tart on release, so the comparison to Pinot noir is common. Indeed, this is the origin of the French expression that I can’t type properly on my iPad, but referring to the blending of hermitage Syrah into high end burgundy to increase complexity (hermitage, but used as an adjective and with an accent on the final e). Chave wines only gain their signature spicy complexity with very long aging, certainly ten years and often closer to fifteen or twenty. So, on release, you look for the acidity, the overall balance and the broader vintage character, the polish of the tannins, etc. But you would not expect that meaty beef juice aroma, or the spicy character, both of which only emerge with extended bottle aging.
Learning to taste great wines from barrel or immediately on release is challenging and expensive, and you do have these experiences of really needing to hunt for the future character in the young wine quite often. It isn’t easy. But I find the effort worthwhile as long as you carry it forward and revisit the wines at intervals of about five years. Then you can see how they develop and where the more mature aromas and flavors emerge from, and trace them back to properties of the new released bottle in its original state! But it takes a lot of tasting to appreciate the grandeur and immense potential of these young wines, and your group clearly needs to work at this if that ability is something you want to develop.