Rhône or Nôwhere 2.0 (Malcolm, NE): Not to be outdone, the 1989 Chave Hermitage Rouge showed more brambles than the ’88 along with other desiccated blue and black fruits. Dried flowers, beef, blood, leather and mushrooms. Every time I have the pleasure of drinking old Chave, I’m reminded that these wines have so much character and there is a reason they are so adored. Lovely with grilled lamb and Moroccan spices. Drink now through 2040. Merci Matt!
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Friday Night at Dave's Place: This pours light garnet in the glass. The nose is absolutely bananas exploding in a blaze of sea spray, nori, dill pickle brine, sweat, saline, toasted and crushed cumin and coriander seed, white and black pepper, pickled ginger, dried cherry, and dried blueberry. The palate is silky with a bright red fruited entry with medium minus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish closes harmoniously on smoky blueberry notes. Absolutely astounding and a great value at $1250 CAD. This is significantly better than my last showing of the 1989 Chave and in my view only just a hair behind the 1991 and 1990. Incredible wine.
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Initially this had quite a bit of barnyard on the nose, which thankfully blew off with time in the decanter. Complex notes of underwood, red fruit, savory, allspice, and pepper emerge. The palate is very well balanced with tart fruit flavors, cherries, violets, more pepper, meat, and a distinct earthy tone. Long finish. Although this started out a little weird, it really picked up weight and complexity with air. An outstanding wine after about an hour or so.
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Dinner at Copine with Steve and Jason (Ballard, WA): The 1989 Chave is just such classic Hermitage. Smoky, roasted, yet Burgundian in that Chave way with cherry and mineral. For an appellation that tends to have burly and sturdy, masculine, expression of Syrah, this is the exact opposite.
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Showing beautifully, this gem pops with its perfume of olives, herbs, peppery kirsch, black raspberries, and leafy green aromas. Full, rich, intense, refined, and yet wild, with layers of perfectly ripe, red fruits, iron, and spices. Popped and poured, the wine hit everything right. Drink 2023-2035.
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Morello cherries with a whiff of strawberry and sherry on the nose; more cherry and iron on the palate; perfect tannins that coat the mouth; a very long finish. It took two hours in a glass to wake up and show itself. Should be great for quite a while to come. As expected, Chave Hermitage in a great vintage rarely disapoints.
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Rhone Candidate dinner - Hermitage Theme (Essential by Christophe): For many the WOTN and it probably was although when the math becomes 4 bottles of this or 1 bottle of that I’m not sure its a fair fight and I’m not sure which direction I’d go since the La Chapelles were drinking very well. This wine is all classy Old school with baking spices (slightly different than what I normally get). The bacon and meat a bit more subdued although there in the background. Drinking nicely but with a long life ahead.
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Takes some time to open up fully, but it's worth the wait. A wine that whispers rather than speaks; a core of beautiful red fruit with gentle meaty, olive, and leathery accents. The smokiness/meatiness is there but a lot more restrained than I've found in a lot of other Chave. It's a pretty wine and I'm glad for the chance to sit and follow it over a few hours, though my attention did waver often given the other Syrahs on the table.
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"I'm not having a glass of wine; I'm having six. It's called a tasting and it's classy." (Chicago, IL): A very light version of this wine, and maybe even this vintage. The nose is stellar with this amazing smoked meat quality to it. Slight olive brine as well and a very red-fruited temperament. On the palate this doesn't have the weight of the 1990 or 1991, and there's a wispy, delicacy that's also very enjoyable here. Lots of acidity and a very lovely lightness overall. However, I think this bottle paled in comparison to both the 2006 Allemand Chaillot and the 1999 Gallet this afternoon.
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Purchased on release. Bright med garnet with minimal bricking on rim. Big nose of dark cherry, leather, purple flowers, savory spice. Palate also reveals hints of roasted meats and smoke. Tannins are resolved with a fine vein of acid still holding everything together. Full, one finale. Pure Chave!
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Northern Rhone-a-thon: This pours medium garnet in the glass. The nose is perhaps lacking some of the development and overt complexity of the 83 and 88 poured previously, however its lovely. The nose is of red jujubes, rose petals, red cherry, toasted bread, tree bark, and dry dusty soil. It shows lovely texture on the palate with bright red fruit turning to cherry and plum, and a finish that is very long, yet not quite as complex as I'd hope. Overall this came across to me as more primary than expected with limited secondary and tertiary elements. To me that held this particular showing back a tad, although it's obvious that further aging will likely achieve the maturity I'd like to see.
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Lots of debate on whether this was corked or not. I don't think so. Yet the funk was there and didn't quite let the meatiness and fruit sing. Solid but not as good as other bottles.
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"The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Chicago, IL): Although the nose on this right after pouring it out of the bottle smelled so much like TCA I just couldn't get it out of my mind, I also concede that the musty notes did not become more prevalent with air, and in fact cleared up some. Others liked this bottle a lot more than I did; I just couldn't shake the slight TCA note here (whether or not it actually was TCA, we'll never know). The fruit is red and elegant, the tannins fully resolved. This would've been a killer bottle if not for that persistent doubt in the back of my mind.
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Bought in 1992. Cellared at home at 55 until last night. Upright for 3 hours. Minimal sediment. Cork good shape. 15-minutes air in decanter. So...never doubt the staying power of Chave. Stunned to see just minimal color fade. Elegant perfume. Light body yet expansive and long finish. If blind would have sworn this was a 10 year old wine. Paired with short ribs at Contento in NYC. 2 bottles left in my cellar. No need to rush or wait if cellared properly.
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Chave: "In the name of science" (Chicago, IL): I keep chasing the high of the first bottle of this that I ever opened. This bottle didn't get anywhere near there. A somewhat mute nose, showing little but some earth and iron tones, and maybe a bit of syrah acidity and smoke as well. The palate was much better; plenty of fruit still but lacking the complexity that I remember this wine having before. Again, like the 1985, this would have been a fantastic wine in isolation, but as part of the 1988-91 quadruplet, it really got lost.
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certainly mature, this was a little disappointing - lovely, easy bouquet on opening, the wine exhibits strong tea flavours (lapsing souchong?) which tends to overwhelm the fruit
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Mag - decanted a hour or so before dinner for sediment. The wine started out with high acid, broad structure and feral secondary notes. But on the second and third pour the wild red brambly fruit you get in older Chave starts to really show up and interlace itself with the complex meaty iodine feral notes with spice all along the edges. Definitely the youngest showing bottle I've had of this and it was fantastic. I wish I went back to it for the bottom 1/3rd of the bottle cause I bet it would have been really strutting its stuff.
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Just a tiny step behind the otherwordly 1990, the wine exudes its smoke, plum, thyme, iodine, crushed rock, spice, herb, earth and red plum with cherry nose easily. Full-bodied, elegant, refined, soft and lusty, the wine is utterly compelling, leaving you with layers of intense, pure, fresh, red berries and spice.
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Chave Hermitage Dinner (Greenwood - Highwood IL): Single blind in 82/88/89 flight. Opened less than an hour in advance, not decanted. Dense and powerful black fruit, but slightly obscured by more powerful tannins and structure. Clearly lots here, but slightly awkward tonight. This bottle was the least interesting I can ever recall for this wine, and think the lack of air was a major reason.
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Condition of the wine isn’t perfect so I was a bit worried. It has very good fill and clean label but protruding cork with non-flat/uneven surface which implied sigh of seepage. I did’t check the cork condition at last. The sommelier did an excellent job.
I swirl the glass, first sniff, wow, I was speechless. The nose is so complex and has explosive aroma of black berries, olive, meaty, tobacco. There are so many things going on here and the palate is marvelous which is very fresh and with good acidity, melting tannins. Perfect balance. This Chave is a masterpiece, perfect wine and very emotional. The same emotion I had last time was the Margaux 1990. I was thinking about the best word to describe this feeling during the dinner. The next morning, the word “Zen” came to my mind.
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Starting to brick now as it enters adulthood, very complex, but a hair behind the last showing some years ago. Fresh clipped grass, dried blackberry, earth, herbs, mint, coffee, black olive, really stanky wet animal fur, farmyard, decaying foliage and a faint hint of smoldering pine needles. Palate is fully integrated. Finishes long. At this resolved stage, there are no hard edges, making this a borderline crusher. Bottle was gone in a flash. Still in quite a nice spot, despite the lower score.
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Just a gorgeous Chave that's still concentrated and rich yet with the most deft, ethereal texture. Layered and refined with deep flavors of woodsy dark red fruits and a superb mineral crunch. The finish is so complex with notes of charred game, slate and wood-spice. Just a hair behind the '90 and '85 tasted alongside but what a flight! 95+ At Gabriel Kreuther, NYC.
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Slight ullage, saturated cork. Ruby red with medium dark core, pure, no tawny even at rim. Sweet red berries, earthy, dark spice, a little cherry stone zest. Good weight, smooth and velvety, long and well balanced. Red currents, damson, dried earth, tar spice, black pepper, long resonating rich finish. Fine chalky tannins. Delicious.
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High acidity relative to other vintages of Chave -- especially after the 1990 I drank last week, this 89' seemed quite lean by comparison. Still juicy, very fresh, and very tasty.
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Compared to the highly floral and rosy ’90 in the next glass, this is comparatively smoky, darker, a little more brooding, and more towards the rustic end of the Chave spectrum while still being extremely expressive and showy on the nose. Equally as impressive just a different iteration. Hard to pick a favourite and I think this is every bit as special as the ’90 tonight. Rustic, earthy, smoke, embers but still has lighter floral notes too. These are excellent. Great pair.
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A stunner and the pinnacle of aged Northern Rhône Syrah. Seductive and complicated aromas that lead with dried black fruits and go to a medley of black pepper, olive brine, smoke, cured meats and dried herbs. Palate is still rich and fresh though clearly mature and resolved. Good bottles should hold, but this wine is giving it all now.
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So sad. This bottle looked fine with good fill and no signs of damage was obviously off. Not corked or madeirized but perhaps not treated well somewhere over the years. Recognizable northern Rhône Syrah, there’s earthy roasted plum and garrigue - but all in miniature. Decent color, acidity is just right, tannins are mostly resolved. Perhaps not unexpected in a 50 year old but not for one which should be in its prime. Oddly despite being upright for many weeks there was fine sediment throughout which could not be decanted.
From an excellent looking bottle, this wine had a deppe red center with red/orange rims. The medium+ intensity nose offers up raspberries, black spices, wet rocks, plums, clay, and red flowers.
In the mouth, this was interesting from the start but was not fully integrated. After 4 hours of air it was ripe with firm acidity and rounded tanin. After 6 hours of air all the edges melted away and it was quite attractive and long.
This wine appears to be in the early stages of its drinking window. That said, I don't think it is going to be getting any better. I strongly suggest an extended decant for this wine.
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TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant): blind I guessed Bordeaux, close to perfection, so fresh, pepper, dark cherries, black currant, vivid acidity, ripe firm tannins, at his peak. Fantastic length and precision. For me it outscored the La Turque same vintage narrowly. 99-100
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Sunday hangout (socially distanced) (Chicago, IL): Not as good as the first bottle of this I opened, but still definitely comfortably within the echelons of superlative wines. Initially a little stinky and funky, this blooms with air to show more and more intense smoky and meaty aromatics. The palate doesn't have the concentration and weight of the 1999 or even the 2004 we had alongside but there was an elegance to the red fruit and taut acids that were amply pleasing. A phenomenal wine beyond a shadow of a doubt.
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Since this wine was delivered in 1991, I've gone through 15 bottles (including this one) from my cellar, of which about a half dozen have been corked and many of the rest just not showing the potential that was there early on. Much of that potential is now coming out in this bottle: the Chave perfume, the light but intense mouth with musky red fruits with cocoa overtones, the silky texture, the length, the subtlety. Alas, I know of no one (certainly including Chave) making wine like this today. This is the Kermit Lynch import. Cellared since original release.
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The 1989 Hermitage boasts a seductive, variegated nose that includes dark cherry, black olive purée, leather, grilled meat, and brown sugar. Perfectly balanced and integrated palate with a silky texture, bright acidity, and killer minerality. This is excellent, epic even, and I'd enjoy these sooner rather than later as the fruit is just starting to dessicate. Among Chave's best.
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Second Zoom tasting – Chave Hermitage (Mi Casa): Intoxicating incredibly complex nose displaying mature red fruit, strawberry, a hint of dry cherry, black olive, grilled fatty steak, a hint of soy, leather, sous bois, brown sugar, anise, perfume, cinnamon and limestone. Fully integrated Burgundian palate, very finely layered mature red fruit, silky, precise and slightly lean, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a seamless long mature red fruit driven finish with perfume and tapenade at the end. This is an incredibly complex Chave hermitage that is drinking incredibly well.beautifully. Perhaps the best recent example.
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A good bottle but not a great one. Had some brief moments of whoa factor on the nose. Olive tapenade, earth, some slight sous bois. Elegant and I dare say light. highly enjoyable just not an outstanding one.
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brick red, orange rim - beautiful nose of dried fruit, white flowers and complex leather - but the nose was overshadowed by the rich full mouth of perfectly balanced fruit, acid and tannin - very long 30-40 sec finish - enjoyed the wine alongside an 89 Rayas with smoked beef short ribs - the Hermitage shone by virtue of much better and tighter structure compared to the fruitier but more diffuse Rayas with significantly lower acidity
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This is in a great place today. Elegant, complex, full, refined, earthy, spicy, smoky and palate filling, the wine tastes and feels gorgeous. Every sniff and sip gets better and better for as long as the wine remains in your glass. This is a quintessential Chave Hermitage experience. If you have a bottle of this elixir in your cellar today and you have been waiting for the magic moment, your wait is over.
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A youthful perfect bottle of this that is nevertheless mature now. Whatever it is about magic in a wine, this baby has it. It’s not the most concentrated or complex wine in the room but the silky fineness and purity are virtually unmatched and this was my wine of the night against many other amazing bottles tonight. There are dark red fruits along with flavors of coal dust and roasted game but the real secret of this wine is the slate minerality that glides this wine towards its incredibly uplifting finish. As John Gilman mentioned long ago, you can never have enough Chave in the cellar...and he was right! At byob game dinner at Daniel.
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Dinner with the wine group (Zazie, SF): Double decanted 8 hours. Absolutely intense olive, probably the most intense olive that I’ve ever smelled, black pepper, incredible depth, meaty; palate is light-medium bodied, elegant, really stellar medium-plus acidity, black fruits that seem almost young, gamey but just barely and not at all overwhelming, incredible balance; finish is long. This is absolutely stellar, one of the best northern Rhône wines that I’ve had, and honestly the most interesting thing is how drinkable it is for such a complex wine. Elegant, not brawny, but still powerful. 99 2 hours into dinner, this started to fade just a touch. Though it had a lot of air at this point given that it was double decanted in the morning. Fresh bottles could go for many more years to 1-2 more decades.
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There's a bit of the signature Chave savory truffle on the nose, though with air it shows more distinctly as low level bandaid brett; lovely deep, medium rich dark red fruit, excellent well balanced acidity, some of the same savory character, showing some nice signs of development, though still very youthful with many good (or better!) years ahead. Wonderful wine.
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A Whole Lotta Chave Hermitage (Single Blind) (Chez Kailin): 83/88/89/90/Ringer Flight. Wow, stunning intense nose with meat spice, smoke, and mature dried black fruit. The palate is insanely delicious with ethereal fruit that is layered and complex. So savory with intensity and length. Delicious and at peak. I slightly preferred the 90 which was a touch more concentrated and lush. But this too is the pinnacle of Syrah. My #2, Group #2.
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From Paris with Love, 2019 Edition; 11/15/2019-11/17/2019 (Paris (Le Voltaire, La Tour D'Argent & Epicure)): This requires its time to open up and develop and surprisingly this is less evolved and open than the 1997 ( Papies 95-96) we had a week or so. The start is a bit tight and muted, pretty on the palate but just the nose is not giving. With an hour on the clock this opened up, showed lovely evolution, smoky, roast meat nose and dark fruits. Compared to other Chave’s this never reached its full stride in the time we had but still this was a solid 96 from us and a superb wine. Decant pls. Lots of. Life in this
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My 5th time to taste this wine. Powerful and deep fruit flavors - pepper, cigar box, smoke, coffee (expresso), saddle leather, bacon fat, as well as roasted game, herbs and spice. Love this wine - glad I have more. No rush to consume - has years left.
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Ultra elegant and silky with green olive, herbs, tea, brown spice and soft black fruit. The underlying substance slowly melted my palate. Amazingly transperent. 95+
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Grand Designs Reveal Week - Dinner #3 (Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Stunning, mature Hermitage that showed considerable farmyard character. Goregous focus, with a still-tight, lean purity of fruit expression. Impressive for its tannic backbone. This is all animal, leather, cow-pat and black berries. Beautiful complexity. Next to the even more focused 1999, this was (for me) the better match with a Lamb Loin dish with a macadamia nut oil reduction. While at a developed plateau of maturity, this will continue to evolve for a decade or two into the future. Whether it improves will be a different story, but it will certainly develop and always be a wine of extreme interest.
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Great nose of root vegetables, leather, spice, smoked meats and red fruits. Full and silky in the mouth with an underpinning line of minerally acidity. Good flesh. Plenty of savoury nuance. Long and engaging. In a lovely place.
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Rhone Dinner (Bobo): Tried this very late in the dinner, so no detailed notes but my impression was very positive. A lovely fully mature wine that was really a pleasure to drink. Wish I had gotten to savor and appreciate this over a few hours.
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Opened with massive Brett. Lot of bandaid odor but with an hour opened up to turned earth, smoke, bay leaves, and bright red fruit. Like the finest silk, red fruit lingers in the mouth with bright acid that lifts everything beautifully. Definitely doesn’t drink like a 30 year old wine. For me this was the optimal time for drinking. Everything in its place and perfectly balanced. Heart breaking wine
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Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red/purple center and light red rims. The medium nose was a bit tight at first (despite a couple hours of air) and it slowly developed more intensity. It showed cherries, tan spices, plums, and minerals.
In the mouth, this wine was well balanced but had a lot of flavor and big bodied. It displayed good richness, notable rounded tannin, and very good length.
This is still a bit tight and needs at least 5 hours of decanter time to show its best. It appears to be a bit more burly than its 1990 counterpart. This seems likely to improve over the next 10 years and will easily last 10 years after that. Enjoy now if you like with extended air.
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Lost Friday afternoon gathering – Chave, Krug, Churchill, Trimbach, Mugnier and etc. (Black Salt, Washington DC): Expressive youthful yet complex nose displaying classic Chave nose, sweet red fruit, cherry, strawberry, cherry liqueur, strong mint, garrigue, tapenade, cinnamon, rare steak, ash and limestone. Beautifully integrated palate, very finely layered exquisite red fruit, silky and fluid, perfect amount of acidity and strong mineral, and a long seamless red fruit driven finish with garrigue and tapenade at the end. Excellent showing.
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Popped cork and let it sit in the bottle after a taste. Mature in color and on the nose. After an hour we poured out and enjoyed over the next hour. Dark fruit, earth, leather, game, and perhaps a bit of caramel on the nose. Dark fruit and a long finish on the palate with the tannins fully resolved and in the background. Wonderful Hermitage that at times falls just short of the great '90 for me, but this is great wine, and perfect with duck last night. A-/A
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Rhone, lots of it (Chicago, IL): My expectations for this bottle were high, and they were met, but this didn't have the profile that I thought it would have. The nose had insane amounts of blood and iron, and a very elegant red-fruited quality -- a far cry from the burlier, blacker wine that I was expecting. The palate is lithe, with ample acids, some red fruit, and lots more of those iron and blood tones. It's quintessential Rhone, but also a bit different from the heftier modern incarnations of this wine. I'm not mad about that.
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The best of this I have ever tasted showed loads of sweet, fresh, red fruits, herbs, pepper, olives and the essence of rocks and stones. Concentrated, full and with depth, but also refined, long and quite expressive on the nose and palate. This is probably at full maturity. While there is no hurry to drink it, there is no need or reason to age it any longer.
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Cassoulet dinner with '88, '89 & '98 Chave Hermitage. The '88 was fully evolved, the '98 was delicious but still developing and this one was spot on. Just delicious. Drink now and over the next 10 years.
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Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage vertical (Singapore): Ripe and meaty as well just like the 1990. Aromatically deeper tonight with extra notes of pepper, spices and undergrowth. Great wine, 1989 are long distance runners and after 30 years still go strong as the 1990ies seem to have past their peaks.
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If not for the 82 Latour, this would have been the clear wine of the night. I'm not sure I've ever had a better bottle of Chave Hermitage. With the initial sniff after opening the bottle, I could tell that this was going to be a special bottle. There was so much pure dark fruit, smoke, white pepper, fresh flowers, and smoked meat. And the palate was powerful, sweet, and layered. A long finish with perfectly balanced acidity. Northern Rhône doesn't get much better than this.
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DrinkBordeaux’s bottle. I drink very little Rhône so I may have had this many years ago but do not remember. If it tasted like this bottle, I would have bought and drunk many more, since it’s simply incredible. As soon as you approach the glass you think maybe you have wandered into one of the Southern California wild fires, it’s that smoky. Not just any smoke but a woodsmoke of dry and wet forest wood. Maybe bolstered with a bit of that famous frying bacon. Fabulous on the palate too, somehow both rustic and sensuous. Great acids and tannin round out the experiment. Compelling stuff at the peak of its power.
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Lost Friday afternoon gathering – Jamet, Grange des Peres, Raveneau, Chave, Pignan and etc. (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Youthful nose displaying subtle slightly dry red fruit, dry cherry, cherry liqueur, raspberry, rare charred steak, tapenade, leather, garriigue, wild flowers and limestone mineral. There is a slight hint of brett which is a shame. Fully resolved palate, finely layered red fruit, silky and polished, good acidity and mineral and a medium subtle red fruit driven finish with a hint of brett and cinnamon at the end.
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Lost Friday Lunch with friends (Eddie V's): Drinking well if you get the first pours away from the massive sediment. Loads of red fruit, cinnamon, clove, rose petals, chalky soil. Great balance and a treat to try.
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Pulling a Kevin Shin - a full day of fine wines over leisurely meals; 6/8/2018-6/11/2018 (Southern California): mind blowing good. Similar to a bottle I had last year. Electric acidity and fruit courses through the mid palate. The roast meat adds to the complexity. There is power and concentration in spades. There’s this funk edge that climbs up the nose mixed with pure big sweet red fruit and cool mint that ties it all together. WOTN among heavy weights. When the bottles are right they are prime examples of Hermitage.
World's Greatest, Hong Kong - Night I (Bo Innovation): This does not match the aromatic expression or beauty of the ‘90. Coaxing yields more of the clay and acrylics character, but this doesn’t reach the smoked meat and floral levels. Palate is rich, dense, and intense. Good drinking but not sensational, especially given the very difficult context.
good but not great. Slightly brown sugared on the nose. Palate had that bite of crunchy red chave fruit and great depth but didn’t have the freshness and length of prior bottles. Better than the 88 from last week tho!
A lazy Sunday afternoon Chave lunch (The Grill Room at the Rosewood DC): A very well stored youthful example. Perfectly mature beautifully perfumed nose displaying concentrated sweet red fruit, raspberry, strawberry jam, a hint of cherry liqueur, a hint of blackberry, charred steak and blood, garrique, wild flowers, perfume, tapenade and limestone. Perfectly integrated palate, nicely layered sweet red fruit, silky and polished, excellent detail, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral and a long sweet slightly dry red fruit and charred steak driven finish. Drinking at the peak, perhaps the best example of the 89 Chave of my life. The slightly prefer the 05 and the 10 for greater concentration while retaining the same level of balance, detail and freshness
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Wonderful wine. Still fresh with vibrant acidity. Supremely elegant, even a touch reticent still. Not as full as a recent ‘90. I think based on acidity and freshness these will hold for years but don’t wait too long (more than 10 years).
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Wonderful ripe red fruits with great depth and intensity along with lots of fresh, tangy acids. Finishes with more red than black spices with notes of smoked game and minerals. Still on the upswing! 95+
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medium red, lightening and taking on a slight brick hue. gorgeous dark spice and ripe red berries. liquorice, tar, graphite, crushed herbs, some violet florals. Very smooth but with poised intensity. Red mostly but certainly some dark berries in there, refined dark spice, hints of liquorice and tar but not dominating. Perfectly balanced fruit and spice, mature but not at all old. acid and tannins are well judged and suggest this will last a lot longer.
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Surprisingly firm and tight on opening. Needed 90 minutes in decanter to begin opening (this was in the cellar, so was somewhat chilly). After 2 hours emerged as an integrated, smooth, supremely beautiful wine, with prominent fruit yet subtle flavours. Easy to drink; easy to appreciate. Some meatiness, but the subtlety and depth dominated.
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Consistent with my last bottle a few months - although this had slightly less meatiness and a touch more smoke/ash. Still a lot more funk here (my preferred style) than the younger and more pure 1995 enjoyed alongside.
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Quite reserved for this wine. Must be upside to bottles such as this but may require at least a few years. Emerging spice on nose with shy red cherry and soil notes. Contained palate that should break out at some point. Discernable differences between subtle bottling differences here. 93+
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Perfect bottle, fresh and clean. Pure dark red fruit with black cherry and black raspberry. High energy acid surrounded by clove, cardamom and cinnamon, woodsmoke, and soil tones. This bottle would have had a long life ahead of it. 95-96+
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On first pop this is surprisingly refined and elegant, with sweet berry notes in a rather Burgundian, lightweight package. With time & air, however, the '89 takes on weight and shows an appealing mix of dark berry, roast meat, and black pepper notes. The palate is savory and framed by killer acidity. Tonight the 1989 wasn't the epic wine I had hoped but was still very good indeed.
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Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Dinner with Erin Chave (RPM Steak - Chicago IL): Ripe black fruit aromas with intense spice, both sweet and savory. Very alluring nose, then similar flavors that are wonderful even if slightly less enticing. Nicely mature. Probably right at its peak, but I expect this will easily drink well another 5 years, probably longer.
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Incredible! Decanted for for two hours and would have been better with six. Ripe fruit, minerals, tobacco and leather (my flavor descriptions don't do this wine justice). This will get better and last for decades. Wife gave it a 99. Watch out for bottle variation. We've had corked/flawed bottles.
Loved this wine (more than my score suggests). Black cherry, char, iron... but also a savoury meatiness lending such character. Great mouthfeel too. I could have drunk this all evening. Technically slightly lower than the 1989 La Turque drunk alongside - but I would rather this in my glass. At peak, but will hold a decade or more. 95pts
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Consumed out of magnum. Color showing some age with light bricking. Nose was pointy, with dominant dusty berry, dried wood, beef jerky and dried cranberry. Palate was a bastion of drybaged steak, fatty meat, hints of barn and truffle. Touches of tartare. Excellent and intact. Loved this one.
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Double decanted 2-3 hours before drinking. Quite similar to the bottle in January though with a lovely exotic lift which I really liked. Riper raspberry and cherry with a rich date note, some leather but especially some slightly BBQ meatiness and darker earthy hints developing. Didn't hold quite as well in three glass over hours as the 88 but a really good showing ****1/2-*****
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Rare Northern Rhone Dinner (Tocqueville): This is darker and more intense than the '90. More rhubarb and blackberry, less meat and florals. Surprisingly shut down. This could actually be a little off. Certainly not in line with that past review, which now feels excessive.
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So Frank Murray III comes to Winter Haven and asks for a Cote Rotie. I find the box in my disheveled cellar and there sitting in the box is this 1989 Chave along with a 1998 La Turque that I was aiming for. Somehow, the well connected FMIII, minutes later, is on the phone with Frenchie himself and after some back and forth, gets a verbal OK to drink the Hermitage... I am not a huge "bacon fat" descriptor guy, but this wine reeked of some form of the most sophisticated bacon fat aromas and perceptions that I have ever experienced. The wine, after the initial barrage of bacon and spice aromas, exploded, and all at once calmed into a perfect wine. It was nearing limpid red/orange in color, with barely Autumnal colors on the edges. The mouth started with bright and fresh red fruit tied to a top fueled dragster, with all of the aromas of a top fuel dragster running on bacon grease would offer, then it settled into a 30 year old fresh as hell Hermitage with strawberries and soil and spice and it never gave up. I believe this is still on its upward slope on the maturity curve. Perfect!
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Initially quite a structured profile of mainly red fruit (darker red berry, light blackcurrant, rasberry notes) with a just-easing firmness to it. Served blind I guessed a good 90s Cote Rotie. As the wine opened it also showed attractive leather and charred meat - early signs of earthy softening, but still not quite heading in that direction. Showed really nicely but has at least 10 years left at peak. ****1/2
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Showing better than ever. Purity of fruit, iron, tobacco and sweet red fruits are all over the place. The wine feels silky, soft and polished. There is a great richness and purity of fruit in the fresh, red berry finish.
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Holy smokes this wine was incredible. Smokey black meaty fruit on the nose with black pepper all over the place, absolutely intoxicating. Then the palate was that perfect combination of focused yet full of flavor and just bursting at the seams. Still incredibly youthful but picking up that blend of dark fruit and earth mixed in with that cooling acid is so alluring.
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Pre-Auction Dinner (Morini): Spectacular nose of rose petals and barbecue pit. Savory, peppery, smoky, just mouthwatering aromas. Big currant and blackberry in the palate. More smoke throughout. Robust and savory but also very pretty. This absolutely slays everything else in the flight. A moving glass of wine, wow. Making a strong case for wine of the night out of a very impressive line up including a flight of '99 GC Burgundies.
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Northern Rhone blind dinner. Quite deep purple still. Aromatically a touch plastic with black fruit. Mid-weight, but very long towards alcoholic and slightly unbalanced. Ranked last and 1995 Chave did not score highly either. My second experience with this wine and neither impressed...
Rhone night at Nicolas. Deep red, touch of bricking at the rim. This was very similar to the 1983 served in the same flight, with more intensity, length and complexity. Very attractive nose of crushed violets, incense, smoke, roasted meats and blueberries. Again, I couldn't get the same enjoyment on the palate. I felt the wine lacked some acidity (maybe I'm just too used to Burgundies) and appeared a little clumsy. There was some good black and blue fruit, smoke, tar, wood and old leather on the palate, but nothing really exciting.
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really in a great spot, fruit still dark cherries and the wine also has that great meaty army smokey chave nose and flavor. still on the upswing . great bottle
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mmmm is 89 better than 90, 90 better than 89....i don't really know, its great to see taste how these two are still improving and either could be best on the table on any given night
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Ruby red with a lightly tawny hue, medium to light colour depth. Intense fragrance, earthy raspberries and blackberries, crushed wild herbs, strong damson, violets, tar and licorice. Smooth and delicate yet deep. Silky, very smooth, beautiful structure, with a gentle cleansing acidity and very fine tannins. Raspberries and blackcurrant, dark tar spice, earthy forest-floor, a lovely blend of fruit and spice with both delicate yet intense flavours. Stunning wine, drinking perfectly.
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Elegant and integrated. Spice notes are pervasive but not primary. A lot of rocks and earth with dried mushroom and black truffle highlights. Does not show the same flamboyance as the '90 at this point but is a more balanced and poised wine.
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Not sure what to think. Bottle in my cellar (60 degrees) since release. Barnyardy and almost stewed. Cork was wet 3/4 up. All that blew off after an hour, but still nothing special. Thin, flat and uneventful. A real letdown. Will reserve judgment and open another bottle. If tasted blind it would have been low 80's.
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Cellared since release. Kermit Lynch import. Consistent with my prior experiences with this wine over the past 25 years -- a good bottle but not a great one -- the 1988 is much superior, as was the 1983 that I drank in the past year. Chave perfume, light body, pleasant, but no real depth. Fully mature.
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Anniversary celebration at Fearrington. Given 1 hour of decanting time. Dark ruby in the glass. Classic Chave minerality and black olives but still tight despite the decanting time. With time in the glass, this opened up. A great wine that has at least another 10-15 years of great drinking for well stored bottles. 50+13.5+13.5+9+9=95
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Out of magnum. A beautiful, elegant, silky vintage with lovely red fruit flavors along with classic notes of smoky minerals, char and spice. Just a hint of dryness on the finish kept it from competing ith the best wines tonight in my opinion.
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From magnum. Tingly spice and an umami stickiness to the nose. Dry leaves, dried porcini, blackberry, red and black plum. Overall a sweeter nose than the '90. Slight heat and harshness to the back of the nose. The palate has red plum and red cherry with a tartness that contrast the sweetness of the nose. One can almost detect ripe cranberry and tart red raspberry. A long finish with spice, dark fruit and pepper. A solid performance for this wine and while I found the '90 to be better overall, on this evening the '89 was a much more elegant wine.
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Northern Rhone Night (Boca, Bukit Pasoh, Singapore): A bit of a pity – I thought there was just a slightest hint of TCA on the nose, with some wet cardboard notes starting to appear. That aside, it had a lovely, almost Burgundian bouquet of blueberries, dark cherries and little layers of earth and stone, with spice and garrigue and just that wild floral shade at the very edges that pulled one back to the Rhone. The palate still really, really shone though. Rich, layered and complex, yet beautifully fine and focused, with superbly cut and precise flavours of black cherries and dark berries laced with earth and stone. On the finish, a beautiful embrace of spice and flowers then wrapped around the back palate in a long, compelling end. The purest of all the wines we on the night, this had the typical elegance and transparency of a great Chave wed to the lovely warmth and generosity of the vintage. A beautiful wine, and one that probably still needs many years more in the bottle before it reaches its peak. I could not help wondering whether it could have been so much more if not for that faint haunting streak of TCA though.
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Raid Len's Cellar #3: Olive, meaty, spice, smoke and cherry aromas - plenty of interest to it. The texture is fantastic on the palate, I really adore the flavour profile and the balance is excellent. Super length and depth. Good bottles of this are drinking well but will continue on well into the future.
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Chave Dinner (Le Perigord): There's brett here. Not enough so that the wine is undrinkable, but enough so that it doesn't really show any fruit. Instead there's a lot of funky soil and earth and leather and herbs and spice. In the mouth it's quite savory and spicy and funky, and not bad in its own way, but nothing I would personally seek out.
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A generous wine friend shared this with me in Seattle. The nose was roaring right from the time the cork was pulled. A very site-specific nose...you know what this is just from the smell. Great typicity - olives, meat blood, some porcini mushroom, and moist earth. Oh and more than enough fruit alongside all that. Plus pepper...always some, but at times quite a bit - nice! As the wine sat in the glass, some pleasant medicinal elements showed - a bit of cherry cough drop, and also some fresh band-aid traits. The palate of the wine shifted over the course of the evening, going from wide open at the outset to gradually tighter and more tannic. The wine was never terribly tannic, but the structural elements did emerge over a couple hours. This may be at its peak (not sure how much better it can get), but I expect this wine will remain on this plateau for many years to come...10+ I'd guess.
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Dark red, slightly garnet-edged. Simply the greatest bottle of Hermitage I've ever had. The nose is complex and powerful and evolving every ten minutes. The power and texture and release in the mouth is astounding, balanced and huge. The finish may be the best part. We used three different glasses each to drink the wine over three hours, and each emptied vessel carries stunning aromatics. Worth the wait. Bottle #2 of three.
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Deep dark color, meaty smokey nose but still some dark fruit, well balanced, unfolds lots of flavors. Long finish.last sip the best sip so imagine this still developing.
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This is also right there, the 1989 Rhône all seem to be in a very good spot right now and I should really be going after them. Velvet tannins, dark fruit, forest floor, tobacco. Great.
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Anniversary weekend at Fearrington with Alan & Lehna. Another excellent bottle of this classic. Bright ruby in the glass, this bottle was showing the earthy side of Chave with wonderful stones and minerality but less fruit than previous bottles. 50+14+13+8.5+8.5=94
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Chave Hermitage Dinner with Erin & Jean-Louis Chave (MK Restaurant - Chicago IL): From magnum. At its peak now, this was the best wine tonight, even if not the best wine for long-term potential. Ripe black berry aromas with plenty of spice and liqueur hints, followed by black berry and cherry flavors. Perhaps less complexity than some other vintages, but compensated by its great yum factor. WOTN for many, but I slightly preferred the 1998.
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From Magnum, this was stunning and blew away over a dozen other vintages this night. This is why we collect and age wines. Dark rich zippy black cherry flavors with wonderful classic old world Syrah character. Tons of spice and nuance in a sleek slightly rustic package. Drinking beautifully on this magical evening with Jean-Louis himself. Thank you George.
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Nothing much more to say about this wine that hasn't been said in other notes. Consider yourself lucky to have it or taste it. Stood up tall with the others in a flight that had 89 Bonneau Celestins and 89 Haut Brion. Three complete winners.
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Popped and poured. Cork stained close to the top. Showed well, with solid fruit, leather, game. Nice wine, and very good with food. Just a bit short on the finish of great for me, but very good. A-
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Beautifully complex aromatics of bloody meat, violets, mesquite, olive and thyme. Stony minerality. Palate is stunning - unbelievably silky, balanced and elegant. This is drinking so well - secondary aromatics, smooth and mature but still full of life. Amazing wine.
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This bottle was in pristine condition. Absolutely terrific, complete wine. Light red color, light on its feet, everything you'd want from a Chave that's just hit the spot of early maturity. I think we all felt very fortunate being able to taste this wine. Asher declared this his wine of the year already. At Bruno Loubet in London with Asher, Nicos, Ian and Maureen.
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Deep red core, translucent rim. Red berries, earthy spice, soft licorice and tar, wild herbs. Good wt, but silky from start to finish. Opened up after airing to show huge depth of flavour, plums and redcurrants, cedar, hint of tobacco leaf, licorice, graphite, blue ink. An earthy undercurrent suggesting age but still a fruit-driven gorgeous drink. Very special and with still years ahead.
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I've always loved 89 Chave, and this bottle was stunning. It held its own after an 88 La Turque, which is a very hard act to follow. Simply gorgeous, from first sip to last.
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A nose to die for with fabulous charcoal, charred wood, baconfat and smoke that I couldn't stop smelling. On the palate the wine was a bit angular with firm acidity at first but with air it started to show wonderful flavors of roasted meat, bitter chocolate, charcoal, black spices and woodsmoke. Harmonious and complex on the finish with a hint of black truffles and more smoke. Real finesse and elegance in this great vintage of Chave Hermitage that is close to full maturity.
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Sometime's you get lucky with older bottles. This was probably the best example of 1989 Chave I have ever tasted. With about 90 minutes of decanting, the perfume exploded with earth, wild cherries, spice, pepper, herbs, pepper and stone. Full bodied rich, intense, fresh, balanced and long, everything was exacatly where it was supposed to be. Clearly, this was in the perfect place.
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Bottle of Pain dinner (Ibiza, New Haven, CT): Phenomenal. This is everything I expect from mature Chave, incredibly elegant, polished and perfumed with layers of hickory smoke, meat, olives, red fruits and savoury brothy notes all coming together on the nose and palate. Absolutely seamless, a wine that's about intensity and power yet conveyed with a remarkable lightness of touch. Wow.
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Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red center and red/orange rims. The high- intensity nose of Rhubarb, cherry, sandalwood, and Provencal herbs did not come across as obviously syrah.
The mouth was also more refined than I expected with a medium body, light rounded tannin, and nice acidity.
My sense is that, while this wine has entered its drinking window, it will continue to improve to some degree with bottle age. Did it get enough air? A nice treat from Mike.
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This is not the majestic 1990 Chave. But at half the price, and considering it's almost as good, if you're seeking a Chave with bottle age, this is wine to buy. With its sauvage, blackberry, cherry, earthy, leafy, peppery, fresh herb filled nose, each sip of this concentrated wine gets better and better in the glass. Combining power and grace, this is still young and fresh, but there is no reason not to pull a cork at this stage.
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Still dark color, deep dark black and red cherries on the nose covered in earth,full mouth and long finish. The 89 and 90 is a great set of bookend Rhones, I really do like Chave's 89's. this wine has a good long life ahead of it
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RJ’s wine dinner – random wines – Krug, Salon, Leroy, Truchot, Dujac, La Turque, Chave, SQN and etc. (Mon Ami Gabi - Reston, VA): There were varying opinions regarding the maturity. I personally thought this was a fully matured classic Chave but others thought still young. Delicate sweet fruits, bright red fruits, cherry, beef blood, mint, white pepper and garrigue. Medium concentration, silky, sweet, bright acidity and nicely integrated tannins. I find the matured Chave to be very Burgundian and this is no exception. It was a lovely wine that was the La Turque.
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Dinner at Tetsuya's: Smoky and meaty aromas with black cherry and dark florals. The palate is right up my alley, it is wonderfully savoury with an overlay of powerful and expressive fruit with super texture. Right in the slot for drinking, but obviously still plenty of time left. Fantastic.
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Great wine. At first, the smell beat the taste. Took about 1/2 hour for the wine to really open up. Acidity dropped, secondary fruit flavors came forward. Great wine. Drink now or for many years to come.
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The body appears to be a medium reddish-ruby color; some bricking; a yellowish-brown rim. Immediately upon pulling the cork, there is a knock-out fragrance. And, as when previously tasted on multiple occasions, it has highly complex aromas and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, fresh saddle leather, bacon fat, soy, smoke, violets, a touch of roasted game, herbs and spices. The whole ball of wax one would desire in a red Hermitage. Big, rich, intense and full bodied. Great structure and balance. A long and expressive finish. This wine has been stored at 56 degrees and had a miniscule ullage; no cork deterioration. Extraordinary wine!
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Slighly lower fill than remaining bottles, with cork stained up about 3/4 the way. This was showing off right out of the bottle. Great nose of leather, game, and dark fruit. Lighter in color and on the palate than I would have expected (and vs. the '89 Chapoutier Pavillon), but really enjoyed it and it was perfect with food. A-/A
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I’ve tasted this wine approximately six or seven times and it keeps getting better. This time I get a more developed color: a medium reddish-ruby color; bricking apparent. Yellowish-browning at the rim. A perfume-like fragrance on the nose, with highly complex aromas and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, bacon fat (not overwhelming, but just right), violets, soy, olive, tar, herbs and spices.. Big, rich, velvety and smooth in the mouth. Just about perfect structure and balance. A long and lingering leather and bacon fat finish. Pairs very well with Christmas Turkey and all the trimmings. But, it is a wine to mostly appreciate by itself. The wine is getting close to the middle of its development plateau; should last for years. Monumental stuff and my kind of wine!
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Dinner at Bourbon House, New Orleans. Dark ruby in color, this would have probably benifitted from an hour of decanting time. With time in the glass the wine opened to a smooth, rich and refined wine with well resolved tannins. Raspberries and minerals dominate this well structured wine. This tastes like the peak is still 5-10 years off but it continues to be such a compelling wine that it is hard to not open these now. 50+13+14.5+9.5+9=96
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This is showing stunningly right now. Well integrated dark berry notes, a touch of smoked meat, cherry, florals and an abundance of spice. A very smooth palate throughout, sweetness of fruit and resolved tannins with a good bracing acidity. This is in a sweet spot right now, but it has all the elements to continue evolving for some time.
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This was a fantastic bottle of this wine which can be very variable. The nose is incredible with notes of baconfat, black cherries and char. On the palate it has the texture of a Burgundy with wonderful mature syrah flavors of black pepper, baconfat, charred meats and forest floor. Finishes so complex and smooth. It takes a while for Chave's Hermitage to come around but when it does, it delivers a unique experience. Wow!
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Dinner at Crush Wine Bar (Crush Wine Bar, Toronto, ON): Popped and poured, following over the next couple hours. Deep garnet in the glass, and more transparent than the Clos des Epeneaux served along side it. A touch of brick is present at the rim. Right from the test pour, I knew this was rocking. The nose burst out of the glass with a perfume of red fruits, a touch of blackberry, campfire, black olive brine, crushed rocks, underbrush, fresh cut grass, earth, cured game and with time, developing some exotic spice notes, subtle coffee undertones and a healthy serving of that illustrious ball sweat. On the palate, this was totally seamless, showing some moderate acidity, and some very light silky tannin on the long finish framed with red fruit, mineral, olive, smoke and underbrush notes. In the mouth, this showed extreme elegance, especially next to the more brute and rustic Burgundy. I was absolutely enamoured with this wine, and could not wipe the stupid grin off my face all night. For my tastes, this is good to go now, although, I would expect this to hold on for many years.
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Deep, dark, opaque red with lots of blackberries and very ripe blueberry on the nose. A meaty and chewy mouthfeel with loads of texture and enormous tannic structure. Plenty of acidity here too, and this wine should improve quite a bit over the next 10 years.
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Friday Night Brown Bagger (Rich & Dana's): Dusty crimson core, light bricking; quite a bit of fine sediment. Aromas of eathy red fruit- cranberry and cherry, with barnyard and herbal overtones. Balanced, with red fruit, roasted game and herb flavors and a long finish. Guessed Hermitage. Began to tire in the glass, developing a sour edge. Nowhere near as compelling as a bottle tasted a few years ago.
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STG does Syrah: nose: fancy rootbeer, smoky essence palate: perfectly balanced acid with velvety tannin and a dusty, mineral finish. I loved this. I wish all wines smelled like it did.
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Dinner at Chef And The Farmer. Very dark ruby upon pouring. Medium plus body and very earthy at first with great minerality. With time in the glass the cherry and red berry fruit starts to explode. Nice acidity on a finish that lasts for minutes. A classic Chave that continues to drink extremely well. 50+14+14+9+9=96
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From magnum. Decanted and drank over 4hours. Very young and has a long life ahead. Deep, dark and meaty nose of iron, black fruits, and smoke. Full body and the palate matched the nose. Did not have the depth nor the structure of the 1990. Long finish with plenty of grip.
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deep dark color, nose of blood and purple/black fruits. full in the mouth, meaty, intense, well balanced and long. a wine that is still getting better and better
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Still deep in color. Blue black fruits on the nose with a nice meaty bretty Full on the mouth. Still drinking youngish but moving to savory. Very long. Good meat wine
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Similar to my observations about 9 months ago. Deep, deep dark garnet body; a touch of yellowing on the rim; bricking development. A sensational and fragrant nose of blackberry, black cherry, fresh saddle leather, bacon fat, soy, tar, violets. herbs. Just about every thing you would want in Hermitage aromas and flavors. Big, rich and succulent in the mouth. An extended leather and bacon fat finish. I did not get the heat I observed last time. Exceptional wine. Pairs OK with a Prime Porterhouse steak, but the wine is more appreciable by itself. A great Friday evening!
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Really hitting its stride now. Dark, meaty aromas of iron, black fruits, and smoke. Fullish body and a tad drying on the end, but it's not a rich wine like the 1990 - more structured and tight on the finish. But the energy and freshness is stunning. Grand Cru Burgundy weight on this one.
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Acker BYO 2011 (Tribeca Grill): Smokey, bacon, and meaty on the nose. Not a great showing tonight - still showing young and tight. I have had spectacular bottles of this wine - tonight was not one of them.
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perfect steak lunch wine. nose of leather and smoked meats. full round flavor that fills the mouth with a nice mix of dark fruits and farminess. very much like this wine and it has a long way to go
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Acker Merrall BYO (Sepia - Chicago IL): My notes were getting sparse and illegible. Black cherry on nose and palate. Black pepper and some licorice. Powerful with great structure, long life ahead.
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Wow! Yellowing-purple on the rim. Deep, deep dark garnet in the body; some bricking developing. Fragrant aromas of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, bacon fat (initially a lot when first opened, but more subdued as the wine warmed), soy, tar, violet, herbs - highly complex. Big and elegant fruit in the mouth. Very nice finish (except for a very slight heat on the back palate) - about 30 seconds. Last consumed this wine at an NFL draft party in 2008, with wine friends. I think the wine should score higher, as it seems just a bit closed. Well stored. What a pleasure.
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Slight funky nose initially but developed in the glass an earthy, minerally, red fruit nose. Brighter on the palate than the La Chapelle, and a bit more complex. Great length. As Jon mentioned, many layers.
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Tasted blind. Dark red. Nose of coffee, tar, roast pork, menthol, black cherry, black peppercorn and tobacco. Full tannin and acid, balanced. Huge wine. Mouth-filling wine of enormous concentration and finesse. Seems extremely young; I'm guessing it's 1999 Chave Hermitage, but I'm off by ten years.Finishes long and with sustained power and nuance. The perfect drink after dinner with cheese, bread and salami at our fire tonight; it's -15 on the back porch at 9 PM. Many thanks to the Lowells for braving the elements and stopping by with this treat tonight. I'm spoiled.
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Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): Very much more ripe with a sweet and primary core. Smoldering intensity. A baby in comparison to the 1982 and 1983.
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This wine showed a medium red center with light red/orange rims. The nose featured cherries, soil, and roast beef notes.
In the mouth it was medium bodied but with great acidity and rounded tannins that gave it good length and presence.
This wine still seemed a bit tight to me and was not showing its full potential. I would give it another 5 to 10 years. At that time my score could move into the mid 90s.
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Great nose - the definition of Northern Rhone Syrah. Very pure, very deep. This is a wine that is very informed by its high acid for structure and definition. It has laser beam focus. Racy in the mouth, this is just a baby. High toned and gamey in nature, this is a wine that requires more time in the cellar to develop all of the layers that the wine is capable of. Hints of raisins, eucalypt and tamarind. A touch of acetate (green corn husk). My wife took exception to the high acid nature of the wine tonight and thinks my score is a little generous - but I am marking on its wonderful potential. It has an amazing future ahead of it. I will open my next in 2019.
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Koffmans-deep dark color, nose a great mix of spice and earth. very full in the mouth still with mostly primary fruits and and some leather and smoke around the edges. very long. very good wine, prbly wine of the night
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Chave-a-thon (Restaurant Michael (Winnetka, IL)): Dark earthy, nice sweet black fruit, somewhat mature with dusty aroma. Black fruits, sweet acids driven by lean toasty flavors, dark rustic, black fruit edge. 91
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1999 and 1989 side by side. Both were great, and the table was split. But tonight the 89 was beautiful, somewhat restrained, with not too much bret, and simply stunning. The 99 was very good, and continues to show why, over time, it may show as the best Chave vintage to date.
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full nose of bacon and berries. filled the mouth, long finish. bottle in a nice place of smoke, leather, fat but still holding some of the youthful dark fruits
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Dinner at Red Stag Grill, Asheville, NC. When this wine is on top of it's game it can stand up against any vintage of Chave extremely well. Tonight it was at the top of it's form. Dark ruby in the glass, this was open for business right out of the gate with no need for any decanting time. Olives and bacon were obvious on the nose and the medium-plus bodied palate was loaded with cherries and other fruit. Very long on the finish. All in all a spectacular bottle and a great match with the amazing elk tenderloin I ordered. 50+14+14+9+9 = 96
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Pinot Smackdown 2010 (Ken's, northbrook IL): nose: very meaty and bretty nose that didn't really blow off along with tones of black cherries, smoke, and bits of soy. This seemed a bit weak on the nose and not showing too much
taste: medium/full bodied with good tannins and tones of roasted meats, black cherries, some brett, smoke and bits of soy. Well balanced, but not really jumping on the palate either
overall: This was a very bretty bottle and it didn't really blow off. Ken had graciously served this to us blind but didn't feel that this was a representative bottle
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Chave at Palate (Glendale, CA.): This was the bad ass wine of the night. A misbehaving outcast, a rude wine. Started out funky as hell. This later lead to a wonderful perfume of spice, clove, nutmeg, licorice, dark red fruits, leather and touch of wet fur. The palate was long and rich with obvious acidity and a bit of unresolved tannin. Clearly drinking well with room for additional complexity and resolution of the tannins. A stunning wine.
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NYE with McGeorges. Ruby red with a dark core. Deeply fruited, red berry intensity, but with a dark spice edge of tar and liquorice. Gorgeous, silky texture, and long long finish. A benchmark wine.
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Kitchen Table, Volt, Frederick, MD. A very odd bottle. At first a whiff of major TCA that seems to blow off but the wine goes through many phases over the next few hours. Next day, the bottle has settled some, While a "good" bottle of wine at this point it is no '89 Chave. Clearly there is something wrong here. Not Rated.
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Clearly more interesting to taste than the Jaboulet, but this is way more tannic, way less savory, and way less fruited than other bottles I've had of this. The disturbingly large amount left in the bottle at the end of dinner testified that this was not a good example of this wine. Good examples of this won't have a drop in the dump bucket. I dumped much more than that. Forgot to note whose import strip.
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Deep dark ruby. Brooding and powerful. Dark and red fruits, blood oranges, flowers, and anise on the nose. Beautiful depth and texture here. Meaty large scaled and impeccably balanced. At peak with a ton of time in hand. Fantastic. WOTN for me
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This is showing so much better than the La Chappelle of the same year. Ripe, fruity nose, some spice, with really nice acidity in the mouth, good length, very smooth and seductive, very nice.
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Black fruit, herbs, spices and cassis make a beautiful aromatic profile. This is a huge, concentrated wine. Very powerful. This takes over your palate with thick, rich, dense black fruit and spices.
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Dinner at Central, DC. Very dark ruby in color, this wine was explosive upon opening with a terrific nose of olives and burnt stones. Deep, concentrated flavors on the medium bodied palate. Long on the finish. A very dark wine in nature tonight. Still has a very long life ahead of it. 50+14+13+9+9 = 95
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Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #3; 9/11/2009-9/12/2009: Almost opaque ruby/black colour. Aromas of tobacco, salt, black olive tapenade, black plums, spice, tar, and a hint of alcohol. Full-bodied, very smoky (woodsmoke/liquid smoke), with tobacco, licorice, tar, and prune notes. Amazing acidity to lift the wine off your palate. Long finish, ~50-60s with woodsmoke, tar, and prune notes. Amazing stuff! Not too far off the bottle I tasted a few years ago. 98 points easily, maaaaaybe eking out to a 99. Just behind the surreal 1990 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle it was paired with.
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Wine Guy Weekend Chez Doktas Take 3; 9/11/2009-9/13/2009 (Collingwood, Ontario): Ah Chave. What a bottle. What an experience. This was not about flamboyancy but about power reigned in by finesse and elegance. This was my WOTW and the first bottle of a series of stunning competitors. Sweet tobacco notes, old car leather with some hints of flowers that you get in the spring. The tobacco and leather notes were overwhelming but very seductive. Cassis and tobacco and leather on the palate. Elegant. Suave. Stunning purity and pedigree. After 15 minutes in the glass, more fruit came through. Will improve over the next 5 years or more. Looong finish.
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Dinner with Mom at Chef And The Farmer, Kinston, NC. Dark ruby in color, this wine was about as well balanced as a wine can be. Medium bodied with a silky texture and pure, clean, concentrated fruit. Ready to drink but not yet fully mature, the wine displayed aromas and flavors of black cherry, kirsch, violets, the telltale Chave minerality and a meatiness. Long finish. This is a sophisticated wine that like many 1989s from around Europe is a real home run every time out. Can't wait to drink the next one! 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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Spectacular bottle, one of the best in memory. Stood up well with the 82 and 89 Mouline it was drunk with. Not too much funk/brett as can be the case. Excellent.
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such structure and balance, wine is in early stages of maturity, cherry, violets, huge dpth, stones and minerality. really clean, and so deep. this is textbook
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We drank the 99 and 89 Chave side by side. Tonight, the 99 smoked the 89. The 89 seems to have a lot of bottle variability, which I attribute partially to provenance and partially to the wine. Its always a moving target, but the range is decent to very good - not a bad range if you're not sure what you'll get.
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Dinner at Coquette. Dark garnet in the glass with slight bricking at the very edges. A classic '89 Chave with the richness, the sweet fruit, the minerality and the long finish. Well integrated tannins when drunk with the food but the tannins stuck out every so slightly when the wine was drunk on it's own. Throwing lots of sediment. A Pointe today with many years of enjoyment ahead for well stored bottles. 50+13+14+9+9 = 95
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Tasting Group Dinner - '75, '83 and '85 Bordeaux (Brad's House, Minneapolis): Fourth time I've tasted this. Slight Band-Aid on the initial nose that quickly blew off. Red cherries, animal, baking spices, and leather. Wonderfully rich and expressive. Earthy, seamless, and elegant. Power and intensity without weight. Terrific as always.
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Lunch @ the Ledbury- light ruby color, with edges lighter so no mistaking it for a new barrel sample, first whiff of the wine was a bit barny (ie bretty) with some underlying smokey dark red fruits. in the mouth very balanced, med acidity and long, the brett all there, saddle leather, smoke, and hanging on to some fruit. a lovely chave and great way to start lunch
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Tried another '89 after one so-so bottle and 2 oxidized bottles. Again, the nose was off and the wine never really opened up. I am questioning the previous storage conditions of this wine before I aquired it, as heat must have played a part in affecting the 6 bottles I purchased.
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This wine was disappointing, as we expected it to be spectacular, but we were completely underwhelmed. Three bottles of the '89 were opened for close to an hour before trying. This bottle had more than barnyard or brett on the nose...it was closer to sewer funk. It blew off somewhat, allowing the deep fruit and complex structure to stand out. This bottle was pleasantly palatable, but no one found it exceptional, or even great.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Northern Rhône (Fugaise, Minneapolis): Almost no nose and a very tight, shut-down palate. There were hints of dark fruit and spearmint, but this was completely closed and compact, and not at all like other bottles of '89 Chave that I've tasted. Off bottle; probably corked.
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Mpls does Northern Rhone (Chave, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chapoutier, Clape, more): Double decanted a few hours before serving. Very similar to the 1986. Not nearly as good as a previous bottle of 1989 that I tasted. The nose gives an elegant blend of red fruit with a bit of funk. On the palate this comes across as tannic and closed. Plenty of structure and a long lingering finish. This bottle needed more time in the cellar.
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Wines on Thursday (Bellavitae): Deeply and powerfully fragrant with I-don't-know-what. Richly fruited and still inky in its gloss, with some slightly abrupt tannin to buffer it.
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Just a wonderful bottle of wine. Incredible aged, earthy flavors with notes of meat, game and spicy dark fruits. Still fairly tannic with just a hint of greeness but the smooth Burgundian-type texture and gorgeously complex finish win the day. Just entering its peak drinking window. 94+
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dinner with brad england in minneapolis, brad's bottle. extremely challenged by brett, and muddled in the midpalate, seemingly short of fruit. brad states this bottle is off, but i don't have a reference, as it is the first taste for me.
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Enchanting nose has aromas dark fruits, sweat, beef and minerals. Couldn't get my nose out of the glass. Palate is medium bodied and full of dark fruits, herb and some typical Chave sweat, funk. Terrific balance and length. In a wonderful place.
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Underperformed just a bit....storage not perfect as the wine had about 2-3 years at room temp (70F) toward the end of its life (after pristine storage for the first 15 years....Very tasty but a little tired lacking a bit of complexity that I would expect.
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Santa Barbara Dreaming: Moved on to dinner at Elements. A nice Santa Barbara restaurant, with a new chef (promoted the sous-chef), who should be good once he loses the salt shaker. I like salt, but wow. Paired the 89 Chave with the 94. The 89 shows meat, minerals, blood, basically the whole package. And what I really like about this wine is its restraint. Its got all that N Rhone offers, in a tasteful package. It was great from the beginning, but continued to show even stronger as the night went on. Love it.
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Rednecks & Rhones Chave-a-thon. Dark ruby in the glass. The '89 Chave is always a great pleasure to drink and this bottle was no exception. Very rich and viscous with gobs of fruit. There's a clarity and depth to thsi wine that goes beyond what most vintages of Chave achieve. Drinks incredibly well right now but will continue to please for many more years. The perfect match with both Bob's lamb stew and Barb's venison in mushroom sauce. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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atlanta blue nose group hermitage tasting which included 88,89,90 chave, 88, 89, 90 jaboulet la chappelle, 89, 90, 91 sorrell le greal and 89, 90, 91 chapoutier pavillon. second or third best wine of the night. plenty of luscious fruit and plenty of time left to drink. delicious.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Burgs & Rhones at Heidi's (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Another fabulous bottle, very nearly as wonderful as the one (from another source) I opened a few months ago. Elegant, high-toned cherry fruit, earth, and horse/barnyard in the background. Layers of spice. Gorgeous texture. Incredible finesse. Started to tighten up and turned more primal after an hour or so of air. Fantastic stuff.
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Dinner at Heidi's (Kistler, Dujac, 90 Centenaire, 61 Jaboulet Cedres, Chave, and others): An awesome bottle of wine. The nose gives an intense and complex expression of black fruit, iron, smoke and floral notes. This is another wine you could smell all night. It is equally good in the mouth. Extremely elegant -- silky smooth. Possesses great fruit concentration yet good structure yielding the sense of perfect balance. Still holding on to some tannin. Great finish. Thanks to Steve for sharing such a great bottle of wine.
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A good, not great bottle of this wine. Animal, blood and meat predominated, with the fruit taking a back seat. Had better bottles, but still very enjoyable.
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Syrah Tasting w/ Bob Macdonald (David Anderson's House, Minneapolis): Paired with a fantastic 90 La Chapelle, this took things to an even higher level. High-toned, dense, soaring red fruit on the nose. Gorgeously sappy red fruit, almost Musigny-like in its density and dimension of flavor. Animal, earth, freshly chopped mushrooms, baking spices, and wave upon wave of complex flavors. Unreal texture - silky, smooth, and packed with minerals. Endless finish. A stunning Chave with many more years of life ahead. WOTF and WOTN for everyone. Group average 19.5/20; #1 of 7.
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Dinner at Fearrington. Dark ruby in the glass with a very slight lightening at the edges. This great wine had a most attractive nose with a mixture of meaty notes along with minerality and very ripe berries. Medium+ bodied, the rich palate exhibited more ripe fruit and a terrific verve to the acidity. Impeccable balance. Very open tonight and as always displaying a great elegance. Long clean finish. Drinking extremely well now but many years of further development lay ahead. This wine never disappoints. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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Beautiful violet, brilliant color. Extremely fragrant nose of horse leather, blackberry, black olive. Medium bodied, balanced, still very lively tannins, fresh long finish. Beautiful and classic Chave. Can't I afford this for life?
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Sublime. Brownish/ruby with an amber rim. Nose is tremendously complex and fragrant... Strawberries, dried rose petals, creosote, lilacs, bacon fat, smoke -- I kept finding new ways to interpret what I was smelling. Fascinating. Very long, taut, sweet but substantial acidity. Tannins have mellowed to a whisper.
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Dinner at St Jacques. Dark, dark ruby in the glass. At first it was showing a little tannic but with a little decanter time and a little glass aeration time the fruit and minerality were center stage. Classical Chave with minerals, black olives and ripe fruit in a medium bodied package. The tannins, which started off in focus quickly fell to a background role. The tannins were always obvious but in a very elegant way, just a reminder on the palate and on the long finish that this wine still has many years of pleasurable drinking ahead of it as those tannins continue to be shed. With the "Ravioli Whittington", a ravioli filled with veal and foie gras in a slightly creamy sauce, the wine was a perfect match. The richness of the dish really brought out the richness of the wine, and the food/wine came together as this tour de force of richness and deep flavors. This bottling seems to keep getting better and better each time we open one. 50+13.5+14+9.5+9.5 = 96.5
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The French Laundry...21 Courses, 11 Wines, Infinite Memories; 7/21/2007-7/22/2007 (The French Laundry (Yountville, Napa Valley, California)): Being at the French Laundry in celebration of Amy Emery's 40th birthday, how can it get better? Well it does...how about rouelle of Four Story Hills Farm poularde, wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, royal Blenheim apricots, cipollini onions, tarragon and Dijon mustard? Follow that with tete de cochon, with melted Swiss chard, potato puree and bliss maple syrup. What would you serve this with? The perfect match, of course…the Chave Hermitage 1989. Deep red in color with a garnet rim, this spectacular wine showed my "4+" bouquet of chocolate, black and red fruits, pomegranate, underbrush and a touch of menthol. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, big ripe tannins and a long, smooth finish. This wine warrants a very conservative 95+, as it is still clearly on the upswing. For anyone lucky enough to have this in his or her cellar, my personal recommendation would be to not open it before 2010. It should drink beautifully until 2025 or beyond. Amy had a big smile on her face at this point.
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Fine ruby color with slightly fading edges. Somewhat reticent nose of high-acid cherries, black licorice and earthy slate. Needed to be decanted for an hour before starting to show it's stuff. Surprisingly quite lean compared to the '88 and "90 both tasted recently. This is actually the highest acid, most backward wine of the trio. Will probably never match the purity and complexity of the '90 but it's a big wine loaded with bright acidity and a delicious, intense, juicy finish. The flavors match the nose and the wine seems to need lots more time.
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Double decanted about 3 hours before the flight, this dark ruby red/purple wine turned in a bravura performance and was probably most taster’s second WOTN. The wine showed a fragrant expressive nose of blackberry and forest floor, with high-toned notes of spice and violets. In the mouth, wonderfully alive, with the sheer concentration of ripe fruit admirably balanced by its bright acidity and the almost gravelly mineral tastes on the back end. A great wine, with plenty of years ahead of it.
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"Chave Hermitage Magnums dinner." In the first flight of reds we had the 1990 and 1989 from Magnum. The 1990 was an explosion of flavour in the mouth. A wonderful bottle. Great focus and intensity, laced with acidity. Meaty power with balance and refinement. Still quite youthful, both in appearance and taste. The finish is long, deep and delicious. “Regal authority”, someone said. The 1989 was slightly more reticent. I wondered if it needed more time (and this a 17 year old wine.) Smoky bacon and a hint of barnyard. Hold it in your mouth and feel the power. If it did not have quite the immediate impact of the 1990, it was still delicious. The long aftertaste is faintly spiced. Without much in the way of tannin the finish on these wines is like the smile on the face of the Cheshire Cat – it lingers without any apparent means of support, then slowly fades. Around the table, opinion seemed split between the 1990 and the 1989, but the 1990 was definitely my WOTN. (Never mind WOTN, the best Hermitage I have tasted…..to date.) It was great to taste them with food – no question that the these wines lift the food, and vice versa. (Ravioli of Grouse and Chanterelles with Pumpkin Puree, by the way.) Is there something Burgundian in these wines? Not in the flavour, but in the weight, the levels of acidity, and the lack of reliance on tannin. ve Hermitage Magnums dinner."
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In light of my experience with the last bottle of this wine, I poured this bottle right into glasses without decanting. It came out of the bottle a little befuddled, with a forceful nose of "Hermitage funk:" moss, wet leaves, and other artifacts of the forest floor. On the palate, it was similarly unidimensional at first. However, after just a few minutes, the wine found its balance, and was one again the gentle, complex, Burgundian beauty that I drank the last time. After about two hours, the wine once again seemed to start fading away, with the fruit disappearing first, then the pine, moss, and licorice, leaving only a nice gravely finish. As I reached the bottom of the bottle, it seemed to be entering yet another phase, this one once again dominated by that powerful Hermitage funk, though this time with some acidity and gravel left for balance. Was it struggling to reach a new, even more interesting stage of development? Or was it just about to degenerate into the foul, vinegary swill that was left at the bottom of my last bottle? I don't know. I'm not so good at gauging these things. Parker says to drink it from 2005-2030, and John Livingstone-Learmonth (author of the wonderful Wines of the Northern Rhone) says 2013-2017. Both of these writers have far more experience and knowledge than I. And other reviewers here seem to feel that this wine has a lot more life in it. Still, it's hard for me to believe that I should hold onto my remaining bottles for too much longer. Perhaps my batch experienced some suboptimal storage conditions at some point in its life?
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St John Offline (St John, London): Very perfumed, dense dark summer fruit, very strong acidity, but beahind it lots of beautiful fruit and a big tannic structure, a burgundian Hermitage. Beautiful now but I think the gamey notes will begin to come to the fore now.
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Suckling Pin Dinner at St. John (London, UK): Medium ruby in color and throwing a fair amount of sediment. Medium to full bodied and the richest of the Chaves so far. Medium plus length on the finish, I think it will get longer with age as it adds more complexity. Drinks much younger than the '83 at this point but seems to be in a really great place as it has been with previous bottles the past few years. 50+13+13+8.5+8.5 = 93
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I poured this bottle into a decanter, and then started drinking it right away. It was a gorgeous bottle. Incredibly seductive nose. A very gentle, feminine wine on the palate, with subtle, restrained Burgundy-like fruit and just a bit of pine and moss to identify it as Hermitage. Medium-bodied at most. Don't pair this one with red meat and heavily seasoned sauces! Two hours after pouring, the wine turned into a metallic, tangy, vinegary, mossy beast -- most unpleasant. And two hours after that, it was really foul, not even fit for cooking with. I have several other bottles of this wine, and I'm going to drink them soon, without decanting.
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SAG (Blind) Tasting (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Blind tasting. Inviting aromatics to start were spice and red and black cherry. Spice continued on to the palate, where some great roasted meat flavors also emerged and the fruit transitioned into darker cherry and berry. Really well balanced and intense. Still lots of room to get even better.
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Annual DBGCBU: A wine of great subtlety and elegance. Immense concentration of flavour and silk like tannins. Very Hermitage in character but with finesse of great Burgundy. Outstanding wine.
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Dinner at Zely & Ritz. Ruby/garnet in the glass. A very “Chave” nose. Medium plus in body, this wine was a beauty. Rich and glycerol on the palate and sporting a nose of earth along with dark, spicy berries. Very fresh acidity on the long finish. This is certainly past the primary stage but seems to still have some positive development ahead of it in the years to come. Will drink well for a very long time. 50+13.5+13+9+9 = 94.5
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Manlin comes to town for dinner at Lampreia (Seattle, WA): This was truly awesome from the get-go with a big nose screaming of pepper, blood and meat. Mmm, the palate is spicy and intense with gorgeous focus. I need to track down more 1989 Chave.
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Light-medium garnet colour. Aromas of cinnamon, dried cherry, dried roses, cardamom. Medium-full bodied, with currant, spice, dried flowers, leather, and dried cherry. Elegant and silky, but still has amazing structure. Long finish, goes for minutes, with red fruit, cinnamon, and olives. Unbelievable. Tasted with Giacomo Conterno at Poderi Aldo Conterno on 06/08/2006.
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A noticable step up compared with the Jaboulet, quite a light wine but great depth of flavour and complexity, If only more Hermitage tasted like Burgundy ;). Super.
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Multiple layers of thick, rich, ripe fruit, balance, complex aromatics and a lengthy, seamless finish. Another 5 years will open this wine out and flesh it out.
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Seattle Tasting Group does older Northern Rhône reds (Bellevue, WA, USA): This had a fabulous nose of beef blood, pine needle and minerality, and with more air layers of tarry and smokey black fruit come out to play, nice! OMG, the palate is rich and deep with layers of sweet fruit and smokiness. There was a certain roasted character throughout this wine, in a good way. The finish is powerful yet nicely resolved with no hard edge to be found. This was a thrilling wine that I would have liked to spend a whole evening sipping slowly.
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This was packed with jammy, black fruit and spices. Very thick and concentrated. Dense, full-bodied wine. Great palate presence and a long, black, ripe, fruit filled finish. More bottle age will help, but this is beginning to show its charms.
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Tasted at pre-anniversary tasting at our house. Chave is always a pleasure and this bottle failed to disappoint. Wonderful upon opening with no decanting needed. Earthy but in a way I really enjoy as opposed to the soemtimes dirty smells of Northern Rhines and Burgundies. Bacon, mushrooms, spices and meaty aromas lead to a palate that shows the class and elegance of age but with still vibrant and sweet fruit. Sweet cherries and a long finish close out this stunner. "Damn lovely" says Fred and what more can I add! Thanks to the always generous Steve & Barb for this most memorable bottle. 50+14+13+9+9 = 95.
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Our third Chave of the night! Transluscent deep red hue. Nose is deep with game, leather, red fruits, and hints of earth. With food and air, the wine comes together with a meaty character. Clearly the best of the reds on this night.
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Tasted at Singer & Foy survey of new Rhones. Very healthy ruby color. Very nice nose. Rich, pretty fruit. Complex; nuance. Palate is excellent. Fruity, pretty. 5-11-15-7:88/100.
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broke in the wine cellar! Of the wine I was able to salvage, it defined "tannic". Not ready for a long time. Unbelievably concentrated and complex. Too bad an '87 didn't break!
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3/7/2024 - thesternowl wrote: 94 Points
Rhône or Nôwhere 2.0 (Malcolm, NE): Not to be outdone, the 1989 Chave Hermitage Rouge showed more brambles than the ’88 along with other desiccated blue and black fruits. Dried flowers, beef, blood, leather and mushrooms. Every time I have the pleasure of drinking old Chave, I’m reminded that these wines have so much character and there is a reason they are so adored. Lovely with grilled lamb and Moroccan spices. Drink now through 2040. Merci Matt!
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2/9/2024 - Wine Canuck wrote: 98 Points
Friday Night at Dave's Place: This pours light garnet in the glass. The nose is absolutely bananas exploding in a blaze of sea spray, nori, dill pickle brine, sweat, saline, toasted and crushed cumin and coriander seed, white and black pepper, pickled ginger, dried cherry, and dried blueberry. The palate is silky with a bright red fruited entry with medium minus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish closes harmoniously on smoky blueberry notes. Absolutely astounding and a great value at $1250 CAD. This is significantly better than my last showing of the 1989 Chave and in my view only just a hair behind the 1991 and 1990. Incredible wine.
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11/19/2023 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Ye Paulee (Hao Noodle): Woody, ripe, on the sweet side with good length. 93-94
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10/16/2023 - johnh1001 wrote: 97 Points
Somehow this was better than the 1990 tonight!
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9/23/2023 - mpoel Likes this wine: 98 Points
Ticks all the boxes. Nose evolved - dried flowers and herbs and leavy. Burgundian on the palate with fabulous length and complexity - top notch
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9/16/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 97 Points
Initially this had quite a bit of barnyard on the nose, which thankfully blew off with time in the decanter. Complex notes of underwood, red fruit, savory, allspice, and pepper emerge. The palate is very well balanced with tart fruit flavors, cherries, violets, more pepper, meat, and a distinct earthy tone. Long finish. Although this started out a little weird, it really picked up weight and complexity with air. An outstanding wine after about an hour or so.
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7/21/2023 - Eric wrote:
Dinner at Copine with Steve and Jason (Ballard, WA): The 1989 Chave is just such classic Hermitage. Smoky, roasted, yet Burgundian in that Chave way with cherry and mineral. For an appellation that tends to have burly and sturdy, masculine, expression of Syrah, this is the exact opposite.
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6/19/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Showing beautifully, this gem pops with its perfume of olives, herbs, peppery kirsch, black raspberries, and leafy green aromas. Full, rich, intense, refined, and yet wild, with layers of perfectly ripe, red fruits, iron, and spices. Popped and poured, the wine hit everything right. Drink 2023-2035.
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6/6/2023 - Burgland Likes this wine: 96 Points
Morello cherries with a whiff of strawberry and sherry on the nose; more cherry and iron on the palate; perfect tannins that coat the mouth; a very long finish. It took two hours in a glass to wake up and show itself. Should be great for quite a while to come. As expected, Chave Hermitage in a great vintage rarely disapoints.
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5/9/2023 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Rhone Candidate dinner - Hermitage Theme (Essential by Christophe): For many the WOTN and it probably was although when the math becomes 4 bottles of this or 1 bottle of that I’m not sure its a fair fight and I’m not sure which direction I’d go since the La Chapelles were drinking very well. This wine is all classy Old school with baking spices (slightly different than what I normally get). The bacon and meat a bit more subdued although there in the background. Drinking nicely but with a long life ahead.
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4/15/2023 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Takes some time to open up fully, but it's worth the wait. A wine that whispers rather than speaks; a core of beautiful red fruit with gentle meaty, olive, and leathery accents. The smokiness/meatiness is there but a lot more restrained than I've found in a lot of other Chave. It's a pretty wine and I'm glad for the chance to sit and follow it over a few hours, though my attention did waver often given the other Syrahs on the table.
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4/15/2023 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
"I'm not having a glass of wine; I'm having six. It's called a tasting and it's classy." (Chicago, IL): A very light version of this wine, and maybe even this vintage. The nose is stellar with this amazing smoked meat quality to it. Slight olive brine as well and a very red-fruited temperament. On the palate this doesn't have the weight of the 1990 or 1991, and there's a wispy, delicacy that's also very enjoyable here. Lots of acidity and a very lovely lightness overall. However, I think this bottle paled in comparison to both the 2006 Allemand Chaillot and the 1999 Gallet this afternoon.
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4/10/2023 - grub94 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Purchased on release. Bright med garnet with minimal bricking on rim. Big nose of dark cherry, leather, purple flowers, savory spice. Palate also reveals hints of roasted meats and smoke. Tannins are resolved with a fine vein of acid still holding everything together. Full, one finale. Pure Chave!
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3/4/2023 - Wine Canuck wrote: 95 Points
Northern Rhone-a-thon: This pours medium garnet in the glass. The nose is perhaps lacking some of the development and overt complexity of the 83 and 88 poured previously, however its lovely. The nose is of red jujubes, rose petals, red cherry, toasted bread, tree bark, and dry dusty soil. It shows lovely texture on the palate with bright red fruit turning to cherry and plum, and a finish that is very long, yet not quite as complex as I'd hope. Overall this came across to me as more primary than expected with limited secondary and tertiary elements. To me that held this particular showing back a tad, although it's obvious that further aging will likely achieve the maturity I'd like to see.
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11/10/2022 - Nanda wrote:
Lots of debate on whether this was corked or not. I don't think so. Yet the funk was there and didn't quite let the meatiness and fruit sing. Solid but not as good as other bottles.
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11/10/2022 - acyso wrote:
"The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Chicago, IL): Although the nose on this right after pouring it out of the bottle smelled so much like TCA I just couldn't get it out of my mind, I also concede that the musty notes did not become more prevalent with air, and in fact cleared up some. Others liked this bottle a lot more than I did; I just couldn't shake the slight TCA note here (whether or not it actually was TCA, we'll never know). The fruit is red and elegant, the tannins fully resolved. This would've been a killer bottle if not for that persistent doubt in the back of my mind.
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10/12/2022 - The Vines That Bind wrote: flawed
Affected.
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9/30/2022 - ruffsurf Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bought in 1992. Cellared at home at 55 until last night. Upright for 3 hours. Minimal sediment. Cork good shape. 15-minutes air in decanter. So...never doubt the staying power of Chave. Stunned to see just minimal color fade. Elegant perfume. Light body yet expansive and long finish. If blind would have sworn this was a 10 year old wine. Paired with short ribs at Contento in NYC. 2 bottles left in my cellar. No need to rush or wait if cellared properly.
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6/23/2022 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Chave: "In the name of science" (Chicago, IL): I keep chasing the high of the first bottle of this that I ever opened. This bottle didn't get anywhere near there. A somewhat mute nose, showing little but some earth and iron tones, and maybe a bit of syrah acidity and smoke as well. The palate was much better; plenty of fruit still but lacking the complexity that I remember this wine having before. Again, like the 1985, this would have been a fantastic wine in isolation, but as part of the 1988-91 quadruplet, it really got lost.
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4/21/2022 - hargy Likes this wine: 92 Points
certainly mature, this was a little disappointing - lovely, easy bouquet on opening, the wine exhibits strong tea flavours (lapsing souchong?) which tends to overwhelm the fruit
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2/9/2022 - clayfu wrote:
Mag - decanted a hour or so before dinner for sediment. The wine started out with high acid, broad structure and feral secondary notes. But on the second and third pour the wild red brambly fruit you get in older Chave starts to really show up and interlace itself with the complex meaty iodine feral notes with spice all along the edges. Definitely the youngest showing bottle I've had of this and it was fantastic. I wish I went back to it for the bottom 1/3rd of the bottle cause I bet it would have been really strutting its stuff.
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1/9/2022 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Earthy but smooth with restrained dark spice.
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1/5/2022 - BradE wrote:
I've always loved this vintage, and tonight's bottle was no exception. Lush, sexy, brilliant, and a perfect bottle.
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12/6/2021 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Just a tiny step behind the otherwordly 1990, the wine exudes its smoke, plum, thyme, iodine, crushed rock, spice, herb, earth and red plum with cherry nose easily. Full-bodied, elegant, refined, soft and lusty, the wine is utterly compelling, leaving you with layers of intense, pure, fresh, red berries and spice.
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11/21/2021 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Chave Hermitage Dinner (Greenwood - Highwood IL): Single blind in 82/88/89 flight. Opened less than an hour in advance, not decanted. Dense and powerful black fruit, but slightly obscured by more powerful tannins and structure. Clearly lots here, but slightly awkward tonight. This bottle was the least interesting I can ever recall for this wine, and think the lack of air was a major reason.
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11/21/2021 - KenK Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice dark spice, cinnamon. Mature with wonderful faded dmfruits and wild spices. Good length and nice acud lift.
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8/19/2021 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Intense dark fruits, with contrasting soil tones and dark spices. Great bottle. 95-96+
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8/13/2021 - Bullethead Likes this wine: 100 Points
Condition of the wine isn’t perfect so I was a bit worried. It has very good fill and clean label but protruding cork with non-flat/uneven surface which implied sigh of seepage. I did’t check the cork condition at last. The sommelier did an excellent job.
I swirl the glass, first sniff, wow, I was speechless. The nose is so complex and has explosive aroma of black berries, olive, meaty, tobacco. There are so many things going on here and the palate is marvelous which is very fresh and with good acidity, melting tannins. Perfect balance. This Chave is a masterpiece, perfect wine and very emotional. The same emotion I had last time was the Margaux 1990. I was thinking about the best word to describe this feeling during the dinner. The next morning, the word “Zen” came to my mind.
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7/17/2021 - alittle wrote: 96 Points
Starting to brick now as it enters adulthood, very complex, but a hair behind the last showing some years ago. Fresh clipped grass, dried blackberry, earth, herbs, mint, coffee, black olive, really stanky wet animal fur, farmyard, decaying foliage and a faint hint of smoldering pine needles. Palate is fully integrated. Finishes long. At this resolved stage, there are no hard edges, making this a borderline crusher. Bottle was gone in a flash. Still in quite a nice spot, despite the lower score.
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7/3/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
Just a gorgeous Chave that's still concentrated and rich yet with the most deft, ethereal texture. Layered and refined with deep flavors of woodsy dark red fruits and a superb mineral crunch. The finish is so complex with notes of charred game, slate and wood-spice. Just a hair behind the '90 and '85 tasted alongside but what a flight! 95+ At Gabriel Kreuther, NYC.
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6/14/2021 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Slight ullage, saturated cork.
Ruby red with medium dark core, pure, no tawny even at rim.
Sweet red berries, earthy, dark spice, a little cherry stone zest.
Good weight, smooth and velvety, long and well balanced. Red currents, damson, dried earth, tar spice, black pepper, long resonating rich finish. Fine chalky tannins. Delicious.
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6/2/2021 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Quite clean and transparent for the first 45 minutes.
With airtime, subtle but not unattractive bret notes emerged. 94-95
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5/19/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
High acidity relative to other vintages of Chave -- especially after the 1990 I drank last week, this 89' seemed quite lean by comparison. Still juicy, very fresh, and very tasty.
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4/27/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 96 Points
Compared to the highly floral and rosy ’90 in the next glass, this is comparatively smoky, darker, a little more brooding, and more towards the rustic end of the Chave spectrum while still being extremely expressive and showy on the nose. Equally as impressive just a different iteration. Hard to pick a favourite and I think this is every bit as special as the ’90 tonight. Rustic, earthy, smoke, embers but still has lighter floral notes too. These are excellent. Great pair.
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3/2/2021 - LB88 wrote: 94 Points
Very well resolved tannins, lovely wine with a long finish.
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12/24/2020 - Nanda wrote:
A stunner and the pinnacle of aged Northern Rhône Syrah. Seductive and complicated aromas that lead with dried black fruits and go to a medley of black pepper, olive brine, smoke, cured meats and dried herbs. Palate is still rich and fresh though clearly mature and resolved. Good bottles should hold, but this wine is giving it all now.
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11/29/2020 - sdr Does not like this wine: 88 Points
So sad. This bottle looked fine with good fill and no signs of damage was obviously off. Not corked or madeirized but perhaps not treated well somewhere over the years. Recognizable northern Rhône Syrah, there’s earthy roasted plum and garrigue - but all in miniature. Decent color, acidity is just right, tannins are mostly resolved. Perhaps not unexpected in a 50 year old but not for one which should be in its prime. Oddly despite being upright for many weeks there was fine sediment throughout which could not be decanted.
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11/21/2020 - fclarity wrote: 95 Points
From an excellent looking bottle, this wine had a deppe red center with red/orange rims. The medium+ intensity nose offers up raspberries, black spices, wet rocks, plums, clay, and red flowers.
In the mouth, this was interesting from the start but was not fully integrated. After 4 hours of air it was ripe with firm acidity and rounded tanin. After 6 hours of air all the edges melted away and it was quite attractive and long.
This wine appears to be in the early stages of its drinking window. That said, I don't think it is going to be getting any better. I strongly suggest an extended decant for this wine.
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10/31/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
A somewhat muted example. '89 structure and soil present but unexpressive fruit.
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10/18/2020 - aquacongas wrote: 99 Points
TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant): blind
I guessed Bordeaux, close to perfection, so fresh, pepper, dark cherries, black currant, vivid acidity, ripe firm tannins, at his peak. Fantastic length and precision. For me it outscored the La Turque same vintage narrowly. 99-100
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9/27/2020 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Sunday hangout (socially distanced) (Chicago, IL): Not as good as the first bottle of this I opened, but still definitely comfortably within the echelons of superlative wines. Initially a little stinky and funky, this blooms with air to show more and more intense smoky and meaty aromatics. The palate doesn't have the concentration and weight of the 1999 or even the 2004 we had alongside but there was an elegance to the red fruit and taut acids that were amply pleasing. A phenomenal wine beyond a shadow of a doubt.
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7/23/2020 - cfk49 wrote: 96 Points
Since this wine was delivered in 1991, I've gone through 15 bottles (including this one) from my cellar, of which about a half dozen have been corked and many of the rest just not showing the potential that was there early on. Much of that potential is now coming out in this bottle: the Chave perfume, the light but intense mouth with musky red fruits with cocoa overtones, the silky texture, the length, the subtlety. Alas, I know of no one (certainly including Chave) making wine like this today. This is the Kermit Lynch import. Cellared since original release.
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7/15/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Good structure. Firm but approachable. Significant damp dark soil signature.
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7/10/2020 - dcwino wrote:
A lost Friday afternoon gathering – COVID safety measures - Mostly Blind (Reston, Va): Having had a generous pour of the 02 La Tache, I can only guess Syrah. Very meaty, a hint of dry cherry, a hint of mint and cinnamon. Fully integrated palate. Drinking beautifully but I am just about done.
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7/10/2020 - rlove wrote: 96 Points
The 1989 Hermitage boasts a seductive, variegated nose that includes dark cherry, black olive purée, leather, grilled meat, and brown sugar. Perfectly balanced and integrated palate with a silky texture, bright acidity, and killer minerality. This is excellent, epic even, and I'd enjoy these sooner rather than later as the fruit is just starting to dessicate. Among Chave's best.
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6/30/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Sparkling bottle. Reaffirms my faith in this wine. Decades of growth ahead of this one.
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5/20/2020 - dcwino wrote: 98 Points
Second Zoom tasting – Chave Hermitage (Mi Casa): Intoxicating incredibly complex nose displaying mature red fruit, strawberry, a hint of dry cherry, black olive, grilled fatty steak, a hint of soy, leather, sous bois, brown sugar, anise, perfume, cinnamon and limestone. Fully integrated Burgundian palate, very finely layered mature red fruit, silky, precise and slightly lean, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a seamless long mature red fruit driven finish with perfume and tapenade at the end. This is an incredibly complex Chave hermitage that is drinking incredibly well.beautifully. Perhaps the best recent example.
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5/15/2020 - fatboi Likes this wine: 94 Points
A good bottle but not a great one. Had some brief moments of whoa factor on the nose. Olive tapenade, earth, some slight sous bois. Elegant and I dare say light. highly enjoyable just not an outstanding one.
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3/25/2020 - Verb Likes this wine: 97 Points
brick red, orange rim - beautiful nose of dried fruit, white flowers and complex leather - but the nose was overshadowed by the rich full mouth of perfectly balanced fruit, acid and tannin - very long 30-40 sec finish - enjoyed the wine alongside an 89 Rayas with smoked beef short ribs - the Hermitage shone by virtue of much better and tighter structure compared to the fruitier but more diffuse Rayas with significantly lower acidity
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2/2/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
This is in a great place today. Elegant, complex, full, refined, earthy, spicy, smoky and palate filling, the wine tastes and feels gorgeous. Every sniff and sip gets better and better for as long as the wine remains in your glass. This is a quintessential Chave Hermitage experience. If you have a bottle of this elixir in your cellar today and you have been waiting for the magic moment, your wait is over.
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1/7/2020 - BradE wrote:
Simply divine, and a Chave for the ages.
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12/19/2019 - dream Likes this wine: 98 Points
A youthful perfect bottle of this that is nevertheless mature now. Whatever it is about magic in a wine, this baby has it. It’s not the most concentrated or complex wine in the room but the silky fineness and purity are virtually unmatched and this was my wine of the night against many other amazing bottles tonight. There are dark red fruits along with flavors of coal dust and roasted game but the real secret of this wine is the slate minerality that glides this wine towards its incredibly uplifting finish. As John Gilman mentioned long ago, you can never have enough Chave in the cellar...and he was right! At byob game dinner at Daniel.
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12/10/2019 - Richard P Howden Likes this wine: 98 Points
Amazing in every dimension. Holding back a few points for comparison to other Rhônes that I lack.
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12/10/2019 - aagrawal wrote: 99 Points
Dinner with the wine group (Zazie, SF): Double decanted 8 hours. Absolutely intense olive, probably the most intense olive that I’ve ever smelled, black pepper, incredible depth, meaty; palate is light-medium bodied, elegant, really stellar medium-plus acidity, black fruits that seem almost young, gamey but just barely and not at all overwhelming, incredible balance; finish is long. This is absolutely stellar, one of the best northern Rhône wines that I’ve had, and honestly the most interesting thing is how drinkable it is for such a complex wine. Elegant, not brawny, but still powerful. 99
2 hours into dinner, this started to fade just a touch. Though it had a lot of air at this point given that it was double decanted in the morning. Fresh bottles could go for many more years to 1-2 more decades.
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12/9/2019 - alanr wrote: 94 Points
There's a bit of the signature Chave savory truffle on the nose, though with air it shows more distinctly as low level bandaid brett; lovely deep, medium rich dark red fruit, excellent well balanced acidity, some of the same savory character, showing some nice signs of development, though still very youthful with many good (or better!) years ahead. Wonderful wine.
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11/17/2019 - Nanda wrote: 98 Points
A Whole Lotta Chave Hermitage (Single Blind) (Chez Kailin): 83/88/89/90/Ringer Flight. Wow, stunning intense nose with meat spice, smoke, and mature dried black fruit. The palate is insanely delicious with ethereal fruit that is layered and complex. So savory with intensity and length. Delicious and at peak. I slightly preferred the 90 which was a touch more concentrated and lush. But this too is the pinnacle of Syrah. My #2, Group #2.
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11/16/2019 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
From Paris with Love, 2019 Edition; 11/15/2019-11/17/2019 (Paris (Le Voltaire, La Tour D'Argent & Epicure)): This requires its time to open up and develop and surprisingly this is less evolved and open than the 1997 ( Papies 95-96) we had a week or so.
The start is a bit tight and muted, pretty on the palate but just the nose is not giving. With an hour on the clock this opened up, showed lovely evolution, smoky, roast meat nose and dark fruits. Compared to other Chave’s this never reached its full stride in the time we had but still this was a solid 96 from us and a superb wine. Decant pls. Lots of. Life in this
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10/25/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 96 Points
Consistent with previous note. So ethereal and burgundian. Light on its feet. Flowers, herbs, spice, dried meat and perfume.
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10/22/2019 - Chainthroer wrote: 96 Points
My 5th time to taste this wine. Powerful and deep fruit flavors - pepper, cigar box, smoke, coffee (expresso), saddle leather, bacon fat, as well as roasted game, herbs and spice. Love this wine - glad I have more. No rush to consume - has years left.
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8/22/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 95 Points
Ultra elegant and silky with green olive, herbs, tea, brown spice and soft black fruit. The underlying substance slowly melted my palate. Amazingly transperent. 95+
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8/16/2019 - Marc wrote: 95 Points
Grand Designs Reveal Week - Dinner #3 (Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Stunning, mature Hermitage that showed considerable farmyard character. Goregous focus, with a still-tight, lean purity of fruit expression. Impressive for its tannic backbone. This is all animal, leather, cow-pat and black berries. Beautiful complexity. Next to the even more focused 1999, this was (for me) the better match with a Lamb Loin dish with a macadamia nut oil reduction. While at a developed plateau of maturity, this will continue to evolve for a decade or two into the future. Whether it improves will be a different story, but it will certainly develop and always be a wine of extreme interest.
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6/14/2019 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Great nose of root vegetables, leather, spice, smoked meats and red fruits. Full and silky in the mouth with an underpinning line of minerally acidity. Good flesh. Plenty of savoury nuance. Long and engaging. In a lovely place.
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6/12/2019 - alanr wrote: 93 Points
Lovely, clean medium cherry fruit, great balance, still some present tannins, subtly complex, pure and delicious.
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5/17/2019 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Expressive dark fruit and soil tones on this bottle. Dark spice notes.
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5/13/2019 - retired_and_roving wrote:
Rhone Dinner (Bobo): Tried this very late in the dinner, so no detailed notes but my impression was very positive. A lovely fully mature wine that was really a pleasure to drink. Wish I had gotten to savor and appreciate this over a few hours.
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5/11/2019 - Jinandy wrote: 98 Points
Opened with massive Brett. Lot of bandaid odor but with an hour opened up to turned earth, smoke, bay leaves, and bright red fruit. Like the finest silk, red fruit lingers in the mouth with bright acid that lifts everything beautifully. Definitely doesn’t drink like a 30 year old wine. For me this was the optimal time for drinking. Everything in its place and perfectly balanced. Heart breaking wine
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4/27/2019 - fclarity wrote: 95 Points
Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red/purple center and light red rims. The medium nose was a bit tight at first (despite a couple hours of air) and it slowly developed more intensity. It showed cherries, tan spices, plums, and minerals.
In the mouth, this wine was well balanced but had a lot of flavor and big bodied. It displayed good richness, notable rounded tannin, and very good length.
This is still a bit tight and needs at least 5 hours of decanter time to show its best. It appears to be a bit more burly than its 1990 counterpart. This seems likely to improve over the next 10 years and will easily last 10 years after that. Enjoy now if you like with extended air.
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4/6/2019 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Acker April Auction 2019 (sad day) (Marea): Good sweetness and depth. 93
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3/29/2019 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Lost Friday afternoon gathering – Chave, Krug, Churchill, Trimbach, Mugnier and etc. (Black Salt, Washington DC): Expressive youthful yet complex nose displaying classic Chave nose, sweet red fruit, cherry, strawberry, cherry liqueur, strong mint, garrigue, tapenade, cinnamon, rare steak, ash and limestone. Beautifully integrated palate, very finely layered exquisite red fruit, silky and fluid, perfect amount of acidity and strong mineral, and a long seamless red fruit driven finish with garrigue and tapenade at the end. Excellent showing.
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3/25/2019 - salil wrote: flawed
Chave and cassoulet: Corked. Waaaaah.
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3/25/2019 - acyso wrote: flawed
The King in the North! (Chicago, IL): Corked.
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3/24/2019 - MC wrote:
Popped cork and let it sit in the bottle after a taste. Mature in color and on the nose. After an hour we poured out and enjoyed over the next hour. Dark fruit, earth, leather, game, and perhaps a bit of caramel on the nose. Dark fruit and a long finish on the palate with the tannins fully resolved and in the background. Wonderful Hermitage that at times falls just short of the great '90 for me, but this is great wine, and perfect with duck last night. A-/A
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3/10/2019 - acyso wrote: 98 Points
Rhone, lots of it (Chicago, IL): My expectations for this bottle were high, and they were met, but this didn't have the profile that I thought it would have. The nose had insane amounts of blood and iron, and a very elegant red-fruited quality -- a far cry from the burlier, blacker wine that I was expecting. The palate is lithe, with ample acids, some red fruit, and lots more of those iron and blood tones. It's quintessential Rhone, but also a bit different from the heftier modern incarnations of this wine. I'm not mad about that.
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2/13/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
The best of this I have ever tasted showed loads of sweet, fresh, red fruits, herbs, pepper, olives and the essence of rocks and stones. Concentrated, full and with depth, but also refined, long and quite expressive on the nose and palate. This is probably at full maturity. While there is no hurry to drink it, there is no need or reason to age it any longer.
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2/3/2019 - jgh123 wrote: 95 Points
Cassoulet dinner with '88, '89 & '98 Chave Hermitage. The '88 was fully evolved, the '98 was delicious but still developing and this one was spot on. Just delicious. Drink now and over the next 10 years.
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1/30/2019 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage vertical (Singapore): Ripe and meaty as well just like the 1990. Aromatically deeper tonight with extra notes of pepper, spices and undergrowth. Great wine, 1989 are long distance runners and after 30 years still go strong as the 1990ies seem to have past their peaks.
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10/5/2018 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 97 Points
If not for the 82 Latour, this would have been the clear wine of the night. I'm not sure I've ever had a better bottle of Chave Hermitage. With the initial sniff after opening the bottle, I could tell that this was going to be a special bottle. There was so much pure dark fruit, smoke, white pepper, fresh flowers, and smoked meat. And the palate was powerful, sweet, and layered. A long finish with perfectly balanced acidity. Northern Rhône doesn't get much better than this.
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10/5/2018 - sdr Likes this wine: 98 Points
DrinkBordeaux’s bottle. I drink very little Rhône so I may have had this many years ago but do not remember. If it tasted like this bottle, I would have bought and drunk many more, since it’s simply incredible. As soon as you approach the glass you think maybe you have wandered into one of the Southern California wild fires, it’s that smoky. Not just any smoke but a woodsmoke of dry and wet forest wood. Maybe bolstered with a bit of that famous frying bacon. Fabulous on the palate too, somehow both rustic and sensuous. Great acids and tannin round out the experiment. Compelling stuff at the peak of its power.
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9/28/2018 - SimonG wrote: 95 Points
Northern Rhône WIMPS, (La Trompette, London): Lovely nose. Bloody, meaty, dark red fruited, crushed raspberries. Fresh, long, super. Just lovely. *****
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8/17/2018 - dcwino wrote: 93 Points
Lost Friday afternoon gathering – Jamet, Grange des Peres, Raveneau, Chave, Pignan and etc. (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Youthful nose displaying subtle slightly dry red fruit, dry cherry, cherry liqueur, raspberry, rare charred steak, tapenade, leather, garriigue, wild flowers and limestone mineral. There is a slight hint of brett which is a shame. Fully resolved palate, finely layered red fruit, silky and polished, good acidity and mineral and a medium subtle red fruit driven finish with a hint of brett and cinnamon at the end.
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8/17/2018 - pakabear Likes this wine: 93 Points
Lost Friday Lunch with friends (Eddie V's): Drinking well if you get the first pours away from the massive sediment. Loads of red fruit, cinnamon, clove, rose petals, chalky soil. Great balance and a treat to try.
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7/8/2018 - robferguson1 wrote: 90 Points
This was a bit tired , ok but should have been drunk sooner
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7/4/2018 - cfk49 wrote: flawed
One of a series of corked Chave Hermitage 1989s that I've had. Cellared since original release. Kermit Lynch Import.
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6/10/2018 - clayfu wrote:
Pulling a Kevin Shin - a full day of fine wines over leisurely meals; 6/8/2018-6/11/2018 (Southern California): mind blowing good. Similar to a bottle I had last year. Electric acidity and fruit courses through the mid palate. The roast meat adds to the complexity. There is power and concentration in spades. There’s this funk edge that climbs up the nose mixed with pure big sweet red fruit and cool mint that ties it all together. WOTN among heavy weights. When the bottles are right they are prime examples of Hermitage.
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6/7/2018 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
World's Greatest, Hong Kong - Night I (Bo Innovation): This does not match the aromatic expression or beauty of the ‘90. Coaxing yields more of the clay and acrylics character, but this doesn’t reach the smoked meat and floral levels. Palate is rich, dense, and intense. Good drinking but not sensational, especially given the very difficult context.
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5/31/2018 - clayfu wrote:
good but not great. Slightly brown sugared on the nose. Palate had that bite of crunchy red chave fruit and great depth but didn’t have the freshness and length of prior bottles. Better than the 88 from last week tho!
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5/16/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Auction & Commanderie des Costes du Rhone (Zuma & Racines): Interesting to try this next to the '96. This is the Chave I remember. Just an animal in a glass. Olive and brine. Well balanced and drinking very nicely right now. Enjoyed.
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4/15/2018 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
A lazy Sunday afternoon Chave lunch (The Grill Room at the Rosewood DC): A very well stored youthful example. Perfectly mature beautifully perfumed nose displaying concentrated sweet red fruit, raspberry, strawberry jam, a hint of cherry liqueur, a hint of blackberry, charred steak and blood, garrique, wild flowers, perfume, tapenade and limestone. Perfectly integrated palate, nicely layered sweet red fruit, silky and polished, excellent detail, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral and a long sweet slightly dry red fruit and charred steak driven finish. Drinking at the peak, perhaps the best example of the 89 Chave of my life. The slightly prefer the 05 and the 10 for greater concentration while retaining the same level of balance, detail and freshness
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3/23/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Dinner with Jean-Louis Chave (Gwen - Loa Angeles CA): Corked.
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3/8/2018 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Wonderful wine. Still fresh with vibrant acidity. Supremely elegant, even a touch reticent still. Not as full as a recent ‘90. I think based on acidity and freshness these will hold for years but don’t wait too long (more than 10 years).
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12/17/2017 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful ripe red fruits with great depth and intensity along with lots of fresh, tangy acids. Finishes with more red than black spices with notes of smoked game and minerals. Still on the upswing! 95+
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12/1/2017 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 97 Points
medium red, lightening and taking on a slight brick hue.
gorgeous dark spice and ripe red berries. liquorice, tar, graphite, crushed herbs, some violet florals.
Very smooth but with poised intensity. Red mostly but certainly some dark berries in there, refined dark spice, hints of liquorice and tar but not dominating. Perfectly balanced fruit and spice, mature but not at all old. acid and tannins are well judged and suggest this will last a lot longer.
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10/22/2017 - aChave Likes this wine: 96 Points
Surprisingly firm and tight on opening. Needed 90 minutes in decanter to begin opening (this was in the cellar, so was somewhat chilly). After 2 hours emerged as an integrated, smooth, supremely beautiful wine, with prominent fruit yet subtle flavours. Easy to drink; easy to appreciate. Some meatiness, but the subtlety and depth dominated.
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10/18/2017 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 96 Points
Consistent with my last bottle a few months - although this had slightly less meatiness and a touch more smoke/ash. Still a lot more funk here (my preferred style) than the younger and more pure 1995 enjoyed alongside.
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10/11/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: 93 Points
Quite reserved for this wine. Must be upside to bottles such as this but may require at least a few years. Emerging spice on nose with shy red cherry and soil notes. Contained palate that should break out at some point. Discernable differences between subtle bottling differences here. 93+
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9/22/2017 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still young with an incredible complex nose of red fruits, cedar, leather and spice.
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8/3/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Perfect bottle, fresh and clean. Pure dark red fruit with black cherry and black raspberry. High energy acid surrounded by clove, cardamom and cinnamon, woodsmoke, and soil tones. This bottle would have had a long life ahead of it. 95-96+
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7/28/2017 - rlove wrote: 93 Points
On first pop this is surprisingly refined and elegant, with sweet berry notes in a rather Burgundian, lightweight package. With time & air, however, the '89 takes on weight and shows an appealing mix of dark berry, roast meat, and black pepper notes. The palate is savory and framed by killer acidity. Tonight the 1989 wasn't the epic wine I had hoped but was still very good indeed.
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7/8/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Initially more angular and earthy than this wine can be, this bottle opened up with air time. A much more organic expression vs the 90/91.
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6/12/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Dinner with Erin Chave (RPM Steak - Chicago IL): Ripe black fruit aromas with intense spice, both sweet and savory. Very alluring nose, then similar flavors that are wonderful even if slightly less enticing. Nicely mature. Probably right at its peak, but I expect this will easily drink well another 5 years, probably longer.
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5/28/2017 - t-sama Likes this wine: 96 Points
Incredible! Decanted for for two hours and would have been better with six. Ripe fruit, minerals, tobacco and leather (my flavor descriptions don't do this wine justice). This will get better and last for decades. Wife gave it a 99. Watch out for bottle variation. We've had corked/flawed bottles.
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5/23/2017 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 95 Points
Loved this wine (more than my score suggests). Black cherry, char, iron... but also a savoury meatiness lending such character. Great mouthfeel too. I could have drunk this all evening. Technically slightly lower than the 1989 La Turque drunk alongside - but I would rather this in my glass. At peak, but will hold a decade or more. 95pts
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5/21/2017 - T.E.D. wrote: 95 Points
Consumed out of magnum. Color showing some age with light bricking. Nose was pointy, with dominant dusty berry, dried wood, beef jerky and dried cranberry. Palate was a bastion of drybaged steak, fatty meat, hints of barn and truffle. Touches of tartare. Excellent and intact. Loved this one.
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5/20/2017 - MAOC wrote:
Double decanted 2-3 hours before drinking. Quite similar to the bottle in January though with a lovely exotic lift which I really liked. Riper raspberry and cherry with a rich date note, some leather but especially some slightly BBQ meatiness and darker earthy hints developing. Didn't hold quite as well in three glass over hours as the 88 but a really good showing ****1/2-*****
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5/4/2017 - The Vines That Bind wrote:
Rare Northern Rhone Dinner (Tocqueville): This is darker and more intense than the '90. More rhubarb and blackberry, less meat and florals. Surprisingly shut down. This could actually be a little off. Certainly not in line with that past review, which now feels excessive.
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3/31/2017 - Charlie Carnes Likes this wine:
So Frank Murray III comes to Winter Haven and asks for a Cote Rotie. I find the box in my disheveled cellar and there sitting in the box is this 1989 Chave along with a 1998 La Turque that I was aiming for. Somehow, the well connected FMIII, minutes later, is on the phone with Frenchie himself and after some back and forth, gets a verbal OK to drink the Hermitage... I am not a huge "bacon fat" descriptor guy, but this wine reeked of some form of the most sophisticated bacon fat aromas and perceptions that I have ever experienced. The wine, after the initial barrage of bacon and spice aromas, exploded, and all at once calmed into a perfect wine. It was nearing limpid red/orange in color, with barely Autumnal colors on the edges. The mouth started with bright and fresh red fruit tied to a top fueled dragster, with all of the aromas of a top fuel dragster running on bacon grease would offer, then it settled into a 30 year old fresh as hell Hermitage with strawberries and soil and spice and it never gave up. I believe this is still on its upward slope on the maturity curve. Perfect!
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1/27/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: flawed
Subtly corked but apparent Chave character on the nose for the first 15 minutes in the glass.
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1/19/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lacked the definition and acid on the finish that the freshest bottles have.
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1/12/2017 - MAOC wrote:
Initially quite a structured profile of mainly red fruit (darker red berry, light blackcurrant, rasberry notes) with a just-easing firmness to it. Served blind I guessed a good 90s Cote Rotie. As the wine opened it also showed attractive leather and charred meat - early signs of earthy softening, but still not quite heading in that direction. Showed really nicely but has at least 10 years left at peak. ****1/2
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1/7/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Showing better than ever. Purity of fruit, iron, tobacco and sweet red fruits are all over the place. The wine feels silky, soft and polished. There is a great richness and purity of fruit in the fresh, red berry finish.
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12/9/2016 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine: 93 Points
At Acker's Hermitage tasting (Cafe Tallulah, Upper West Side).
Raisin and eucalyptus nose. Green stemmed fruit. Shortened finish but nice and very elegant.
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11/17/2016 - clayfu wrote:
Holy smokes this wine was incredible. Smokey black meaty fruit on the nose with black pepper all over the place, absolutely intoxicating. Then the palate was that perfect combination of focused yet full of flavor and just bursting at the seams. Still incredibly youthful but picking up that blend of dark fruit and earth mixed in with that cooling acid is so alluring.
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9/9/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 96 Points
Pre-Auction Dinner (Morini): Spectacular nose of rose petals and barbecue pit. Savory, peppery, smoky, just mouthwatering aromas. Big currant and blackberry in the palate. More smoke throughout. Robust and savory but also very pretty. This absolutely slays everything else in the flight. A moving glass of wine, wow. Making a strong case for wine of the night out of a very impressive line up including a flight of '99 GC Burgundies.
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9/9/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dark fruit with truffle and earth tones. Rich but very focused. Precise acid and a wonderful finish. More to come from this wine. 96+
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8/25/2016 - fcxj wrote: 86 Points
Northern Rhone blind dinner. Quite deep purple still. Aromatically a touch plastic with black fruit. Mid-weight, but very long towards alcoholic and slightly unbalanced. Ranked last and 1995 Chave did not score highly either. My second experience with this wine and neither impressed...
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8/4/2016 - justburg wrote: 89 Points
Rhone night at Nicolas. Deep red, touch of bricking at the rim. This was very similar to the 1983 served in the same flight, with more intensity, length and complexity. Very attractive nose of crushed violets, incense, smoke, roasted meats and blueberries. Again, I couldn't get the same enjoyment on the palate. I felt the wine lacked some acidity (maybe I'm just too used to Burgundies) and appeared a little clumsy. There was some good black and blue fruit, smoke, tar, wood and old leather on the palate, but nothing really exciting.
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7/19/2016 - BradE wrote:
Always one of my favorites. Killer nose, beautiful wine. Love it.
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7/8/2016 - reichken wrote: 95 Points
really in a great spot, fruit still dark cherries and the wine also has that great meaty army smokey chave nose and flavor. still on the upswing . great bottle
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6/25/2016 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
mmmm is 89 better than 90, 90 better than 89....i don't really know, its great to see taste how these two are still improving and either could be best on the table on any given night
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4/10/2016 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 98 Points
Ruby red with a lightly tawny hue, medium to light colour depth.
Intense fragrance, earthy raspberries and blackberries, crushed wild herbs, strong damson, violets, tar and licorice. Smooth and delicate yet deep.
Silky, very smooth, beautiful structure, with a gentle cleansing acidity and very fine tannins. Raspberries and blackcurrant, dark tar spice, earthy forest-floor, a lovely blend of fruit and spice with both delicate yet intense flavours. Stunning wine, drinking perfectly.
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3/1/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Elegant and integrated. Spice notes are pervasive but not primary. A lot of rocks and earth with dried mushroom and black truffle highlights. Does not show the same flamboyance as the '90 at this point but is a more balanced and poised wine.
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1/23/2016 - t-sama wrote:
Not sure what to think. Bottle in my cellar (60 degrees) since release. Barnyardy and almost stewed. Cork was wet 3/4 up. All that blew off after an hour, but still nothing special. Thin, flat and uneventful. A real letdown. Will reserve judgment and open another bottle. If tasted blind it would have been low 80's.
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1/21/2016 - AtoZ wrote:
Excellent. Fully ready. Better without food. Wouldn't pay what it goes for.
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12/9/2015 - cfk49 wrote: 90 Points
Cellared since release. Kermit Lynch import. Consistent with my prior experiences with this wine over the past 25 years -- a good bottle but not a great one -- the 1988 is much superior, as was the 1983 that I drank in the past year. Chave perfume, light body, pleasant, but no real depth. Fully mature.
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8/21/2015 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 99 Points
What a great btl of wine, rustic, forestry, mushrooms, exotic and long finish. With lamb chops. Decanted 2 hrs. Blended harmony of flavors, meaty.
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8/19/2015 - JeffGMorris Likes this wine: 95 Points
Anniversary celebration at Fearrington. Given 1 hour of decanting time. Dark ruby in the glass. Classic Chave minerality and black olives but still tight despite the decanting time. With time in the glass, this opened up. A great wine that has at least another 10-15 years of great drinking for well stored bottles. 50+13.5+13.5+9+9=95
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8/12/2015 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Out of magnum. A beautiful, elegant, silky vintage with lovely red fruit flavors along with classic notes of smoky minerals, char and spice. Just a hint of dryness on the finish kept it from competing ith the best wines tonight in my opinion.
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8/11/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
From magnum. Tingly spice and an umami stickiness to the nose. Dry leaves, dried porcini, blackberry, red and black plum. Overall a sweeter nose than the '90. Slight heat and harshness to the back of the nose. The palate has red plum and red cherry with a tartness that contrast the sweetness of the nose. One can almost detect ripe cranberry and tart red raspberry. A long finish with spice, dark fruit and pepper. A solid performance for this wine and while I found the '90 to be better overall, on this evening the '89 was a much more elegant wine.
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7/28/2015 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Northern Rhone Night (Boca, Bukit Pasoh, Singapore): A bit of a pity – I thought there was just a slightest hint of TCA on the nose, with some wet cardboard notes starting to appear. That aside, it had a lovely, almost Burgundian bouquet of blueberries, dark cherries and little layers of earth and stone, with spice and garrigue and just that wild floral shade at the very edges that pulled one back to the Rhone. The palate still really, really shone though. Rich, layered and complex, yet beautifully fine and focused, with superbly cut and precise flavours of black cherries and dark berries laced with earth and stone. On the finish, a beautiful embrace of spice and flowers then wrapped around the back palate in a long, compelling end. The purest of all the wines we on the night, this had the typical elegance and transparency of a great Chave wed to the lovely warmth and generosity of the vintage. A beautiful wine, and one that probably still needs many years more in the bottle before it reaches its peak. I could not help wondering whether it could have been so much more if not for that faint haunting streak of TCA though.
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4/23/2015 - jhngo Likes this wine: 98 Points
blood iron!
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12/9/2014 - CamWheeler wrote: 95 Points
Raid Len's Cellar #3: Olive, meaty, spice, smoke and cherry aromas - plenty of interest to it. The texture is fantastic on the palate, I really adore the flavour profile and the balance is excellent. Super length and depth. Good bottles of this are drinking well but will continue on well into the future.
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12/1/2014 - fcxj wrote: 90 Points
Lost to 1990 Cailloux
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11/20/2014 - coremill wrote: 88 Points
Chave Dinner (Le Perigord): There's brett here. Not enough so that the wine is undrinkable, but enough so that it doesn't really show any fruit. Instead there's a lot of funky soil and earth and leather and herbs and spice. In the mouth it's quite savory and spicy and funky, and not bad in its own way, but nothing I would personally seek out.
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11/12/2014 - Blair Curtis Likes this wine: 94 Points
A generous wine friend shared this with me in Seattle. The nose was roaring right from the time the cork was pulled. A very site-specific nose...you know what this is just from the smell. Great typicity - olives, meat blood, some porcini mushroom, and moist earth. Oh and more than enough fruit alongside all that. Plus pepper...always some, but at times quite a bit - nice! As the wine sat in the glass, some pleasant medicinal elements showed - a bit of cherry cough drop, and also some fresh band-aid traits. The palate of the wine shifted over the course of the evening, going from wide open at the outset to gradually tighter and more tannic. The wine was never terribly tannic, but the structural elements did emerge over a couple hours. This may be at its peak (not sure how much better it can get), but I expect this wine will remain on this plateau for many years to come...10+ I'd guess.
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10/31/2014 - Hodby wrote: 98 Points
Dark red, slightly garnet-edged. Simply the greatest bottle of Hermitage I've ever had. The nose is complex and powerful and evolving every ten minutes. The power and texture and release in the mouth is astounding, balanced and huge. The finish may be the best part. We used three different glasses each to drink the wine over three hours, and each emptied vessel carries stunning aromatics. Worth the wait. Bottle #2 of three.
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10/21/2014 - reichken wrote: 96 Points
Deep dark color, meaty smokey nose but still some dark fruit, well balanced, unfolds lots of flavors. Long finish.last sip the best sip so imagine this still developing.
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8/24/2014 - mwanasheria Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is also right there, the 1989 Rhône all seem to be in a very good spot right now and I should really be going after them. Velvet tannins, dark fruit, forest floor, tobacco. Great.
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8/16/2014 - JeffGMorris Likes this wine: 94 Points
Anniversary weekend at Fearrington with Alan & Lehna. Another excellent bottle of this classic. Bright ruby in the glass, this bottle was showing the earthy side of Chave with wonderful stones and minerality but less fruit than previous bottles. 50+14+13+8.5+8.5=94
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8/10/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
Chave Hermitage Dinner with Erin & Jean-Louis Chave (MK Restaurant - Chicago IL): From magnum. At its peak now, this was the best wine tonight, even if not the best wine for long-term potential. Ripe black berry aromas with plenty of spice and liqueur hints, followed by black berry and cherry flavors. Perhaps less complexity than some other vintages, but compensated by its great yum factor. WOTN for many, but I slightly preferred the 1998.
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8/10/2014 - KenK Likes this wine: 96 Points
From Magnum, this was stunning and blew away over a dozen other vintages this night. This is why we collect and age wines. Dark rich zippy black cherry flavors with wonderful classic old world Syrah character. Tons of spice and nuance in a sleek slightly rustic package. Drinking beautifully on this magical evening with Jean-Louis himself. Thank you George.
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5/22/2014 - Topper wrote: 95 Points
Nothing much more to say about this wine that hasn't been said in other notes. Consider yourself lucky to have it or taste it. Stood up tall with the others in a flight that had 89 Bonneau Celestins and 89 Haut Brion. Three complete winners.
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4/25/2014 - MC wrote:
Popped and poured. Cork stained close to the top. Showed well, with solid fruit, leather, game. Nice wine, and very good with food. Just a bit short on the finish of great for me, but very good. A-
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3/8/2014 - bill00 wrote: 97 Points
Beautifully complex aromatics of bloody meat, violets, mesquite, olive and thyme. Stony minerality. Palate is stunning - unbelievably silky, balanced and elegant. This is drinking so well - secondary aromatics, smooth and mature but still full of life. Amazing wine.
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3/5/2014 - BradE wrote:
Another virtually perfect bottle of 89 Chave. When this wine is on, its unbelievably good, and tonight it was on.
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1/10/2014 - pbaek wrote:
This bottle was in pristine condition. Absolutely terrific, complete wine. Light red color, light on its feet, everything you'd want from a Chave that's just hit the spot of early maturity. I think we all felt very fortunate being able to taste this wine. Asher declared this his wine of the year already. At Bruno Loubet in London with Asher, Nicos, Ian and Maureen.
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12/31/2013 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 97 Points
Deep red core, translucent rim.
Red berries, earthy spice, soft licorice and tar, wild herbs.
Good wt, but silky from start to finish. Opened up after airing to show huge depth of flavour, plums and redcurrants, cedar, hint of tobacco leaf, licorice, graphite, blue ink. An earthy undercurrent suggesting age but still a fruit-driven gorgeous drink. Very special and with still years ahead.
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12/30/2013 - BradE wrote:
I've always loved 89 Chave, and this bottle was stunning. It held its own after an 88 La Turque, which is a very hard act to follow. Simply gorgeous, from first sip to last.
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12/25/2013 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
A nose to die for with fabulous charcoal, charred wood, baconfat and smoke that I couldn't stop smelling. On the palate the wine was a bit angular with firm acidity at first but with air it started to show wonderful flavors of roasted meat, bitter chocolate, charcoal, black spices and woodsmoke. Harmonious and complex on the finish with a hint of black truffles and more smoke. Real finesse and elegance in this great vintage of Chave Hermitage that is close to full maturity.
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11/22/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Sometime's you get lucky with older bottles. This was probably the best example of 1989 Chave I have ever tasted. With about 90 minutes of decanting, the perfume exploded with earth, wild cherries, spice, pepper, herbs, pepper and stone. Full bodied rich, intense, fresh, balanced and long, everything was exacatly where it was supposed to be. Clearly, this was in the perfect place.
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11/21/2013 - salil wrote: 96 Points
Bottle of Pain dinner (Ibiza, New Haven, CT): Phenomenal. This is everything I expect from mature Chave, incredibly elegant, polished and perfumed with layers of hickory smoke, meat, olives, red fruits and savoury brothy notes all coming together on the nose and palate. Absolutely seamless, a wine that's about intensity and power yet conveyed with a remarkable lightness of touch. Wow.
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8/31/2013 - fclarity wrote: 93 Points
Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red center and red/orange rims. The high- intensity nose of Rhubarb, cherry, sandalwood, and Provencal herbs did not come across as obviously syrah.
The mouth was also more refined than I expected with a medium body, light rounded tannin, and nice acidity.
My sense is that, while this wine has entered its drinking window, it will continue to improve to some degree with bottle age. Did it get enough air?
A nice treat from Mike.
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8/21/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
This is not the majestic 1990 Chave. But at half the price, and considering it's almost as good, if you're seeking a Chave with bottle age, this is wine to buy. With its sauvage, blackberry, cherry, earthy, leafy, peppery, fresh herb filled nose, each sip of this concentrated wine gets better and better in the glass. Combining power and grace, this is still young and fresh, but there is no reason not to pull a cork at this stage.
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8/21/2013 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
Still dark color, deep dark black and red cherries on the nose covered in earth,full mouth and long finish. The 89 and 90 is a great set of bookend Rhones, I really do like Chave's 89's. this wine has a good long life ahead of it
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7/17/2013 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
RJ’s wine dinner – random wines – Krug, Salon, Leroy, Truchot, Dujac, La Turque, Chave, SQN and etc. (Mon Ami Gabi - Reston, VA): There were varying opinions regarding the maturity. I personally thought this was a fully matured classic Chave but others thought still young. Delicate sweet fruits, bright red fruits, cherry, beef blood, mint, white pepper and garrigue. Medium concentration, silky, sweet, bright acidity and nicely integrated tannins. I find the matured Chave to be very Burgundian and this is no exception. It was a lovely wine that was the La Turque.
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6/22/2013 - CamWheeler wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at Tetsuya's: Smoky and meaty aromas with black cherry and dark florals. The palate is right up my alley, it is wonderfully savoury with an overlay of powerful and expressive fruit with super texture. Right in the slot for drinking, but obviously still plenty of time left. Fantastic.
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4/19/2013 - PeterH Likes this wine: 95 Points
Great wine. At first, the smell beat the taste. Took about 1/2 hour for the wine to really open up. Acidity dropped, secondary fruit flavors came forward. Great wine. Drink now or for many years to come.
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3/22/2013 - Chainthroer wrote: 97 Points
The body appears to be a medium reddish-ruby color; some bricking; a yellowish-brown rim. Immediately upon pulling the cork, there is a knock-out fragrance. And, as when previously tasted on multiple occasions, it has highly complex aromas and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, fresh saddle leather, bacon fat, soy, smoke, violets, a touch of roasted game, herbs and spices. The whole ball of wax one would desire in a red Hermitage. Big, rich, intense and full bodied. Great structure and balance. A long and expressive finish. This wine has been stored at 56 degrees and had a miniscule ullage; no cork deterioration. Extraordinary wine!
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3/3/2013 - MC wrote:
Slighly lower fill than remaining bottles, with cork stained up about 3/4 the way. This was showing off right out of the bottle. Great nose of leather, game, and dark fruit. Lighter in color and on the palate than I would have expected (and vs. the '89 Chapoutier Pavillon), but really enjoyed it and it was perfect with food. A-/A
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2/18/2013 - BradE wrote:
A touch of bottle funk, but drank well and paired nicely with a 99.
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2/12/2013 - Rupert wrote:
A mature mixture over lunch (Chez Bruce, Wandsworth, London): This too was youthful and grand. Absolute refinement. Majestic.
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12/25/2012 - Chainthroer wrote: 97 Points
I’ve tasted this wine approximately six or seven times and it keeps getting better. This time I get a more developed color: a medium reddish-ruby color; bricking apparent. Yellowish-browning at the rim. A perfume-like fragrance on the nose, with highly complex aromas and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, bacon fat (not overwhelming, but just right), violets, soy, olive, tar, herbs and spices.. Big, rich, velvety and smooth in the mouth. Just about perfect structure and balance. A long and lingering leather and bacon fat finish. Pairs very well with Christmas Turkey and all the trimmings. But, it is a wine to mostly appreciate by itself. The wine is getting close to the middle of its development plateau; should last for years. Monumental stuff and my kind of wine!
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12/22/2012 - JeffGMorris wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at Bourbon House, New Orleans. Dark ruby in color, this would have probably benifitted from an hour of decanting time. With time in the glass the wine opened to a smooth, rich and refined wine with well resolved tannins. Raspberries and minerals dominate this well structured wine. This tastes like the peak is still 5-10 years off but it continues to be such a compelling wine that it is hard to not open these now. 50+13+14.5+9.5+9=96
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12/20/2012 - gblacave wrote: 95 Points
This is showing stunningly right now. Well integrated dark berry notes, a touch of smoked meat, cherry, florals and an abundance of spice. A very smooth palate throughout, sweetness of fruit and resolved tannins with a good bracing acidity. This is in a sweet spot right now, but it has all the elements to continue evolving for some time.
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12/20/2012 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
DC shindig at Domaine wine storage – Arnoux RSV, 10 Raveneau, Chave, Rayas, Futo, Jadot 150 (Domaine Wine Storage - Washington D.C.): Wonderfully matured yet with plenty of red fruits. Cherry, garrique, beef blood, flower and spice. The palate is very Burgundian, clean, sweet, bright acidity and tannins hinting as the end note. Drinking beautifully and very “Chave”.
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10/29/2012 - dream wrote: 95 Points
This was a fantastic bottle of this wine which can be very variable. The nose is incredible with notes of baconfat, black cherries and char. On the palate it has the texture of a Burgundy with wonderful mature syrah flavors of black pepper, baconfat, charred meats and forest floor. Finishes so complex and smooth. It takes a while for Chave's Hermitage to come around but when it does, it delivers a unique experience. Wow!
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10/19/2012 - alittle wrote: 98 Points
Dinner at Crush Wine Bar (Crush Wine Bar, Toronto, ON): Popped and poured, following over the next couple hours. Deep garnet in the glass, and more transparent than the Clos des Epeneaux served along side it. A touch of brick is present at the rim. Right from the test pour, I knew this was rocking. The nose burst out of the glass with a perfume of red fruits, a touch of blackberry, campfire, black olive brine, crushed rocks, underbrush, fresh cut grass, earth, cured game and with time, developing some exotic spice notes, subtle coffee undertones and a healthy serving of that illustrious ball sweat. On the palate, this was totally seamless, showing some moderate acidity, and some very light silky tannin on the long finish framed with red fruit, mineral, olive, smoke and underbrush notes. In the mouth, this showed extreme elegance, especially next to the more brute and rustic Burgundy. I was absolutely enamoured with this wine, and could not wipe the stupid grin off my face all night. For my tastes, this is good to go now, although, I would expect this to hold on for many years.
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10/1/2012 - Squirrelled wrote: 94 Points
Deep, dark, opaque red with lots of blackberries and very ripe blueberry on the nose. A meaty and chewy mouthfeel with loads of texture and enormous tannic structure. Plenty of acidity here too, and this wine should improve quite a bit over the next 10 years.
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9/30/2012 - jepres wrote:
great
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9/7/2012 - AllRed wrote: 91 Points
Friday Night Brown Bagger (Rich & Dana's): Dusty crimson core, light bricking; quite a bit of fine sediment. Aromas of eathy red fruit- cranberry and cherry, with barnyard and herbal overtones. Balanced, with red fruit, roasted game and herb flavors and a long finish. Guessed Hermitage. Began to tire in the glass, developing a sour edge. Nowhere near as compelling as a bottle tasted a few years ago.
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6/28/2012 - tarheel17 wrote: 95 Points
STG does Syrah: nose: fancy rootbeer, smoky essence
palate: perfectly balanced acid with velvety tannin and a dusty, mineral finish. I loved this. I wish all wines smelled like it did.
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6/14/2012 - JeffGMorris wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at Chef And The Farmer. Very dark ruby upon pouring. Medium plus body and very earthy at first with great minerality. With time in the glass the cherry and red berry fruit starts to explode. Nice acidity on a finish that lasts for minutes. A classic Chave that continues to drink extremely well. 50+14+14+9+9=96
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5/28/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
From magnum. Decanted and drank over 4hours. Very young and has a long life ahead. Deep, dark and meaty nose of iron, black fruits, and smoke. Full body and the palate matched the nose. Did not have the depth nor the structure of the 1990. Long finish with plenty of grip.
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5/6/2012 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
deep dark color, nose of blood and purple/black fruits. full in the mouth, meaty, intense, well balanced and long. a wine that is still getting better and better
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4/28/2012 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
Still deep in color. Blue black fruits on the nose with a nice meaty bretty Full on the mouth. Still drinking youngish but moving to savory. Very long. Good meat wine
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3/30/2012 - Chainthroer wrote: 96 Points
Similar to my observations about 9 months ago. Deep, deep dark garnet body; a touch of yellowing on the rim; bricking development. A sensational and fragrant nose of blackberry, black cherry, fresh saddle leather, bacon fat, soy, tar, violets. herbs. Just about every thing you would want in Hermitage aromas and flavors. Big, rich and succulent in the mouth. An extended leather and bacon fat finish. I did not get the heat I observed last time. Exceptional wine. Pairs OK with a Prime Porterhouse steak, but the wine is more appreciable by itself. A great Friday evening!
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2/20/2012 - cellarid wrote: 95 Points
Really hitting its stride now. Dark, meaty aromas of iron, black fruits, and smoke. Fullish body and a tad drying on the end, but it's not a rich wine like the 1990 - more structured and tight on the finish. But the energy and freshness is stunning. Grand Cru Burgundy weight on this one.
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2/2/2012 - BradE wrote:
Very good bottle. Got a touch tired after a couple of hours, but the initial (first hour or so) on the nose and palate was stunning.
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12/19/2011 - Seth Rosenberg wrote:
Acker BYO 2011 (Tribeca Grill): Smokey, bacon, and meaty on the nose. Not a great showing tonight - still showing young and tight. I have had spectacular bottles of this wine - tonight was not one of them.
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12/13/2011 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
HermitageFest @ Texture- delicious leathery meaty nose, nice hi acidity. still developing, long in the mouth.very much enjoyed
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11/2/2011 - Siggy wrote: flawed
Corked.
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10/27/2011 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
perfect steak lunch wine. nose of leather and smoked meats. full round flavor that fills the mouth with a nice mix of dark fruits and farminess. very much like this wine and it has a long way to go
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10/20/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Acker Merrall BYO (Sepia - Chicago IL): My notes were getting sparse and illegible. Black cherry on nose and palate. Black pepper and some licorice. Powerful with great structure, long life ahead.
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7/4/2011 - Chainthroer wrote: 96 Points
Wow! Yellowing-purple on the rim. Deep, deep dark garnet in the body; some bricking developing. Fragrant aromas of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, bacon fat (initially a lot when first opened, but more subdued as the wine warmed), soy, tar, violet, herbs - highly complex. Big and elegant fruit in the mouth. Very nice finish (except for a very slight heat on the back palate) - about 30 seconds. Last consumed this wine at an NFL draft party in 2008, with wine friends. I think the wine should score higher, as it seems just a bit closed. Well stored. What a pleasure.
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6/11/2011 - rnellans wrote: 96 Points
Slight funky nose initially but developed in the glass an earthy, minerally, red fruit nose. Brighter on the palate than the La Chapelle, and a bit more complex. Great length. As Jon mentioned, many layers.
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2/1/2011 - Hodby wrote: 97 Points
Tasted blind. Dark red. Nose of coffee, tar, roast pork, menthol, black cherry, black peppercorn and tobacco. Full tannin and acid, balanced. Huge wine. Mouth-filling wine of enormous concentration and finesse. Seems extremely young; I'm guessing it's 1999 Chave Hermitage, but I'm off by ten years.Finishes long and with sustained power and nuance. The perfect drink after dinner with cheese, bread and salami at our fire tonight; it's -15 on the back porch at 9 PM. Many thanks to the Lowells for braving the elements and stopping by with this treat tonight. I'm spoiled.
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1/26/2011 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 95 Points
supple, refined, pure red fruits and tar/licorice spice, deep and very long.
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1/11/2011 - Eric wrote:
Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): Very much more ripe with a sweet and primary core. Smoldering intensity. A baby in comparison to the 1982 and 1983.
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12/12/2010 - BradE wrote:
Stunningly good bottle, once it opened up. A virtual campfire of ash, tar, smoke. Unreal tonight.
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11/21/2010 - fclarity wrote: 93 Points
This wine showed a medium red center with light red/orange rims. The nose featured cherries, soil, and roast beef notes.
In the mouth it was medium bodied but with great acidity and rounded tannins that gave it good length and presence.
This wine still seemed a bit tight to me and was not showing its full potential. I would give it another 5 to 10 years. At that time my score could move into the mid 90s.
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11/16/2010 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Classic Chave. Spice and pepper on the nose and palate. Balanced and pure with a soft lasting finish.
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11/16/2010 - Marc wrote: 94 Points
Great nose - the definition of Northern Rhone Syrah. Very pure, very deep. This is a wine that is very informed by its high acid for structure and definition. It has laser beam focus. Racy in the mouth, this is just a baby. High toned and gamey in nature, this is a wine that requires more time in the cellar to develop all of the layers that the wine is capable of. Hints of raisins, eucalypt and tamarind. A touch of acetate (green corn husk). My wife took exception to the high acid nature of the wine tonight and thinks my score is a little generous - but I am marking on its wonderful potential. It has an amazing future ahead of it. I will open my next in 2019.
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11/13/2010 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
Koffmans-deep dark color, nose a great mix of spice and earth. very full in the mouth still with mostly primary fruits and and some leather and smoke around the edges. very long. very good wine, prbly wine of the night
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10/26/2010 - KenK wrote: 91 Points
Chave-a-thon (Restaurant Michael (Winnetka, IL)): Dark earthy, nice sweet black fruit, somewhat mature with dusty aroma.
Black fruits, sweet acids driven by lean toasty flavors, dark rustic, black fruit edge.
91
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9/22/2010 - ronlite wrote: 97 Points
Impressive
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9/14/2010 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Hermitage dinner - Jaboulet La Chapelle and JL Chave (The Ledbury, London): Way better than the Chapelle, fresher and racier on entry, and on the palate, layered and harmonious - a beauty
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9/12/2010 - BradE wrote:
From mag. Nothing wrong with this bottle, but not as impressive as this wine can be.
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8/1/2010 - BradE wrote:
1999 and 1989 side by side. Both were great, and the table was split. But tonight the 89 was beautiful, somewhat restrained, with not too much bret, and simply stunning. The 99 was very good, and continues to show why, over time, it may show as the best Chave vintage to date.
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7/12/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
With effort and patience, notes of black fruit, iron and earth could be found. Huge, full-bodied. Structured, tannic wine. Better in 10 years.
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7/7/2010 - reichken wrote: 95 Points
full nose of bacon and berries. filled the mouth, long finish. bottle in a nice place of smoke, leather, fat but still holding some of the youthful dark fruits
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6/11/2010 - JeffGMorris wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at Red Stag Grill, Asheville, NC. When this wine is on top of it's game it can stand up against any vintage of Chave extremely well. Tonight it was at the top of it's form. Dark ruby in the glass, this was open for business right out of the gate with no need for any decanting time. Olives and bacon were obvious on the nose and the medium-plus bodied palate was loaded with cherries and other fruit. Very long on the finish. All in all a spectacular bottle and a great match with the amazing elk tenderloin I ordered. 50+14+14+9+9 = 96
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5/28/2010 - KeithAkers wrote:
Pinot Smackdown 2010 (Ken's, northbrook IL): nose: very meaty and bretty nose that didn't really blow off along with tones of black cherries, smoke, and bits of soy. This seemed a bit weak on the nose and not showing too much
taste: medium/full bodied with good tannins and tones of roasted meats, black cherries, some brett, smoke and bits of soy. Well balanced, but not really jumping on the palate either
overall: This was a very bretty bottle and it didn't really blow off. Ken had graciously served this to us blind but didn't feel that this was a representative bottle
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3/20/2010 - RiedelBeagle wrote: 91 Points
A bit of nice woodsy Hermitage funk was left, but this has faded a lot. Still pleasant, but this bottle was well past its prime.
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3/18/2010 - BradE wrote:
As frequently happens with the 89, it really took a while to open up. Once it did it was gorgeous. Great stuff.
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1/24/2010 - gregg g wrote:
Chave at Palate (Glendale, CA.): This was the bad ass wine of the night. A misbehaving outcast, a rude wine. Started out funky as hell. This later lead to a wonderful perfume of spice, clove, nutmeg, licorice, dark red fruits, leather and touch of wet fur. The palate was long and rich with obvious acidity and a bit of unresolved tannin. Clearly drinking well with room for additional complexity and resolution of the tannins. A stunning wine.
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12/31/2009 - Vini Ciclismo wrote: 97 Points
NYE with McGeorges.
Ruby red with a dark core.
Deeply fruited, red berry intensity, but with a dark spice edge of tar and liquorice. Gorgeous, silky texture, and long long finish. A benchmark wine.
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12/26/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote:
Kitchen Table, Volt, Frederick, MD. A very odd bottle. At first a whiff of major TCA that seems to blow off but the wine goes through many phases over the next few hours. Next day, the bottle has settled some, While a "good" bottle of wine at this point it is no '89 Chave. Clearly there is something wrong here. Not Rated.
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12/24/2009 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
Clearly more interesting to taste than the Jaboulet, but this is way more tannic, way less savory, and way less fruited than other bottles I've had of this. The disturbingly large amount left in the bottle at the end of dinner testified that this was not a good example of this wine. Good examples of this won't have a drop in the dump bucket. I dumped much more than that. Forgot to note whose import strip.
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12/21/2009 - cct wrote: 97 Points
Deep dark ruby. Brooding and powerful. Dark and red fruits, blood oranges, flowers, and anise on the nose. Beautiful depth and texture here. Meaty large scaled and impeccably balanced. At peak with a ton of time in hand. Fantastic. WOTN for me
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12/20/2009 - bristol411 wrote: 91 Points
This is showing so much better than the La Chappelle of the same year. Ripe, fruity nose, some spice, with really nice acidity in the mouth, good length, very smooth and seductive, very nice.
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12/17/2009 - BradE wrote:
Absolutely rocking.
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12/17/2009 - BradE wrote:
Absolutely gorgeous bottle. Essentially no brett, and smooth as silk. Loved it.
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11/20/2009 - rnellans wrote: 94 Points
Bricking on the edge. Lighter color than the 90 La Chapelle. Tobacco, leather, minerals, spice...some cassis. Elegant style...great wine.
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10/3/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Black fruit, herbs, spices and cassis make a beautiful aromatic profile. This is a huge, concentrated wine. Very powerful. This takes over your palate with thick, rich, dense black fruit and spices.
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9/19/2009 - Jossik wrote: 88 Points
Naso cioccolatoso e poi un po' fermo, in bocca più lungo e con una bella spalla acida, presente.
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9/11/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at Central, DC. Very dark ruby in color, this wine was explosive upon opening with a terrific nose of olives and burnt stones. Deep, concentrated flavors on the medium bodied palate. Long on the finish. A very dark wine in nature tonight. Still has a very long life ahead of it. 50+14+13+9+9 = 95
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9/11/2009 - futronic wrote: 98 Points
Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #3; 9/11/2009-9/12/2009: Almost opaque ruby/black colour. Aromas of tobacco, salt, black olive tapenade, black plums, spice, tar, and a hint of alcohol. Full-bodied, very smoky (woodsmoke/liquid smoke), with tobacco, licorice, tar, and prune notes. Amazing acidity to lift the wine off your palate. Long finish, ~50-60s with woodsmoke, tar, and prune notes. Amazing stuff! Not too far off the bottle I tasted a few years ago. 98 points easily, maaaaaybe eking out to a 99. Just behind the surreal 1990 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle it was paired with.
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9/11/2009 - mimik wrote: 99 Points
Wine Guy Weekend Chez Doktas Take 3; 9/11/2009-9/13/2009 (Collingwood, Ontario): Ah Chave. What a bottle. What an experience. This was not about flamboyancy but about power reigned in by finesse and elegance. This was my WOTW and the first bottle of a series of stunning competitors. Sweet tobacco notes, old car leather with some hints of flowers that you get in the spring. The tobacco and leather notes were overwhelming but very seductive. Cassis and tobacco and leather on the palate. Elegant. Suave. Stunning purity and pedigree. After 15 minutes in the glass, more fruit came through. Will improve over the next 5 years or more. Looong finish.
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8/30/2009 - BradE wrote:
Excellent bottle, one of the finest in memory. Just the right balance of all that is good about Chave.
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7/8/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 94 Points
Dinner with Mom at Chef And The Farmer, Kinston, NC. Dark ruby in color, this wine was about as well balanced as a wine can be. Medium bodied with a silky texture and pure, clean, concentrated fruit. Ready to drink but not yet fully mature, the wine displayed aromas and flavors of black cherry, kirsch, violets, the telltale Chave minerality and a meatiness. Long finish. This is a sophisticated wine that like many 1989s from around Europe is a real home run every time out. Can't wait to drink the next one! 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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6/11/2009 - BradE wrote:
Good showing. Less brett than typical, which tonight was a good thing.
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6/3/2009 - BradE wrote:
Spectacular bottle, one of the best in memory. Stood up well with the 82 and 89 Mouline it was drunk with. Not too much funk/brett as can be the case. Excellent.
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5/22/2009 - BradE wrote:
Bright red cherry, explosively. Less brett than usual. Very good.
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4/15/2009 - beachbum wrote: 98 Points
such structure and balance, wine is in early stages of maturity, cherry, violets, huge dpth, stones and minerality. really clean, and so deep. this is textbook
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4/11/2009 - BradE wrote:
We drank the 99 and 89 Chave side by side. Tonight, the 99 smoked the 89. The 89 seems to have a lot of bottle variability, which I attribute partially to provenance and partially to the wine. Its always a moving target, but the range is decent to very good - not a bad range if you're not sure what you'll get.
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3/11/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at Coquette. Dark garnet in the glass with slight bricking at the very edges. A classic '89 Chave with the richness, the sweet fruit, the minerality and the long finish. Well integrated tannins when drunk with the food but the tannins stuck out every so slightly when the wine was drunk on it's own. Throwing lots of sediment. A Pointe today with many years of enjoyment ahead for well stored bottles. 50+13+14+9+9 = 95
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2/22/2009 - cellarid wrote:
terrific and classic hermitage. just needs a few more years and/or lots of decanting. started off really tight and structured.
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1/25/2009 - BradE wrote:
Decent bottle of 89. Not bretty, reasonably straight up without the Mr Ed.
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1/23/2009 - Siggy wrote: 95 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - '75, '83 and '85 Bordeaux (Brad's House, Minneapolis): Fourth time I've tasted this. Slight Band-Aid on the initial nose that quickly blew off. Red cherries, animal, baking spices, and leather. Wonderfully rich and expressive. Earthy, seamless, and elegant. Power and intensity without weight. Terrific as always.
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1/16/2009 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
Lunch @ the Ledbury- light ruby color, with edges lighter so no mistaking it for a new barrel sample, first whiff of the wine was a bit barny (ie bretty) with some underlying smokey dark red fruits. in the mouth very balanced, med acidity and long, the brett all there, saddle leather, smoke, and hanging on to some fruit. a lovely chave and great way to start lunch
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12/12/2008 - RLT wrote: 85 Points
Same story, 5th bottle of the evening opened and just so-so. Drinkable, but no wow factor.
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12/12/2008 - RLT wrote: 85 Points
Tried another '89 after one so-so bottle and 2 oxidized bottles. Again, the nose was off and the wine never really opened up. I am questioning the previous storage conditions of this wine before I aquired it, as heat must have played a part in affecting the 6 bottles I purchased.
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12/12/2008 - RLT wrote: 85 Points
This wine was disappointing, as we expected it to be spectacular, but we were completely underwhelmed. Three bottles of the '89 were opened for close to an hour before trying. This bottle had more than barnyard or brett on the nose...it was closer to sewer funk. It blew off somewhat, allowing the deep fruit and complex structure to stand out. This bottle was pleasantly palatable, but no one found it exceptional, or even great.
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12/12/2008 - RLT wrote: flawed
Same problem with wet cork and completely oxidized like previous bottle. Dumped.
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12/11/2008 - RLT wrote: flawed
Cork was completely wet and the color was off...first whiff brought sewer gas. Undrinkable
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11/26/2008 - BradE wrote:
This bottle was atypically tight and never did open up.
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11/25/2008 - Siggy wrote: flawed
Tasting Group Dinner - Northern Rhône (Fugaise, Minneapolis): Almost no nose and a very tight, shut-down palate. There were hints of dark fruit and spearmint, but this was completely closed and compact, and not at all like other bottles of '89 Chave that I've tasted. Off bottle; probably corked.
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11/25/2008 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Mpls does Northern Rhone (Chave, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chapoutier, Clape, more): Double decanted a few hours before serving. Very similar to the 1986. Not nearly as good as a previous bottle of 1989 that I tasted. The nose gives an elegant blend of red fruit with a bit of funk. On the palate this comes across as tannic and closed. Plenty of structure and a long lingering finish. This bottle needed more time in the cellar.
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11/6/2008 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 95 Points
Wines on Thursday (Bellavitae): Deeply and powerfully fragrant with I-don't-know-what. Richly fruited and still inky in its gloss, with some slightly abrupt tannin to buffer it.
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10/7/2008 - dream wrote: 94 Points
Just a wonderful bottle of wine. Incredible aged, earthy flavors with notes of meat, game and spicy dark fruits. Still fairly tannic with just a hint of greeness but the smooth Burgundian-type texture and gorgeously complex finish win the day. Just entering its peak drinking window. 94+
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10/2/2008 - jeff nowak wrote:
dinner with brad england in minneapolis, brad's bottle. extremely challenged by brett, and muddled in the midpalate, seemingly short of fruit. brad states this bottle is off, but i don't have a reference, as it is the first taste for me.
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10/2/2008 - BradE wrote:
Very bretty on the nose. Somewhat light on the mid palate, and while it developed with air, it didn't fully get to where this wine is capable of.
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9/17/2008 - BradE wrote:
Simply spectacular. The 89 is great straight up, but improves materially with an hour or so of air time.
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8/23/2008 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
Enchanting nose has aromas dark fruits, sweat, beef and minerals. Couldn't get my nose out of the glass. Palate is medium bodied and full of dark fruits, herb and some typical Chave sweat, funk. Terrific balance and length. In a wonderful place.
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7/1/2008 - BradE wrote:
Absolutely a rockin' bottle. Loved it. Explosive.
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6/27/2008 - Employee500 wrote: 93 Points
Underperformed just a bit....storage not perfect as the wine had about 2-3 years at room temp (70F) toward the end of its life (after pristine storage for the first 15 years....Very tasty but a little tired lacking a bit of complexity that I would expect.
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5/24/2008 - ssouth wrote: 98 Points
Decanted for an hour... nearly perfect in all ways.. great with Beef wellington.. approaches the best showing of the '90 vintage
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4/18/2008 - BradE wrote:
Santa Barbara Dreaming: Moved on to dinner at Elements. A nice Santa Barbara restaurant, with a new chef (promoted the sous-chef), who should be good once he loses the salt shaker. I like salt, but wow. Paired the 89 Chave with the 94. The 89 shows meat, minerals, blood, basically the whole package. And what I really like about this wine is its restraint. Its got all that N Rhone offers, in a tasteful package. It was great from the beginning, but continued to show even stronger as the night went on. Love it.
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4/6/2008 - cellarid wrote: 93 Points
Delicious -- but still kinda young from this bottle.
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2/17/2008 - JeffGMorris wrote: 94 Points
Rednecks & Rhones Chave-a-thon. Dark ruby in the glass. The '89 Chave is always a great pleasure to drink and this bottle was no exception. Very rich and viscous with gobs of fruit. There's a clarity and depth to thsi wine that goes beyond what most vintages of Chave achieve. Drinks incredibly well right now but will continue to please for many more years. The perfect match with both Bob's lamb stew and Barb's venison in mushroom sauce. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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1/26/2008 - BradE wrote:
The best bottle of this wine I've ever had. Perfumed, elegant, stunning.
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1/13/2008 - IAMVLAD wrote: 94 Points
atlanta blue nose group hermitage tasting which included 88,89,90 chave, 88, 89, 90 jaboulet la chappelle, 89, 90, 91 sorrell le greal and 89, 90, 91 chapoutier pavillon. second or third best wine of the night. plenty of luscious fruit and plenty of time left to drink. delicious.
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12/12/2007 - Siggy wrote: 97 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Burgs & Rhones at Heidi's (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Another fabulous bottle, very nearly as wonderful as the one (from another source) I opened a few months ago. Elegant, high-toned cherry fruit, earth, and horse/barnyard in the background. Layers of spice. Gorgeous texture. Incredible finesse. Started to tighten up and turned more primal after an hour or so of air. Fantastic stuff.
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12/12/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at Heidi's (Kistler, Dujac, 90 Centenaire, 61 Jaboulet Cedres, Chave, and others): An awesome bottle of wine. The nose gives an intense and complex expression of black fruit, iron, smoke and floral notes. This is another wine you could smell all night. It is equally good in the mouth. Extremely elegant -- silky smooth. Possesses great fruit concentration yet good structure yielding the sense of perfect balance. Still holding on to some tannin. Great finish. Thanks to Steve for sharing such a great bottle of wine.
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12/9/2007 - BradE wrote:
A good, not great bottle of this wine. Animal, blood and meat predominated, with the fruit taking a back seat. Had better bottles, but still very enjoyable.
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10/25/2007 - Siggy wrote: 98 Points
Syrah Tasting w/ Bob Macdonald (David Anderson's House, Minneapolis): Paired with a fantastic 90 La Chapelle, this took things to an even higher level. High-toned, dense, soaring red fruit on the nose. Gorgeously sappy red fruit, almost Musigny-like in its density and dimension of flavor. Animal, earth, freshly chopped mushrooms, baking spices, and wave upon wave of complex flavors. Unreal texture - silky, smooth, and packed with minerals. Endless finish. A stunning Chave with many more years of life ahead. WOTF and WOTN for everyone. Group average 19.5/20; #1 of 7.
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9/29/2007 - JeffGMorris wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at Fearrington. Dark ruby in the glass with a very slight lightening at the edges. This great wine had a most attractive nose with a mixture of meaty notes along with minerality and very ripe berries. Medium+ bodied, the rich palate exhibited more ripe fruit and a terrific verve to the acidity. Impeccable balance. Very open tonight and as always displaying a great elegance. Long clean finish. Drinking extremely well now but many years of further development lay ahead. This wine never disappoints. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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9/28/2007 - antiwood wrote:
Beautiful violet, brilliant color. Extremely fragrant nose of horse leather, blackberry, black olive. Medium bodied, balanced, still very lively tannins, fresh long finish. Beautiful and classic Chave. Can't I afford this for life?
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8/17/2007 - Harry Cantrell wrote: 97 Points
garnet. meats, forest,spices. It just went on and on. Mouth was again an aged wunderkind. Great.
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8/14/2007 - KPB wrote: 96 Points
Sublime. Brownish/ruby with an amber rim. Nose is tremendously complex and fragrant... Strawberries, dried rose petals, creosote, lilacs, bacon fat, smoke -- I kept finding new ways to interpret what I was smelling. Fascinating. Very long, taut, sweet but substantial acidity. Tannins have mellowed to a whisper.
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8/1/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Dark color. Tannic, herbs, spices and jammy fruits on the nose. Full bodied. Concentrated and complex. Needs time
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7/28/2007 - JeffGMorris wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at St Jacques. Dark, dark ruby in the glass. At first it was showing a little tannic but with a little decanter time and a little glass aeration time the fruit and minerality were center stage. Classical Chave with minerals, black olives and ripe fruit in a medium bodied package. The tannins, which started off in focus quickly fell to a background role. The tannins were always obvious but in a very elegant way, just a reminder on the palate and on the long finish that this wine still has many years of pleasurable drinking ahead of it as those tannins continue to be shed. With the "Ravioli Whittington", a ravioli filled with veal and foie gras in a slightly creamy sauce, the wine was a perfect match. The richness of the dish really brought out the richness of the wine, and the food/wine came together as this tour de force of richness and deep flavors. This bottling seems to keep getting better and better each time we open one. 50+13.5+14+9.5+9.5 = 96.5
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7/22/2007 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 95 Points
The French Laundry...21 Courses, 11 Wines, Infinite Memories; 7/21/2007-7/22/2007 (The French Laundry (Yountville, Napa Valley, California)): Being at the French Laundry in celebration of Amy Emery's 40th birthday, how can it get better? Well it does...how about rouelle of Four Story Hills Farm poularde, wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, royal Blenheim apricots, cipollini onions, tarragon and Dijon mustard? Follow that with tete de cochon, with melted Swiss chard, potato puree and bliss maple syrup. What would you serve this with? The perfect match, of course…the Chave Hermitage 1989. Deep red in color with a garnet rim, this spectacular wine showed my "4+" bouquet of chocolate, black and red fruits, pomegranate, underbrush and a touch of menthol. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, big ripe tannins and a long, smooth finish. This wine warrants a very conservative 95+, as it is still clearly on the upswing. For anyone lucky enough to have this in his or her cellar, my personal recommendation would be to not open it before 2010. It should drink beautifully until 2025 or beyond. Amy had a big smile on her face at this point.
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3/25/2007 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 95 Points
Stunning! My first Chave was not a letdown.
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1/27/2007 - dream wrote: 92 Points
Fine ruby color with slightly fading edges. Somewhat reticent nose of high-acid cherries, black licorice and earthy slate. Needed to be decanted for an hour before starting to show it's stuff. Surprisingly quite lean compared to the '88 and "90 both tasted recently. This is actually the highest acid, most backward wine of the trio. Will probably never match the purity and complexity of the '90 but it's a big wine loaded with bright acidity and a delicious, intense, juicy finish. The flavors match the nose and the wine seems to need lots more time.
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1/5/2007 - CSteefel wrote: 97 Points
Double decanted about 3 hours before the flight, this dark ruby red/purple wine turned in a bravura performance and was probably most taster’s second WOTN. The wine showed a fragrant expressive nose of blackberry and forest floor, with high-toned notes of spice and violets. In the mouth, wonderfully alive, with the sheer concentration of ripe fruit admirably balanced by its bright acidity and the almost gravelly mineral tastes on the back end. A great wine, with plenty of years ahead of it.
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11/20/2006 - Jeff W wrote:
"Chave Hermitage Magnums dinner."
In the first flight of reds we had the 1990 and 1989 from Magnum.
The 1990 was an explosion of flavour in the mouth. A wonderful bottle. Great focus and intensity, laced with acidity. Meaty power with balance and refinement. Still quite youthful, both in appearance and taste. The finish is long, deep and delicious. “Regal authority”, someone said.
The 1989 was slightly more reticent. I wondered if it needed more time (and this a 17 year old wine.) Smoky bacon and a hint of barnyard. Hold it in your mouth and feel the power. If it did not have quite the immediate impact of the 1990, it was still delicious. The long aftertaste is faintly spiced.
Without much in the way of tannin the finish on these wines is like the smile on the face of the Cheshire Cat – it lingers without any apparent means of support, then slowly fades.
Around the table, opinion seemed split between the 1990 and the 1989, but the 1990 was definitely my WOTN. (Never mind WOTN, the best Hermitage I have tasted…..to date.) It was great to taste them with food – no question that the these wines lift the food, and vice versa. (Ravioli of Grouse and Chanterelles with Pumpkin Puree, by the way.)
Is there something Burgundian in these wines? Not in the flavour, but in the weight, the levels of acidity, and the lack of reliance on tannin.
ve Hermitage Magnums dinner."
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10/23/2006 - RiedelBeagle wrote: 94 Points
In light of my experience with the last bottle of this wine, I poured this bottle right into glasses without decanting. It came out of the bottle a little befuddled, with a forceful nose of "Hermitage funk:" moss, wet leaves, and other artifacts of the forest floor. On the palate, it was similarly unidimensional at first. However, after just a few minutes, the wine found its balance, and was one again the gentle, complex, Burgundian beauty that I drank the last time. After about two hours, the wine once again seemed to start fading away, with the fruit disappearing first, then the pine, moss, and licorice, leaving only a nice gravely finish. As I reached the bottom of the bottle, it seemed to be entering yet another phase, this one once again dominated by that powerful Hermitage funk, though this time with some acidity and gravel left for balance. Was it struggling to reach a new, even more interesting stage of development? Or was it just about to degenerate into the foul, vinegary swill that was left at the bottom of my last bottle? I don't know. I'm not so good at gauging these things. Parker says to drink it from 2005-2030, and John Livingstone-Learmonth (author of the wonderful Wines of the Northern Rhone) says 2013-2017. Both of these writers have far more experience and knowledge than I. And other reviewers here seem to feel that this wine has a lot more life in it. Still, it's hard for me to believe that I should hold onto my remaining bottles for too much longer. Perhaps my batch experienced some suboptimal storage conditions at some point in its life?
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10/10/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 97 Points
St John Offline (St John, London): Very perfumed, dense dark summer fruit, very strong acidity, but beahind it lots of beautiful fruit and a big tannic structure, a burgundian Hermitage. Beautiful now but I think the gamey notes will begin to come to the fore now.
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10/6/2006 - JeffGMorris wrote: 93 Points
Suckling Pin Dinner at St. John (London, UK): Medium ruby in color and throwing a fair amount of sediment. Medium to full bodied and the richest of the Chaves so far. Medium plus length on the finish, I think it will get longer with age as it adds more complexity. Drinks much younger than the '83 at this point but seems to be in a really great place as it has been with previous bottles the past few years. 50+13+13+8.5+8.5 = 93
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9/9/2006 - RiedelBeagle wrote: 94 Points
I poured this bottle into a decanter, and then started drinking it right away. It was a gorgeous bottle. Incredibly seductive nose. A very gentle, feminine wine on the palate, with subtle, restrained Burgundy-like fruit and just a bit of pine and moss to identify it as Hermitage. Medium-bodied at most. Don't pair this one with red meat and heavily seasoned sauces! Two hours after pouring, the wine turned into a metallic, tangy, vinegary, mossy beast -- most unpleasant. And two hours after that, it was really foul, not even fit for cooking with. I have several other bottles of this wine, and I'm going to drink them soon, without decanting.
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8/1/2006 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
SAG (Blind) Tasting (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Blind tasting. Inviting aromatics to start were spice and red and black cherry. Spice continued on to the palate, where some great roasted meat flavors also emerged and the fruit transitioned into darker cherry and berry. Really well balanced and intense. Still lots of room to get even better.
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7/8/2006 - AJ72 wrote: 98 Points
Annual DBGCBU: A wine of great subtlety and elegance. Immense concentration of flavour and silk like tannins. Very Hermitage in character but with finesse of great Burgundy. Outstanding wine.
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7/8/2006 - JeffGMorris wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at Zely & Ritz. Ruby/garnet in the glass. A very “Chave” nose. Medium plus in body, this wine was a beauty. Rich and glycerol on the palate and sporting a nose of earth along with dark, spicy berries. Very fresh acidity on the long finish. This is certainly past the primary stage but seems to still have some positive development ahead of it in the years to come. Will drink well for a very long time. 50+13.5+13+9+9 = 94.5
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6/16/2006 - Eric wrote:
Manlin comes to town for dinner at Lampreia (Seattle, WA): This was truly awesome from the get-go with a big nose screaming of pepper, blood and meat. Mmm, the palate is spicy and intense with gorgeous focus. I need to track down more 1989 Chave.
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6/8/2006 - futronic wrote: 100 Points
Light-medium garnet colour. Aromas of cinnamon, dried cherry, dried roses, cardamom. Medium-full bodied, with currant, spice, dried flowers, leather, and dried cherry. Elegant and silky, but still has amazing structure. Long finish, goes for minutes, with red fruit, cinnamon, and olives. Unbelievable. Tasted with Giacomo Conterno at Poderi Aldo Conterno on 06/08/2006.
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5/30/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 94 Points
A noticable step up compared with the Jaboulet, quite a light wine but great depth of flavour and complexity, If only more Hermitage tasted like Burgundy ;). Super.
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11/12/2005 - burningstarIV wrote: flawed
Corked.
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4/25/2005 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Multiple layers of thick, rich, ripe fruit, balance, complex aromatics and a lengthy, seamless finish. Another 5 years will open this wine out and flesh it out.
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2/12/2005 - Eric wrote:
Rhônes and dinner with Robert Parker (Baltimore, MD): no note
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10/1/2004 - Eric wrote: 94 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does older Northern Rhône reds (Bellevue, WA, USA): This had a fabulous nose of beef blood, pine needle and minerality, and with more air layers of tarry and smokey black fruit come out to play, nice! OMG, the palate is rich and deep with layers of sweet fruit and smokiness. There was a certain roasted character throughout this wine, in a good way. The finish is powerful yet nicely resolved with no hard edge to be found. This was a thrilling wine that I would have liked to spend a whole evening sipping slowly.
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9/1/2004 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
This was packed with jammy, black fruit and spices. Very thick and concentrated. Dense, full-bodied wine. Great palate presence and a long, black, ripe, fruit filled finish. More bottle age will help, but this is beginning to show its charms.
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8/14/2004 - JeffGMorris wrote: 95 Points
Tasted at pre-anniversary tasting at our house. Chave is always a pleasure and this bottle failed to disappoint. Wonderful upon opening with no decanting needed. Earthy but in a way I really enjoy as opposed to the soemtimes dirty smells of Northern Rhines and Burgundies. Bacon, mushrooms, spices and meaty aromas lead to a palate that shows the class and elegance of age but with still vibrant and sweet fruit. Sweet cherries and a long finish close out this stunner. "Damn lovely" says Fred and what more can I add! Thanks to the always generous Steve & Barb for this most memorable bottle. 50+14+13+9+9 = 95.
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5/5/2004 - Joe Belmaati wrote:
Sadly, this bottle was corked.
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5/24/2003 - JeffGMorris wrote:
Our third Chave of the night! Transluscent deep red hue. Nose is deep with game, leather, red fruits, and hints of earth. With food and air, the wine comes together with a meaty character. Clearly the best of the reds on this night.
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5/8/1993 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 94 Points
Chave/Clape tasting (Okhuysen, Haarlem, Netherlands): Very concentrated and stylish, spicy and rich, lovely ripe acidity, vanilla, long.
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5/16/1992 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 92 Points
The Oddbins Old World Wine Fair; 5/16/1992-5/17/1992 (London): Very, very deep colour. This is very good stuff, but it needs plenty of time to come round – probably be starting to drink properly around 2000.
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2/29/1992 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 88 Points
Tasted at Singer & Foy survey of new Rhones. Very healthy ruby color. Very nice nose. Rich, pretty fruit. Complex; nuance. Palate is excellent. Fruity, pretty. 5-11-15-7:88/100.
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2/26/1992 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
broke in the wine cellar! Of the wine I was able to salvage, it defined "tannic". Not ready for a long time. Unbelievably concentrated and complex. Too bad an '87 didn't break!
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