Extraordinary bottle and easily my red WOTN amongst a great lineup at a collector friend's retirement party. Full of smoke, tar, olive. Resolved and well integrated tannins. No tertiary development. This can age for decades, but I'd argue this bottle sat in the bullseye of its peak window.
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Double decanted for 2 hrs, med. ruby with a lighter rim, dark fruit with bacon; outstanding, significantl better that my other recent bottle & was WOTN at the dinner, ready to drink
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My first Chave and did not disappoint. Big wine but integrated and surprizingly elegant. Lots of meat, and black fruit. Drinking well now, but more to go.
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3 hr decant. Both more and less than I expected. The more: more seamless, more integrated, more refined and elegant. The less: less perfumed nose, less viscosity, less raw power than anticipated. A bit of bacon-like brett but not too much to distract. A keen menthol edge to the palate; on the nose it was closer to eucalyptus. Meaty and leathery on the nose, and while their was some olive-like weight to it, it was in the background. Overall very satisfied. Score: 94. Relative to expectations: ++
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What an incredible experience. Ripe red and black fruit, black pepper, olive tapenade, leather, dried flowers and an under current of minerality. Incredible texture, perfect balance. Powerful yet elegant. Culminating with a long lingering finish.
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PNP. What a difference 8 years make. Crimson/black color. This is absolutely lovely. Blackberry, creosote, olive tapenade and a subtle gaminess on the nose. Full, rich yet surprisingly lively palate, with more blackberry and black cherry fruit delivered in a grainy texture that is really compelling. This is in a great spot yet shows no sign of fading at all.
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Beautiful nose, starting to really show the trademark Chave truffle, creosote, grilled meats, lovely palate, darker red fruit, some nice smokiness, somewhat softer than the 06 Allemand paired with it, but still good acidity, moderate tannins. A lovely Chave, young still, but starting to drink nicely.
Out of interest, I found my note from tasting this on release: reserved nose hints of dark crushed fruit creosote palate dark very brooding deep red fruit very good structure and acidity but so backward and secretive right now. Score impossible
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Allemand vs Chave (Kitchen Istanbul): A bit more reserved compared to the Reynard with quite dark fruit notes, black pepper, smoke, and mushrooms. Medium acidity on the palate with black cherries, good structure, cedar, and underwood notes. Nice finish. A lovely wine.
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Chave vs. Allemand (Kitchen Istanbul, SF): Stood up for a few days and decanted off well settled but significant sediment caked onto the bottom of the bottle. Color is surprisingly light for Syrah though within a good range, slight bricking; high intensity aromatics, meaty bacon fat, minerals, violets, full of character and depth; palate is medium bodied, medium-plus acidity, 14% alcohol is impeccably integrated, some blackberry, some pepper spice, minerality, olive; finish has excellent length. Superb Chave and Hermitage, drinking well now and will continue to evolve in the glass in a positive direction. I thought this might be a little closed, but it absolutely is not. My only bottle, but this would likely age well for another decade at least. 95
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Ridiculous intensity on the nose. Wafts out of the glass. Intensity carries to the palate with an incredibly, long evolving finish, with a core of blackberry and a peppery, savoury crescendo. Fantastic wine. Drink now or hold.
WSET notes:
Deep garnet.
Pronounced on the nose with blackberry, dried violet, sage, grilled beef crust, black pepper, dried blackberry, black olive, clove and cinammon. Developing.
Pronounced and dry on the palate. Full bodied, high alcohol, high acidity, high tannins, long finish.
Can drink now but has potential for aging.
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Double decanted and drank 1h later. Nose is nothing short of breathtaking. Rose and spice, wood. Palate is intricate, with forest soil, rose, red fruits and delicate dark fruits, spice, cedar. A fabulous wine right now.
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Fully mature but with a lot of gas left in the tank. This is really driven by structure and the tannins still loom in the background but there is remarkable balance here too with deep flavors of dried red fruit, autumn leaves, roasted mushrooms, leather, violets, and earth. Tasty and compelling.
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JT and Marty Super Bowl Extravaganza (Chez Newman): Excellent showing of this; better than I remember with an explosive nose of black fruit and purple flowers. With air a bit of pepper and olive, but mostly just fruit and floral. The palate however remained elegant and fresh, great balance, superb concentration. A fabulous bottle of Chave.
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Nose: musky, leather, smoke, coffee roast, banana, black pepper, violet Notes: An excellent example of top notch Hermitage, very intense nose with quite a solid and fruity palate. One could say this should require a few more years to get to its best potential but it's already quite decent to consume now. However, I could say I'm a little skeptical if this wine will improve significantly with time and it is questionable if further potential can be released in the future. It feels that although the nose is already quite explosive and complete the palate lacks the elegance and durability. This could be caused by our decision to decant the wine. I would say that despite all the findings above I would give this wine another shot in a couple of years and see if I can draw a conclusion on this particular wine. Rating: 90 Drink: 2025+
Just as impressive as the bottle drunk last December Dull ruby color is followed by a textbook Northern Rhone nose filled with crunchy red berry fruit, dry earth and subtle wild herbs. A touch of leather and tobacco as well. Baking spices. The palate is full of flavor, exhilarating and plentiful. All the while, the weight is medium and restrained. Wow. All the power yet so balanced and under control. This winery is a personal favorite and this wine is a perfect example why. Glorious. (97)
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Decanted for 40 minutes. Approachable but still young. Forward red fruit, notes of bacon and hung meat. Lots of acidity on the palate, layered, structured. Hint of citrus peel. Really good but will be better in a decade.
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Sunday Lunch with Raveneau Chablis and Chave Hermitage (Piccino Restaurant, San Francisco): Slighter lighter ruby than the 2011. Sharp fennel on the nose. Lighter and less ripe mixed fruit than the younger wine. Drier, leaner feel and full of earth. Yes, it is quite elegant, but like several wines in this flight, it seems overbalanced toward the herbal elements rather than the fruit. I would worry about this drying out with further aging.
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Bit of Brett on the palate and finish but this wine traded in the precision of jamet, there is very little pepper or smoked meat, for the ultimate luxury of the tannins that are incredibly plush and of the same velvety texture as 1st growth bdx
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Dang - this is out of control wonderful. One of my 2 or 3 desert island wineries. Absolutely shining in this relatively unheralded vintage. Deep ruby red color. Classic nose of dark berry fruit, meat and earth tied together in a seamless and compellingly pure package. What should a wine from the Northern Rhone smell like? Stick your nose in a glass of this! In a perfect spot today as the flavors have started to mature but there is still plenty of energy and tannin on the finish. A bit of leather. Wow. Hard to say a Chave can be a sleeper, but this vintage might just fit the bill. Wish I had three cases of this. One of the wines of the year. (97)
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I actually guessed Chave 2004 more or less right on, goes to show the typicity of the wine, Chave from a somewhat cooler year. It's elegant, yet masculin with all the fixers in terms of olives, black fruit, stone, bacon, hanged meat. Drinking well already. #SøllerødKro#x-mas#Tulle
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Boom! Fabulous Chave nose. Dark fruit, smoke, leather, meat, flowers. Great focus on the palate. Intense but so elegant. This is a top-notch Chave. I read that JLC says 2006 reminds him of 1991. I can see what he means and if so we’re in for a treat. Just requires patience…
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Beautifully perfumed nose. Obviously a youthful Chave but it's fully integrated and showing quite well with flavors of dark fruits, sweet asphalt and smoked meats. Succulent with electric acidity and superb richness and depth and it's well-poised for future development. The finish is still tannic but beginning to take on that great Chave layered elegance that just flows over the tongue like liquid graphite. A great vintage for this wine from an unheralded year...not a surprise from such an amazing producer and this should merit a higher score in the future. 94+
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This is excellent but really still way too young. The nose was full of dark fruits, smoke, bacon fat violet, and stone notes. The palate is rich and full with great concentration. This was tasted after a couple 35-40 yr old wines which made it seem bigger than it is. But it’s excellent and needs another decade.
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Best Syrah's on the planed tasting. All 2006. Chave Hermitage was spectacular but the weakest in the lineup. Still very young. TS96, Penfolds Grange was huge, yet silky. Tasted wonderful on it's own and paired with camel tenderloin (yes, camel) TS98 Cayuse Cellioux had its characteristic barnyard, very complex. I loves this wine, also very age worthy TS98.
Big, deep, layered dark red fruit with spice and smoked meat notes. Structure is sound and has lovely balance, but the fruit dominates at this point. Young but thoroughly enjoyable. Opened 5 hours ahead with 90 minute decant. Heady bouquet and very long finish. Perfect accompaniment to lamb shank with walnut anchovy salsa and celeriac crema. Delicious finishing the last bit the next day as well!
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very Bordeaux nose, leather, dark berries, Tannins still very present, pretty dark, very long. Really good but the remaining bottles will stay in the cellar for min 5 years...
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Really wished I loved it more given the pedigree (& price!) but this is so tightly wound up now. With air, the potential peeks through with super quality tannins, fruit and glycerin. Length is extraordinary. Will be great in XX years for sure
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spectacular nose, young of course but really approachable. the palate is dense, polished tanins and good length. has a long life ahead but very good right now.
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Deep dark purple; huge nose of deep dark fruit and florality like walking through a field of wild flowers. Sauvage, hints of smoked meats, soil minerality. Deep, rich, delicious. Huge potential for gaining more complexity but wonderful now.
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A big Chave, and still early days, but it's starting to show development and age. I continue to think this will be a very good to excellent vintage over time.
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Fine Wines SG - Is Seña really that great? (Zoom): Medium garnet, slightly fading edges, thick and highly extracted. Nose of paprika spices, purple flowers, and savoury meatiness. Fairly ripe redcurrants, purple flowers and some twigs, smokehouse and charcuterie. Fair length, with florals, pepper, and coffee at the back. Great!
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Fantastic showing. Elegang, complex and multilayered nose. Needs 30 min to open up. So well balanced and easy to drink. Smooth tannins, finely grained and detailed palate. Long and succulent finish.
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Decanted for 3 hours. Stunning nose with dark fruit, black pepper, balsamic, cool and poised. Still feels quite primary. Great concentration, full bodied and long. Pretty firm tannins in finish. A great wine with lots of potential for the future.
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BBQ and Top Shelf Vino (Chez Moll): Blind. Quite obviously N. Rhone. Rich, forward aromas of black fruit with loads of meat notes. The palate is youthful and richly fruited. Still in its decadent youth and showing some wood. But this is playfully delicious now and classically N. Rhone. Plenty of upside as this matures and gains depth.
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Saturday BBQ (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Easy Chave call -- it's classic syrah, but without the brine, meat, and smoke, but still obviously syrah, and there's also that Chave polish. After narrowing some of the years down, I guessed that this was a 2007 because of the relatively red fruit and lighter body. Apparently all the Bordeaux had probably messed with my palate and I didn't pick up the black fruit from the vintage instead. Really nice heft and acidic cut here, but this needs some more time to reach full maturity.
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Stunning and spectacular. Decanted for about 6 hours, and though clearly young, this was super approachable and was excellent with pheasant served under glass. Best wine i've had this year.
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Young and just about showing glimpses of its beauty along the way. Its not austere or difficult or even closed down just not yet in full stride. Not so much roast meat on the nose yet, light smoky, light inky but still a bit too much on the dark fruit and soft spice. The quality is there , the elegance and the promise. All we need for this wine now is patience and it will be a high 90s for sure. 93-94 for now as we rate wrt to how the wine was not will be.
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(Half-blind tasting) Full, but a bit shy nose. Plum, cedar, leather, earth. Liquorice and cassis. Very Bdx. Fantastic depth, but still on the youthful side. Very elegant and balanced palate. Tannic. Black fruit and rubber. Very cool and austere. Minerally. Medium-fullish. Long, but still a bit closed. No doubt about the quality. First time we tasted this icon wine, and the group's guess was on Bdx - probably because Comtesse Lalande had such a strange style.
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It's been a little over 2 years since I last drank this beauty, but this time instead of drinking a 750ml with my wife on vacation at the White Barn in Maine, we drank a magnum bottle with good friends over a spectacular Christmas brunch at Palmetto in Charleston. Velvety smooth with earthy Old World nuances and luscious fruit, this Chave is not as full bodied as you might expect from a Hermitage, but that's fine here. I particularly enjoyed the subtle spice, which you like to see in Rhone wines. Very balanced. I still score it the same for the many of same reasons as previously stated, too, and our table of 6 in Charleston raved about it!
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This was the beguiling wine of the evening for me. It showed a greatness that truly special wines of the world have - a density, finesse, and focus that explain why it is so highly sought after.
This bottle had a lot of sediment, and showed itself to be VERY advanced for 2006. The nose had sultana raisins, with a wild fruit reduction and hint of olive. The palate was beautifully concentrated with major tannic resolution at this point. It finished with some holiday spices but not the typical black pepper or meaty/gamey notes I usually associate with the region. This was my first Hermitage and I intend to seek out some others based on the experience. Amazing pairing with smoked eggplant ratatouille.
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Acker Auction - June 2018 (Laduree NYC W Broadway): Baby Chave! A clear sign that this is another wine that really appreciates the 20+ years in the bottle. At this stage the wine is almost a tough more disjointed. Very intense. Lots of fruit and some meat and alcohol. But it's just too much. Give it time.
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Big, dark, meaty with black fruits and a core of black cherry. Tons of substance and slightly closed in but beginning to hint at the greatness to come. Could use another 8-10 years before the next tasting.
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JL Chave tasting, wine #10: massive wine, early in drinking window. Elegant and classy nose with grass, damp cellar, blackberry, smoke, crushed stone and stone roasted notes. Extreme purity, so clean and beautiful. Deep concentration, leather, cedar, tobacco, mint. Perfect balance. Steely structure, keeps developing in the glass for 4 hours. Minimum 25 years life in this beauty.
Fermented in steel tanks and open oak vats. Aged in used oak barrels, focus on fruit and terroir.
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Really super, purplish, explosive bouquet of plums and meaty essences with pepperish nuances everything a syrah from Hermitage should be. well-balance, complex and full of energy. Yum
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Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chicago, IL): Served blind alongside the 2001. Big, powerful and meaty with black cherry and plum start-to-finish. Hints of how great this will be come through, but still backward. Lots of tannins, but very elegant. Very long finish. 94-95 point potential, but needs more time in the cellar. So much better vs a seemingly tired/ oxidized bottle a few months ago.
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Blind Syrahs at Chevalier (Chicago, IL): Tasted blind alongside a blind '01 Chave. Full booming nose has layer upon layer of black fruit, black pepper, smoked meat and black olive. Savory, peppery black fruit that is lush and refined at the same time. The fruit is forward, but there is real structure too. Delicious.
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Fantastic wine entering a compelling drinking window. Well-structured, complex and long: nicely balanced between fruit (blackberry and current) and secondary characteristics of earth, funk, cured meats and smoke. It was decanted 1.5 hours, but improved throughout the night so decant longer. Will improve.
Drank with a 2006 Alban Seymour - fun contrast between top syrahs from two very different terroirs (and a counterpoint to those who argue California syrah can't age as the Alban seemed to be on the early side of maturity).
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Incredible wine with superior balance and character. Opened for 1+ hour before we started to drink and got better through the night as we tasted 10 other wines after it. Kept coming back for more. Great backbone, fruit, terrior. If you want more of the secondary and tertiary flavor, hold for another 5-10 years but drinking excellent right now.
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About as good as Syrah gets. Now very smooth, somewhat reticent nose at first, then gradually becoming more exuberant over the next hour with lots of dark fruit notes and some spiciness. Enough acidity to keep it fresh. Probably peaking now.
From a less than half full bottle tapped by Coravin probably 5-6 times at 110 Taillevent, London. Btw, this place comes highly recommended with 110 wines on the glass. Rich, deep complex nose of red and black fruit and some tapenade. The palate is rather disappointing, a little flat. Prominent acidity, earth, iron and an inner red currant fruit core. Very long finish. Not flawed but will not rate as there are no doubt better bottles of this wine.
Just entering the drinking window. Very smooth sleek, cassis, earth, olives, but also still very rich with black currants and cherries. If you are more interested in teritary flavors more time is needed. For people that enjoy rich flavors, now would be a good time to drink.
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My 3000st tasting note and a worthy wine for it. Served at a dinner with colleagues, lots of wow's. I bought this when it came out and it was much cheaper than the 2003/05 but this wonderful Chave has been rich and fruity since bottling and always drank well. It is now fully mature and has developed wonderful secondary aromas around bacon, barnyard, earth. Syrah at its best!
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Heady fragrance of ripe red and black fruits. Medium+ body, intense juiciness, more black fruits on palate, beautiful floral notes, spice - rosemary? moreish, delicious. Tannins still structured but smooth. Great depth.
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Very glad I got to taste this blind as it reinforces my opinion that Chave has moved in far too modern a direction post-1998.
Rather modern in style, ripe fruit, a bit too extracted. I found it well made but boring. It should be noted that other people liked it a lot more than I did and someone who drinks a lot of Chave even pegged it blind. When he guessed Chave I did say that if he was right it had to be from 1999 or later.
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Pnp. This followed the Mascarello Barolo and was just as good. Again the brightness and clear delineation impresses. Medium bodied with flavors of roasted meat, black olives and pepper. Great balance and impressive length. 94-95 and perhaps even better with a proper decant
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Dark wine but light on the palate, still very young! Meaty, pepper brilliantly structured blackberry's red fruit, tobacco and some earth. Decanted 4 hours and drank over 5 hours and was still showing different nuances the whole time.
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15 vintages of Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, Rouge and Blanc (E&R Wine Shop, Portland OR): Spicy herbal notes, coupled with some sweet earth on the nose. Lovely soil tones. Nose is complex and pleasingly elegant, but does smell a bit older than I would expect. The palate is sweet on entry, showing off briar fruit and some spicy tar and naturally flavored gummy bears. Really rich and beautifully sweet. Some similar herbal notes to the nose show up on the finish, which also shows nice balance of minerals and acidity. Rich and intense, coming across as quite hard on the finish at present.
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Syrah vs. Shiraz - Shoot out of the best (Singapore): Medium ruby, purple hue. Nose of dark fruit, spices, pepper, herbs, a touch of leather and barnyard, deep and complex. Enter the palate with sublime balance of fruit, structure and acidity. Not the biggest wine of the the night but the most balanced and elegant one. Excellent precision and length. It showed why Chave is the King of the Rhone. A wow wine. This was well below 200 USD when it hit the market. Can be drunk now with a bit of decanting.
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Opened for 6hrs and decanted for another 2hrs before drinking. Prominent vanilla on the nose mixed with some floral and meaty undertones. On the palate, opulent dark fruit with very well rounded tannins giving the wine a smooth and lush texture. Grippy finish. This should keep getting better over the next 5-10yrs but it is already drinking beautifully.
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The 06 was the surprise of the night. Still primary as expected, but it showed very well for its youth. I was a bit worried about this vintage, but tonight's bottle renewed my faith. Everyone really liked it.
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A big and rugged wine showing tar, tobacco, menthol, cedar, a good bit of Brett and leather, still firm tannin, dark edge but a core of dried cherry; not getting pepper, violets, or velvety tannin though there has been the consistent theme today with more recent Chaves; this bottle seemed a bit dumb but I'm not sure when it will emerge.
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Still early but starting to come out of it's dumb phase with great classic northern rhone flavors. Brickish edges showing, nose of great terroir and barnyard, mushroom, and the pallet tasted good dark red fruit accompanied by some very meaty flavors. Long finish. A great wine and expect it will get better over the next 5 - 7 years.
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Slow Ox 3hrs. Very dark red Nose is big and sophisticated right from the start. Gaminess, tobacco, coffee, black cherry, rose all nose, this thing is coming out full force. Very powerful. Tannins are quite strong. Cherrywood, black cherry, wood,truffles, forrest minerals flavors. Great combination of the flavors. Raisin, dates nose. A little tight, but great wine. Weight is medium minus, acid medium plus. Tannins are strong, but in a very good place right now. Very sophisticated, nose. Beautiful wine.
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Very tough to score as it's obviously a 95-98 point wine when compared to other syrah. But at this price point, it's hard to say that it's truly that spectacular. Beautifully made, with incredible purity and structure. Graceful to drink. Yet dominated by red fruit (with some alluring bacon fat on the nose that unfortunately blew off) without any true complexity to it. Ultimately, a bit unilateral, if divine with roast duck breast. For the price, though, I'm torn, as the "experience" of reckoning with a temperamental and evolving wine simply wasn't quite there.
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Had the good fortune of driving along the Rhone from Provence to Burgundy back in 07 visiting some great wineries with my wife. The highlight was barrel tasting with Jean Louis at his winery in Hermitage. Even in their embryonic state, the wines we sampled showed wonderfully. I can't recall each wine specifically, but I'm sure the 06 was one of them.
Now. Stunningly beautiful, yet powerful, with opulent fruit, chocolate and a hint of spice box, the 06 packs a 90 second aftertaste. Can't say enough about this producer. And can't wait to try the 07!
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Verticale Chave (Terroirs-Y-Seleccion): Roube rouge rubis plus dense que celle du 2008. Le nez est assez expressif, encore sur la réserve avec des notes de musc. Je trouve que ce vin manque un peu de longueur.
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A great wine, the 2006 Chave is deep purple with a black core. The nose is vivid and complex, with seemingly contradictory aromas: ripe strawberries, which I associate with a lighter wine, but also musk, leather, toffee, bacon fat. Powerful and intense, with that ripe fruit, but cradled in soft, dense tannins and lifted by serious acidity, like a burgundy. Sipping this, I was somehow reminded of stewed rhubarb (in a positive way). Endless finish... A great wine, just reaching early maturity.
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8 Vintages of Chave tasted at VVW (2004-2011) Groups #8 and my #7 wine of the tasting. Some funky bretty aromas mar the nose. Beneath the funk there are some sour cherry and coffee notes. The palate is rounder, sweeter and ultimately the most simple of this lineup.
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My first crack at this. But we had this at the end of a very long night, so I'm not sure it got the showing it deserved. I liked it, but expected to love it, and I'll have to reserve judgment until trying it again soon.
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Dinner at HSA (Østerbro, Copenhagen): Albeit very young, this was a good showing from this wine; firm and precise, certainly far from showing the full monty, but with enough revealed so you could what's coming. The masculine Hermitage-character dominates with tobacco, chocolate, lives and a stony backbone, you' gotta love it.
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Some of the greatest wines available to human kind (@KG's in Tavelsjö (Umeå)): Yay! So soon again, but what a fantastic specimen this is! Youthful charm in pre-mature drinking time. Fabulous combination of great concentration and a mega spree of components, making this wine a great promise for the future. Built like a Bentley. Will try to hold on to my last btl for a bit over 10 years. In this flight, all three Northern Rhones were my favorites, from little different angles. This one for its powerful multifaceted aromas and impressive future promise.
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Northern Rhônes with Rajat Parr (Stockholm, Grappe): Insanely beautiful ultra-traditional example of the features every Hermitage should like to possess. Ethereal nose - fairly bretty - with herbs, dried flowers, tobacco, leather, tar, granite dust, graphite, and assorted red and black fruits. Also quite cedary in an old-school bordeaux kind of way. Surprisingly accessible on the palate, yet with obvious future potential. Very elegant and complex, and totally convincing - not by its power, but by its beauty.
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Intense ruby color. Beautiful nose of dark berries, sweet spices (licorice, cinnamon), minerality (graphite), flowers and pepper. Caresses the palate with an incredible softness (for Hermitage), an open personality but enough depth of flavor and structure to be mind-blowing. The longer it sits in the glass, the more of the typical flavors like pepper and cassis emerge. It has a full body without a hint of heaviness, tons of incredibly silky tannins and some well-integrated, but medium-high acidity. Very dense and long, but at the same time incredibly complex and elegant. This has so much finesse... I really love it!
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Compresso, giovane, con un tocco di legno da smaltire. Queste le poche cose fuori posto di questo mostriciattolo. Da risentire con calma nei prossimi lunghi anni, le premesse sono molto buone.
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Rhone - Highlights from north & south (Portimao): Served during a Rhone lecture I held during an offsite in Portugal. Opened 1 hour before but not decanted. This wine was picked by many as the WOTN among strong competition. It had an unusual fruity flamboyance for a Hermitage, much more than the 04 for example. Being surrounded by several top CdP's it stood its ground even for lovers of more fruity wines. Very long, complex and aromatic with fruit and necessary backbone at the same time. The sommelier of the local hotel who helped me organize the event also loved it. Outstanding!
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Non-blind. Dbl decanted 1 hr at home and at L'Effervesence in Omotesandou, Tokyo. Impression: incredibly fantastic wine! Ruby red. Young nose with great Brett, smoked meats, raw meat, perfumes of elderly lady. Later showed off cherries in a most Italian way. It is rare I get wound up in the nose of red wines, but this one tickles the olfactory system through and through. Mouton '82 also is this multifaceted... Young in the mouth and a restrained mega wine. High acids, biting elegant tannins and fine concentration with herbal sides, wood sticking out a bit and superbly juicy red currants. Married Namae-san's duck!!! Remaining 2 btls in 10 resp 20 years. Wife also loved this!
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Best of the Best Tasting (Binny's Lincoln Park): Very smooth and delicious. You can tell from the nose it is Syrah, but it tastes nothing like the Aussie wines I love so much, which in this case was a good thing. A great wine.....my #3 wine of the night.
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An evening with Chave, SQN, Captain Kirk and others (The Greenhouse Tavern): This is the most youthful tasting at the table. It took some time to open and when last seen (tasted) was still improving. It is much more masculine in style. The nose shows cassis, camphor and a slightly medicinal note (not in a bad way though). It is strong. Lots of tannins and fruit. Cassis, black raspberries with enough acidity. Needs a decade to unwind. Still, its a beautiful wine tonight.
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2011 Duck Dinner (Peter Pratt's Inn): This was an absolute "wow" wine. I couldn't take my nose out of the stem for 5 minutes as I fervently inhaled as much of the amazing scent as possible. This is a decadent wine that is worthy of it's title of WOTN at our table. The richness and silky texture of the dense fruit is amazing, just loaded with notes of licorice, violets anise, minerals and black fruits. Ridiculously good wine.
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Chave Survey (Arlequin Wine Merchant, San Francisco): Medium color. Lovely complex nose that already shows early secondary perfume. Elegant, complex mix of red fruit and herbs. Lively with fine acidity and long finish with some tannic clout remaining. This is the essence of the Chave style, seducing with subtlety and complexity rather than power. I wouldn't be misled into consuming these too early, as I think it is still early in its life with the balance to last another decade anyway.
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So, so, so young. A really huge wine but impeccably balanced. Beautiful nose of ripe fruit and earth. Complex flavors that keep you coming back to the glass.
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Tasted in parallell with Chapoutiers L'Ermite 2006. Where the Chapoutier was more full bodied and bloody/merlot/inky in the nose, the Chave was more herbal/fresh/bacon fat and more elegant on the palate, with a lingering acidity. Still closed with tough tannins, but not unpleasant to drink - a bit like a young Barolo!
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Has smoothed out and gained some heft since my last bottle a year and a half ago. Still has the same grilled meat, earth, minerals, olives and smoke, but it's developed a more plush texture. Approaching its peak. Terrific bang for the buck.
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Let me start by saying that this wine was awesome. Truly. But at $240 I'm kinda hoping for more than 92 points. This is definitely a "trophy" wine by which I mean you're getting about $120 worth of wine, and $120 worth of label. That being said, the nose was spectacular. Refined, elegant notes of blueberry, violets, lilacs and lightly peppered. Amazing integration of soft but assertive tannins. A hint of smokiness on the mid palate finishing into bacon fat and fresh aromatic black pepper. I'm still tasting new flavors a minute after the swallow. If you love Northern Rhones and you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, you will not be disappointed by this bottle.
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Decanted for an hour or so - rich and beautiful nose. The palate followed with dark fruit and black pepper with espresso on the back end. Tannins were not overpowering and the acidity was just right. Later on, the wine seemed to fall apart.
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Delicious right out of the bottle. A bit of barnyard on the nose, which blew off after an hour. Intense tart cherry/berry and pepper flavors, with a long earthy/fruity finish. Not nearly as good on day 2, so best to drink now.
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Very dark purple in color, almost black as other reviews have stated. I decanted for about an hour before tasting. On the nose I detected Smoke and earth. I definitely get smoked meat and BBQ on the palate. The wine is balanced with a medium-long finish. I enjoyed this wine with fillet mingnon and the two worked well together. This is just a fantastic wine.
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Dinner with Bernard Burtschy (Taberna del Alabardero): For me, this was wine of the night. So young but so great. A very balanced wine with a spicy currant nose that has great structure - tannins and acidity are all in balance. A very sexy, silky wine full of fruit.
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The nose was pretty muted. Didn't get much beyond oak and dark fruits. A touch of spice and espresso. Big and soft dark fruits upfront, but with huge tannic grip. Not giving much up. Closed and big. In my opinion, just way too young to be opened and/or appreciated.
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Knightsbridge's Burgundy Tasting (Knightsbridge, Northbrook IL): nose: extremely well balanced and very deep nose that is just filled with layered tones of black pepper, bacon fat, black cherries, smoke, bits of florals and great underlying spice tones. It doesn't necessarily scream, but instead works out a brawny richness that also has a beguiling side to it
taste: Great melded tones of smoked meats, black pepper, bacon fat, black cherries, and bits of floral tones on the palate with a great medium/full feel and good tannins and medium acidity. Well layered and very classy at the same time
overall: just a baby, but shows off what could turn into a stupendous wine. It already is an amazing wine, but is just so young at the same time and needs to really let itself emerge. A real breath taking young chave that is great now and should be great in 25 years
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Opaque, almost black. Terrific nose - grilled meat, earth, and minerals. Same notes plus olives and smoke on the palate. Somewhat astringent and light on the palate - needs time and/or aeration. Good, smoky finish. Needs appropriate food (cassoulet?)
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2006 Northern Rhone Superstars at Vin Vino Wine: Spicy, savory olive, mineral nose. Ripe, juicy fruit with more olive and smoke. Mouthcoating intensity, with great acid and quite astringent, grippy tannins. This shut down hard in the glass; apparently not for current drinking. Seems full of promise, though.
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VVW tasting of great Northern Rhone. Incredible nose with spices, pepper, and something I still haven't placed. Great mid-palate depth. Nicely structured -- can tell this will go a long time. Long finish. I love this stuff.
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Just picked this up today and decided to benchmark it. We just finished a great bottle of '95 Krug and poured most of a flawed '94 Insignia down the drain, so I was in no mood for a corked or cooked bottle. Tree bark and menthol on nose. The balance and texture of this wine, like most Chave Hermitages, is great. The tannins were silky smooth and nothing was out of place. After an hour, the nose is more minty than menthol and the palate starts to show licorice, raspberry and rhubarb. Some roasted meat and garrigue near the end. Reminds me of a lighter version of the '03. Will garner more points as it ages.
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Darker than the St. Joseph but not opaque. Beautiful, remarkably complex scents of whole berry clusters and smoke. This does not scream "Syrah" as much as the prior wine. Fuller, rounder, and more sublte integration of all of its elements than the St. Joseph. This seems to have perfect weight, acidity, mouth feel, and penetration. The level of strong acidity came as a shock after having tasted the '06 Clos des Papes earlier in the day. A faint herbal note adds additional complexity without rendering it weedy. Amazing how delicious it is now. A model of elegance and balance, this is a masterpiece of blending and may be one of those wines that never shuts down and is always a pleasure to drink.
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Very dark Purple, almost black. Meaty, earthy nose with tapenade and violet top notes and a distinctive crushed stone scent. Rich and thick on the palate, this is a big, meaty style that favors the bacon and pepper side of syrah rather than the floral-violet side. Harmonious acids keep the wine light on its feet and the finish hangs around a good long time and echos the meaty scents of the nose. A really powerful Crozes that should age into something quite nice. Save for winter time drinking with hearty foods.
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3/17/2024 - bobadopolis Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted for 4 hours. Drank with North African spiced chicken. Spectacular.
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3/2/2024 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 98 Points
Extraordinary bottle and easily my red WOTN amongst a great lineup at a collector friend's retirement party. Full of smoke, tar, olive. Resolved and well integrated tannins. No tertiary development. This can age for decades, but I'd argue this bottle sat in the bullseye of its peak window.
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1/29/2024 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Double decanted for 2 hrs, med. ruby with a lighter rim, dark fruit with bacon; outstanding, significantl better that my other recent bottle & was WOTN at the dinner, ready to drink
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1/1/2024 - Winevestor Likes this wine: 95 Points
My first Chave and did not disappoint. Big wine but integrated and surprizingly elegant. Lots of meat, and black fruit. Drinking well now, but more to go.
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12/24/2023 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 94 Points
3 hr decant. Both more and less than I expected. The more: more seamless, more integrated, more refined and elegant. The less: less perfumed nose, less viscosity, less raw power than anticipated. A bit of bacon-like brett but not too much to distract. A keen menthol edge to the palate; on the nose it was closer to eucalyptus. Meaty and leathery on the nose, and while their was some olive-like weight to it, it was in the background. Overall very satisfied.
Score: 94. Relative to expectations: ++
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12/15/2023 - BradE wrote:
The least exciting bottle of this I've had. Hopefully the bottle?
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10/28/2023 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Double decanted for 2 hrs, med. ruby, dark fruit with a touch of bacon; outstanding, drink or hold
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10/11/2023 - sjfunkenhauser wrote: 96 Points
What an incredible experience. Ripe red and black fruit, black pepper, olive tapenade, leather, dried flowers and an under current of minerality. Incredible texture, perfect balance. Powerful yet elegant. Culminating with a long lingering finish.
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10/4/2023 - llink wrote: 95 Points
PNP. What a difference 8 years make. Crimson/black color. This is absolutely lovely. Blackberry, creosote, olive tapenade and a subtle gaminess on the nose. Full, rich yet surprisingly lively palate, with more blackberry and black cherry fruit delivered in a grainy texture that is really compelling. This is in a great spot yet shows no sign of fading at all.
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9/30/2023 - alanr wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful nose, starting to really show the trademark Chave truffle, creosote, grilled meats, lovely palate, darker red fruit, some nice smokiness, somewhat softer than the 06 Allemand paired with it, but still good acidity, moderate tannins. A lovely Chave, young still, but starting to drink nicely.
Out of interest, I found my note from tasting this on release:
reserved nose hints of dark crushed fruit creosote palate dark very brooding deep red fruit very good structure and acidity but so backward and secretive right now. Score impossible
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9/29/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Allemand vs Chave (Kitchen Istanbul): A bit more reserved compared to the Reynard with quite dark fruit notes, black pepper, smoke, and mushrooms. Medium acidity on the palate with black cherries, good structure, cedar, and underwood notes. Nice finish. A lovely wine.
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9/29/2023 - aagrawal wrote: 95 Points
Chave vs. Allemand (Kitchen Istanbul, SF): Stood up for a few days and decanted off well settled but significant sediment caked onto the bottom of the bottle. Color is surprisingly light for Syrah though within a good range, slight bricking; high intensity aromatics, meaty bacon fat, minerals, violets, full of character and depth; palate is medium bodied, medium-plus acidity, 14% alcohol is impeccably integrated, some blackberry, some pepper spice, minerality, olive; finish has excellent length. Superb Chave and Hermitage, drinking well now and will continue to evolve in the glass in a positive direction. I thought this might be a little closed, but it absolutely is not. My only bottle, but this would likely age well for another decade at least. 95
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9/8/2023 - asteff Likes this wine: 96 Points
I loved this. From nose to finish just beautiful. Violets, bramble fruits, touches of meatiness. Wonderful balance.
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7/19/2023 - BaroloRob wrote: 94 Points
Mild Brett.
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6/27/2023 - Irish_Wine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Ridiculous intensity on the nose. Wafts out of the glass. Intensity carries to the palate with an incredibly, long evolving finish, with a core of blackberry and a peppery, savoury crescendo. Fantastic wine. Drink now or hold.
WSET notes:
Deep garnet.
Pronounced on the nose with blackberry, dried violet, sage, grilled beef crust, black pepper, dried blackberry, black olive, clove and cinammon. Developing.
Pronounced and dry on the palate. Full bodied, high alcohol, high acidity, high tannins, long finish.
Can drink now but has potential for aging.
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6/23/2023 - fabchave Likes this wine: 96 Points
Double decanted and drank 1h later.
Nose is nothing short of breathtaking.
Rose and spice, wood.
Palate is intricate, with forest soil, rose, red fruits and delicate dark fruits, spice, cedar.
A fabulous wine right now.
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5/11/2023 - wino_tim wrote:
Fully mature but with a lot of gas left in the tank. This is really driven by structure and the tannins still loom in the background but there is remarkable balance here too with deep flavors of dried red fruit, autumn leaves, roasted mushrooms, leather, violets, and earth. Tasty and compelling.
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2/17/2023 - mellie wrote: 95 Points
Really nice drinking window but still has many years. Did not decant but did open an hour and a half before drinking.
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2/13/2023 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
JT and Marty Super Bowl Extravaganza (Chez Newman): Excellent showing of this; better than I remember with an explosive nose of black fruit and purple flowers. With air a bit of pepper and olive, but mostly just fruit and floral. The palate however remained elegant and fresh, great balance, superb concentration. A fabulous bottle of Chave.
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12/29/2022 - TWSA wrote: 90 Points
Nose: musky, leather, smoke, coffee roast, banana, black pepper, violet
Notes: An excellent example of top notch Hermitage, very intense nose with quite a solid and fruity palate. One could say this should require a few more years to get to its best potential but it's already quite decent to consume now. However, I could say I'm a little skeptical if this wine will improve significantly with time and it is questionable if further potential can be released in the future. It feels that although the nose is already quite explosive and complete the palate lacks the elegance and durability. This could be caused by our decision to decant the wine. I would say that despite all the findings above I would give this wine another shot in a couple of years and see if I can draw a conclusion on this particular wine.
Rating: 90
Drink: 2025+
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12/25/2022 - dbkitc wrote: 97 Points
Just as impressive as the bottle drunk last December Dull ruby color is followed by a textbook Northern Rhone nose filled with crunchy red berry fruit, dry earth and subtle wild herbs. A touch of leather and tobacco as well. Baking spices. The palate is full of flavor, exhilarating and plentiful. All the while, the weight is medium and restrained. Wow. All the power yet so balanced and under control. This winery is a personal favorite and this wine is a perfect example why. Glorious. (97)
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10/28/2022 - kosdogger Likes this wine: 98 Points
Nearly flawless wine and sadly last bottle. It is definitely drinking great now and can easily go another 10+ years.
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9/20/2022 - Rani Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for 40 minutes. Approachable but still young. Forward red fruit, notes of bacon and hung meat. Lots of acidity on the palate, layered, structured. Hint of citrus peel. Really good but will be better in a decade.
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9/18/2022 - drwine2001 wrote:
Sunday Lunch with Raveneau Chablis and Chave Hermitage (Piccino Restaurant, San Francisco): Slighter lighter ruby than the 2011. Sharp fennel on the nose. Lighter and less ripe mixed fruit than the younger wine. Drier, leaner feel and full of earth. Yes, it is quite elegant, but like several wines in this flight, it seems overbalanced toward the herbal elements rather than the fruit. I would worry about this drying out with further aging.
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8/5/2022 - ovenmitt wrote: 95 Points
Drinking very well with 2+ hour’s decanting. Blue and red fruit, spice. Huge structure but completely balanced…. Beautiful wine.
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4/17/2022 - SonOfBarolo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Burgundy-style Syrah. Loved this wine, incredible terroir.
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4/17/2022 - BaroloRob wrote: 94 Points
Pure red fruit. Nice wine. In drinking window now.
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4/3/2022 - Lipsman wrote: 94 Points
Quite good. Needs a couple hours in a decanter. Licorice and cherries, a hint of tar, dark fruits, good length and balance, no tannins to speak of.
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3/11/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Wine Tasted at Acker Auction (Ci Siamo - New York NY): Corked
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2/16/2022 - vintage_whine wrote:
Bit of Brett on the palate and finish but this wine traded in the precision of jamet, there is very little pepper or smoked meat, for the ultimate luxury of the tannins that are incredibly plush and of the same velvety texture as 1st growth bdx
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1/20/2022 - jmoon wrote: flawed
Slightly prune sherry notes creeping in
Bottle looked good but providence unknown
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12/4/2021 - dbkitc wrote: 97 Points
Dang - this is out of control wonderful. One of my 2 or 3 desert island wineries. Absolutely shining in this relatively unheralded vintage. Deep ruby red color. Classic nose of dark berry fruit, meat and earth tied together in a seamless and compellingly pure package. What should a wine from the Northern Rhone smell like? Stick your nose in a glass of this! In a perfect spot today as the flavors have started to mature but there is still plenty of energy and tannin on the finish. A bit of leather. Wow. Hard to say a Chave can be a sleeper, but this vintage might just fit the bill. Wish I had three cases of this. One of the wines of the year. (97)
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12/3/2021 - beatles wrote: 96 Points
I actually guessed Chave 2004 more or less right on, goes to show the typicity of the wine, Chave from a somewhat cooler year. It's elegant, yet masculin with all the fixers in terms of olives, black fruit, stone, bacon, hanged meat. Drinking well already.
#SøllerødKro#x-mas#Tulle
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9/25/2021 - jamesabdavis wrote:
Boom! Fabulous Chave nose. Dark fruit, smoke, leather, meat, flowers.
Great focus on the palate. Intense but so elegant. This is a top-notch Chave.
I read that JLC says 2006 reminds him of 1991. I can see what he means and if so we’re in for a treat. Just requires patience…
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7/23/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautifully perfumed nose. Obviously a youthful Chave but it's fully integrated and showing quite well with flavors of dark fruits, sweet asphalt and smoked meats. Succulent with electric acidity and superb richness and depth and it's well-poised for future development. The finish is still tannic but beginning to take on that great Chave layered elegance that just flows over the tongue like liquid graphite. A great vintage for this wine from an unheralded year...not a surprise from such an amazing producer and this should merit a higher score in the future. 94+
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6/7/2021 - BradE wrote:
Still big, still young. Needs lots of air.
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4/9/2021 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
This is excellent but really still way too young. The nose was full of dark fruits, smoke, bacon fat violet, and stone notes. The palate is rich and full with great concentration. This was tasted after a couple 35-40 yr old wines which made it seem bigger than it is. But it’s excellent and needs another decade.
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3/1/2021 - Tony Simo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Best Syrah's on the planed tasting. All 2006. Chave Hermitage was spectacular but the weakest in the lineup. Still very young. TS96, Penfolds Grange was huge, yet silky. Tasted wonderful on it's own and paired with camel tenderloin (yes, camel) TS98 Cayuse Cellioux had its characteristic barnyard, very complex. I loves this wine, also very age worthy TS98.
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1/22/2021 - aChave Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big, deep, layered dark red fruit with spice and smoked meat notes. Structure is sound and has lovely balance, but the fruit dominates at this point. Young but thoroughly enjoyable. Opened 5 hours ahead with 90 minute decant. Heady bouquet and very long finish. Perfect accompaniment to lamb shank with walnut anchovy salsa and celeriac crema. Delicious finishing the last bit the next day as well!
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12/31/2020 - Kepos Likes this wine: 93 Points
very Bordeaux nose, leather, dark berries, Tannins still very present, pretty dark, very long. Really good but the remaining bottles will stay in the cellar for min 5 years...
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12/30/2020 - Andice wrote: 92 Points
Really wished I loved it more given the pedigree (& price!) but this is so tightly wound up now. With air, the potential peeks through with super quality tannins, fruit and glycerin. Length is extraordinary. Will be great in XX years for sure
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12/22/2020 - NickNYC Likes this wine: 94 Points
spectacular nose, young of course but really approachable. the palate is dense, polished tanins and good length. has a long life ahead but very good right now.
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11/11/2020 - jmoore431 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Deep dark purple; huge nose of deep dark fruit and florality like walking through a field of wild flowers. Sauvage, hints of smoked meats, soil minerality. Deep, rich, delicious. Huge potential for gaining more complexity but wonderful now.
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6/10/2020 - BradE wrote:
A big Chave, and still early days, but it's starting to show development and age. I continue to think this will be a very good to excellent vintage over time.
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5/22/2020 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fine Wines SG - Is Seña really that great? (Zoom): Medium garnet, slightly fading edges, thick and highly extracted. Nose of paprika spices, purple flowers, and savoury meatiness. Fairly ripe redcurrants, purple flowers and some twigs, smokehouse and charcuterie. Fair length, with florals, pepper, and coffee at the back. Great!
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11/7/2019 - UTPK wrote:
Fantastic showing. Elegang, complex and multilayered nose. Needs 30 min to open up. So well balanced and easy to drink. Smooth tannins, finely grained and detailed palate. Long and succulent finish.
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10/6/2019 - ElCarretil10 wrote:
Foutief ingevoerd
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10/5/2019 - Overlook Likes this wine:
Decanted for 3 hours. Stunning nose with dark fruit, black pepper, balsamic, cool and poised. Still feels quite primary. Great concentration, full bodied and long. Pretty firm tannins in finish. A great wine with lots of potential for the future.
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7/20/2019 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
BBQ and Top Shelf Vino (Chez Moll): Blind. Quite obviously N. Rhone. Rich, forward aromas of black fruit with loads of meat notes. The palate is youthful and richly fruited. Still in its decadent youth and showing some wood. But this is playfully delicious now and classically N. Rhone. Plenty of upside as this matures and gains depth.
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7/20/2019 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Saturday BBQ (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Easy Chave call -- it's classic syrah, but without the brine, meat, and smoke, but still obviously syrah, and there's also that Chave polish. After narrowing some of the years down, I guessed that this was a 2007 because of the relatively red fruit and lighter body. Apparently all the Bordeaux had probably messed with my palate and I didn't pick up the black fruit from the vintage instead. Really nice heft and acidic cut here, but this needs some more time to reach full maturity.
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3/6/2019 - bobadopolis wrote: 97 Points
Stunning and spectacular. Decanted for about 6 hours, and though clearly young, this was super approachable and was excellent with pheasant served under glass. Best wine i've had this year.
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3/5/2019 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
Young and just about showing glimpses of its beauty along the way. Its not austere or difficult or even closed down just not yet in full stride.
Not so much roast meat on the nose yet, light smoky, light inky but still a bit too much on the dark fruit and soft spice. The quality is there , the elegance and the promise. All we need for this wine now is patience and it will be a high 90s for sure. 93-94 for now as we rate wrt to how the wine was not will be.
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1/4/2019 - Argrath wrote: 95 Points
(Half-blind tasting)
Full, but a bit shy nose. Plum, cedar, leather, earth. Liquorice and cassis. Very Bdx. Fantastic depth, but still on the youthful side.
Very elegant and balanced palate. Tannic. Black fruit and rubber. Very cool and austere. Minerally. Medium-fullish. Long, but still a bit closed.
No doubt about the quality. First time we tasted this icon wine, and the group's guess was on Bdx - probably because Comtesse Lalande had such a strange style.
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12/30/2018 - Dough Boy Likes this wine: 97 Points
It's been a little over 2 years since I last drank this beauty, but this time instead of drinking a 750ml with my wife on vacation at the White Barn in Maine, we drank a magnum bottle with good friends over a spectacular Christmas brunch at Palmetto in Charleston. Velvety smooth with earthy Old World nuances and luscious fruit, this Chave is not as full bodied as you might expect from a Hermitage, but that's fine here. I particularly enjoyed the subtle spice, which you like to see in Rhone wines. Very balanced. I still score it the same for the many of same reasons as previously stated, too, and our table of 6 in Charleston raved about it!
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12/21/2018 - Tmurphrey wrote: 95 Points
First time and hopefully not my last to drink this amazing wine. Deep richness, nice fruit, softened tannins and a wonderful depth of soil.
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11/4/2018 - jviz Likes this wine: 96 Points
This was the beguiling wine of the evening for me. It showed a greatness that truly special wines of the world have - a density, finesse, and focus that explain why it is so highly sought after.
This bottle had a lot of sediment, and showed itself to be VERY advanced for 2006. The nose had sultana raisins, with a wild fruit reduction and hint of olive. The palate was beautifully concentrated with major tannic resolution at this point. It finished with some holiday spices but not the typical black pepper or meaty/gamey notes I usually associate with the region. This was my first Hermitage and I intend to seek out some others based on the experience. Amazing pairing with smoked eggplant ratatouille.
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6/20/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Auction - June 2018 (Laduree NYC W Broadway): Baby Chave! A clear sign that this is another wine that really appreciates the 20+ years in the bottle. At this stage the wine is almost a tough more disjointed. Very intense. Lots of fruit and some meat and alcohol. But it's just too much. Give it time.
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6/2/2018 - sommwines wrote:
Cassiss and flowery notes on the nose. Classy beyond measure. Delicate mouthfeel. Fruit and then peppery on the finish. Amazing.
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5/23/2018 - MikeATL Likes this wine: 93 Points
Showing the class I have long associated with Chave, pure fruit, minerals, and pepper.
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4/3/2018 - Topper wrote: 94 Points
Big, dark, meaty with black fruits and a core of black cherry. Tons of substance and slightly closed in but beginning to hint at the greatness to come. Could use another 8-10 years before the next tasting.
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3/1/2018 - Markus IWC wrote: 95 Points
JL Chave tasting, wine #10: massive wine, early in drinking window. Elegant and classy nose with grass, damp cellar, blackberry, smoke, crushed stone and stone roasted notes. Extreme purity, so clean and beautiful. Deep concentration, leather, cedar, tobacco, mint. Perfect balance. Steely structure, keeps developing in the glass for 4 hours. Minimum 25 years life in this beauty.
Fermented in steel tanks and open oak vats. Aged in used oak barrels, focus on fruit and terroir.
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2/20/2018 - mattiasjansson wrote: 93 Points
Rhone dinner in Boston (Boston): Very nice but oh-so-young. Tannins still have plenty of resolving to do.
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2/15/2018 - thwacker Likes this wine: 95 Points
Really super, purplish, explosive bouquet of plums and meaty essences with pepperish nuances everything a syrah from Hermitage should be. well-balance, complex and full of energy. Yum
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2/3/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chicago, IL): Served blind alongside the 2001. Big, powerful and meaty with black cherry and plum start-to-finish. Hints of how great this will be come through, but still backward. Lots of tannins, but very elegant. Very long finish. 94-95 point potential, but needs more time in the cellar. So much better vs a seemingly tired/ oxidized bottle a few months ago.
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2/3/2018 - Nanda wrote: 96 Points
Blind Syrahs at Chevalier (Chicago, IL): Tasted blind alongside a blind '01 Chave. Full booming nose has layer upon layer of black fruit, black pepper, smoked meat and black olive. Savory, peppery black fruit that is lush and refined at the same time. The fruit is forward, but there is real structure too. Delicious.
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1/5/2018 - MV2007 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Fantastic wine entering a compelling drinking window. Well-structured, complex and long: nicely balanced between fruit (blackberry and current) and secondary characteristics of earth, funk, cured meats and smoke. It was decanted 1.5 hours, but improved throughout the night so decant longer. Will improve.
Drank with a 2006 Alban Seymour - fun contrast between top syrahs from two very different terroirs (and a counterpoint to those who argue California syrah can't age as the Alban seemed to be on the early side of maturity).
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1/3/2018 - BordeauxBoy wrote: 96 Points
Incredible wine with superior balance and character. Opened for 1+ hour before we started to drink and got better through the night as we tasted 10 other wines after it. Kept coming back for more. Great backbone, fruit, terrior. If you want more of the secondary and tertiary flavor, hold for another 5-10 years but drinking excellent right now.
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12/3/2017 - thwacker Likes this wine: 96 Points
About as good as Syrah gets. Now very smooth, somewhat reticent nose at first, then gradually becoming more exuberant over the next hour with lots of dark fruit notes and some spiciness. Enough acidity to keep it fresh. Probably peaking now.
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11/2/2017 - Mascarello59 wrote:
From a less than half full bottle tapped by Coravin probably 5-6 times at 110 Taillevent, London. Btw, this place comes highly recommended with 110 wines on the glass.
Rich, deep complex nose of red and black fruit and some tapenade. The palate is rather disappointing, a little flat. Prominent acidity, earth, iron and an inner red currant fruit core. Very long finish. Not flawed but will not rate as there are no doubt better bottles of this wine.
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10/29/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Chave Hermitage & Brisket (Chez Kailin - Northbrook IL): In 04/06/07/09 vertical. Seemingly oxidized.
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10/29/2017 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Chave & Brisket (Ken's - Northbrook, IL): Served in a flight of 04/06/07/09. Sadly a flawed bottle as the wine was brown in color and showed oxidized.
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10/8/2017 - sung251 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just entering the drinking window. Very smooth sleek, cassis, earth, olives, but also still very rich with black currants and cherries. If you are more interested in teritary flavors more time is needed. For people that enjoy rich flavors, now would be a good time to drink.
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8/3/2017 - Collector1855 wrote: 98 Points
My 3000st tasting note and a worthy wine for it. Served at a dinner with colleagues, lots of wow's. I bought this when it came out and it was much cheaper than the 2003/05 but this wonderful Chave has been rich and fruity since bottling and always drank well. It is now fully mature and has developed wonderful secondary aromas around bacon, barnyard, earth. Syrah at its best!
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6/16/2017 - kosdogger Likes this wine: 95 Points
Just a fantastic bottle. Medium body, silky soft tannins and great long finish. Has not hit its peak yet but definitely enjoyable to drink now.
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6/14/2017 - sc03852 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Heady fragrance of ripe red and black fruits. Medium+ body, intense juiciness, more black fruits on palate, beautiful floral notes, spice - rosemary? moreish, delicious. Tannins still structured but smooth. Great depth.
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5/30/2017 - millej wrote:
Very glad I got to taste this blind as it reinforces my opinion that Chave has moved in far too modern a direction post-1998.
Rather modern in style, ripe fruit, a bit too extracted. I found it well made but boring. It should be noted that other people liked it a lot more than I did and someone who drinks a lot of Chave even pegged it blind. When he guessed Chave I did say that if he was right it had to be from 1999 or later.
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1/7/2017 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 95 Points
Pnp. This followed the Mascarello Barolo and was just as good. Again the brightness and clear delineation impresses. Medium bodied with flavors of roasted meat, black olives and pepper. Great balance and impressive length. 94-95 and perhaps even better with a proper decant
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1/5/2017 - scott w Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dark wine but light on the palate, still very young! Meaty, pepper brilliantly structured blackberry's red fruit, tobacco and some earth. Decanted 4 hours and drank over 5 hours and was still showing different nuances the whole time.
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11/7/2016 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 92 Points
15 vintages of Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, Rouge and Blanc (E&R Wine Shop, Portland OR): Spicy herbal notes, coupled with some sweet earth on the nose. Lovely soil tones. Nose is complex and pleasingly elegant, but does smell a bit older than I would expect. The palate is sweet on entry, showing off briar fruit and some spicy tar and naturally flavored gummy bears. Really rich and beautifully sweet. Some similar herbal notes to the nose show up on the finish, which also shows nice balance of minerals and acidity. Rich and intense, coming across as quite hard on the finish at present.
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8/14/2016 - Collector1855 wrote: 98 Points
Syrah vs. Shiraz - Shoot out of the best (Singapore): Medium ruby, purple hue. Nose of dark fruit, spices, pepper, herbs, a touch of leather and barnyard, deep and complex. Enter the palate with sublime balance of fruit, structure and acidity. Not the biggest wine of the the night but the most balanced and elegant one. Excellent precision and length. It showed why Chave is the King of the Rhone. A wow wine. This was well below 200 USD when it hit the market. Can be drunk now with a bit of decanting.
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8/10/2016 - dchoo077 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened for 6hrs and decanted for another 2hrs before drinking. Prominent vanilla on the nose mixed with some floral and meaty undertones. On the palate, opulent dark fruit with very well rounded tannins giving the wine a smooth and lush texture. Grippy finish. This should keep getting better over the next 5-10yrs but it is already drinking beautifully.
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7/19/2016 - BradE wrote:
The 06 was the surprise of the night. Still primary as expected, but it showed very well for its youth. I was a bit worried about this vintage, but tonight's bottle renewed my faith. Everyone really liked it.
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6/28/2016 - Rezy13 wrote:
A big and rugged wine showing tar, tobacco, menthol, cedar, a good bit of Brett and leather, still firm tannin, dark edge but a core of dried cherry; not getting pepper, violets, or velvety tannin though there has been the consistent theme today with more recent Chaves; this bottle seemed a bit dumb but I'm not sure when it will emerge.
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2/21/2016 - BordeauxBoy Likes this wine: 95 Points
Still early but starting to come out of it's dumb phase with great classic northern rhone flavors. Brickish edges showing, nose of great terroir and barnyard, mushroom, and the pallet tasted good dark red fruit accompanied by some very meaty flavors. Long finish. A great wine and expect it will get better over the next 5 - 7 years.
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2/17/2016 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Slow Ox 3hrs.
Very dark red
Nose is big and sophisticated right from the start.
Gaminess, tobacco, coffee, black cherry, rose all nose, this thing is coming out full force. Very powerful. Tannins are quite strong. Cherrywood, black cherry, wood,truffles, forrest minerals flavors. Great combination of the flavors. Raisin, dates nose. A little tight, but great wine. Weight is medium minus, acid medium plus. Tannins are strong, but in a very good place right now. Very sophisticated, nose.
Beautiful wine.
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2/1/2016 - PC73 wrote:
dry on the palate
a lot of tannin
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10/18/2015 - nba1017 wrote: 93 Points
Very tough to score as it's obviously a 95-98 point wine when compared to other syrah. But at this price point, it's hard to say that it's truly that spectacular. Beautifully made, with incredible purity and structure. Graceful to drink. Yet dominated by red fruit (with some alluring bacon fat on the nose that unfortunately blew off) without any true complexity to it. Ultimately, a bit unilateral, if divine with roast duck breast. For the price, though, I'm torn, as the "experience" of reckoning with a temperamental and evolving wine simply wasn't quite there.
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10/2/2015 - Dough Boy Likes this wine: 97 Points
Had the good fortune of driving along the Rhone from Provence to Burgundy back in 07 visiting some great wineries with my wife. The highlight was barrel tasting with Jean Louis at his winery in Hermitage. Even in their embryonic state, the wines we sampled showed wonderfully. I can't recall each wine specifically, but I'm sure the 06 was one of them.
Now. Stunningly beautiful, yet powerful, with opulent fruit, chocolate and a hint of spice box, the 06 packs a 90 second aftertaste. Can't say enough about this producer. And can't wait to try the 07!
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8/28/2015 - swaap wrote: 92 Points
Verticale Chave (Terroirs-Y-Seleccion): Roube rouge rubis plus dense que celle du 2008.
Le nez est assez expressif, encore sur la réserve avec des notes de musc.
Je trouve que ce vin manque un peu de longueur.
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6/10/2015 - KPB Likes this wine: 95 Points
A great wine, the 2006 Chave is deep purple with a black core. The nose is vivid and complex, with seemingly contradictory aromas: ripe strawberries, which I associate with a lighter wine, but also musk, leather, toffee, bacon fat. Powerful and intense, with that ripe fruit, but cradled in soft, dense tannins and lifted by serious acidity, like a burgundy. Sipping this, I was somehow reminded of stewed rhubarb (in a positive way). Endless finish... A great wine, just reaching early maturity.
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4/22/2015 - llink wrote: 88 Points
8 Vintages of Chave tasted at VVW (2004-2011)
Groups #8 and my #7 wine of the tasting.
Some funky bretty aromas mar the nose. Beneath the funk there are some sour cherry and coffee notes. The palate is rounder, sweeter and ultimately the most simple of this lineup.
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2/22/2015 - mclancy10006 wrote: flawed
This was just a bit off. Starting to show Brett which I am very sensitive too, but other folks did not taste that And only noted some barn yard tones
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12/22/2014 - etyc Likes this wine:
AW's birthday dinner (Jade Palace): Ditto... As per the 1999 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon
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11/11/2014 - BradE wrote:
My first crack at this. But we had this at the end of a very long night, so I'm not sure it got the showing it deserved. I liked it, but expected to love it, and I'll have to reserve judgment until trying it again soon.
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4/5/2014 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 94 Points
Big and powerful with a long finish and amazing depth. This wine will undoubtably improve and last for years. Still fun to try at this early stage.
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2/21/2014 - beatles wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at HSA (Østerbro, Copenhagen): Albeit very young, this was a good showing from this wine; firm and precise, certainly far from showing the full monty, but with enough revealed so you could what's coming. The masculine Hermitage-character dominates with tobacco, chocolate, lives and a stony backbone, you' gotta love it.
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12/31/2013 - PC73 wrote: 94 Points
big, powerful, impressive on the nose.
the tannins are currently massive and this wine is way too young to drink now. should mature into a stunner.
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10/26/2013 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine: 97 Points
Some of the greatest wines available to human kind (@KG's in Tavelsjö (Umeå)): Yay!
So soon again, but what a fantastic specimen this is!
Youthful charm in pre-mature drinking time. Fabulous combination of great concentration and a mega spree of components, making this wine a great promise for the future. Built like a Bentley.
Will try to hold on to my last btl for a bit over 10 years.
In this flight, all three Northern Rhones were my favorites, from little different angles. This one for its powerful multifaceted aromas and impressive future promise.
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8/21/2013 - Finare Vinare wrote: 96 Points
Northern Rhônes with Rajat Parr (Stockholm, Grappe): Insanely beautiful ultra-traditional example of the features every Hermitage should like to possess. Ethereal nose - fairly bretty - with herbs, dried flowers, tobacco, leather, tar, granite dust, graphite, and assorted red and black fruits. Also quite cedary in an old-school bordeaux kind of way. Surprisingly accessible on the palate, yet with obvious future potential. Very elegant and complex, and totally convincing - not by its power, but by its beauty.
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8/10/2013 - rocknroller wrote: 92 Points
Annual Wine Group Summer Event (Siggy & Jenny's Place, Mpls, MN): Small pour. Very dark red/purple color. Primary, dense core of black fruit, blackberry, scorched earth, black cherry, oak, spicy, firm tannins. Tight. 92(+).
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5/12/2013 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 97 Points
Intense ruby color. Beautiful nose of dark berries, sweet spices (licorice, cinnamon), minerality (graphite), flowers and pepper. Caresses the palate with an incredible softness (for Hermitage), an open personality but enough depth of flavor and structure to be mind-blowing. The longer it sits in the glass, the more of the typical flavors like pepper and cassis emerge. It has a full body without a hint of heaviness, tons of incredibly silky tannins and some well-integrated, but medium-high acidity. Very dense and long, but at the same time incredibly complex and elegant. This has so much finesse... I really love it!
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4/12/2013 - vespa110 wrote: 92 Points
Buono. Un po atipico ma buono . naso leggera carne arrostita ,erbaceo, frutti , fiori, bocca fresca , bel tannino , scattante...si beve molto bene.
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4/8/2013 - Bogho Likes this wine: 92 Points
Compresso, giovane, con un tocco di legno da smaltire. Queste le poche cose fuori posto di questo mostriciattolo. Da risentire con calma nei prossimi lunghi anni, le premesse sono molto buone.
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2/28/2013 - Collector1855 wrote: 97 Points
Rhone - Highlights from north & south (Portimao): Served during a Rhone lecture I held during an offsite in Portugal. Opened 1 hour before but not decanted. This wine was picked by many as the WOTN among strong competition. It had an unusual fruity flamboyance for a Hermitage, much more than the 04 for example. Being surrounded by several top CdP's it stood its ground even for lovers of more fruity wines. Very long, complex and aromatic with fruit and necessary backbone at the same time. The sommelier of the local hotel who helped me organize the event also loved it. Outstanding!
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1/13/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote: 97 Points
Non-blind. Dbl decanted 1 hr at home and at L'Effervesence in Omotesandou, Tokyo.
Impression: incredibly fantastic wine!
Ruby red.
Young nose with great Brett, smoked meats, raw meat, perfumes of elderly lady. Later showed off cherries in a most Italian way. It is rare I get wound up in the nose of red wines, but this one tickles the olfactory system through and through. Mouton '82 also is this multifaceted...
Young in the mouth and a restrained mega wine. High acids, biting elegant tannins and fine concentration with herbal sides, wood sticking out a bit and superbly juicy red currants. Married Namae-san's duck!!!
Remaining 2 btls in 10 resp 20 years. Wife also loved this!
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9/27/2012 - smcilhen wrote: 94 Points
Best of the Best Tasting (Binny's Lincoln Park): Very smooth and delicious. You can tell from the nose it is Syrah, but it tastes nothing like the Aussie wines I love so much, which in this case was a good thing. A great wine.....my #3 wine of the night.
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4/15/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 95 Points
An evening with Chave, SQN, Captain Kirk and others (The Greenhouse Tavern): This is the most youthful tasting at the table. It took some time to open and when last seen (tasted) was still improving. It is much more masculine in style. The nose shows cassis, camphor and a slightly medicinal note (not in a bad way though). It is strong. Lots of tannins and fruit. Cassis, black raspberries with enough acidity. Needs a decade to unwind. Still, its a beautiful wine tonight.
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11/10/2011 - Vinomarcus wrote: 98 Points
2011 Duck Dinner (Peter Pratt's Inn): This was an absolute "wow" wine. I couldn't take my nose out of the stem for 5 minutes as I fervently inhaled as much of the amazing scent as possible. This is a decadent wine that is worthy of it's title of WOTN at our table. The richness and silky texture of the dense fruit is amazing, just loaded with notes of licorice, violets anise, minerals and black fruits. Ridiculously good wine.
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10/27/2011 - drwine2001 wrote:
Chave Survey (Arlequin Wine Merchant, San Francisco): Medium color. Lovely complex nose that already shows early secondary perfume. Elegant, complex mix of red fruit and herbs. Lively with fine acidity and long finish with some tannic clout remaining. This is the essence of the Chave style, seducing with subtlety and complexity rather than power. I wouldn't be misled into consuming these too early, as I think it is still early in its life with the balance to last another decade anyway.
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10/27/2011 - anonymoose12345 Likes this wine: 92 Points
So, so, so young. A really huge wine but impeccably balanced. Beautiful nose of ripe fruit and earth. Complex flavors that keep you coming back to the glass.
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10/5/2011 - UTPK wrote:
Tasted in parallell with Chapoutiers L'Ermite 2006. Where the Chapoutier was more full bodied and bloody/merlot/inky in the nose, the Chave was more herbal/fresh/bacon fat and more elegant on the palate, with a lingering acidity. Still closed with tough tannins, but not unpleasant to drink - a bit like a young Barolo!
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2/25/2011 - Night Train wrote: 91 Points
Has smoothed out and gained some heft since my last bottle a year and a half ago. Still has the same grilled meat, earth, minerals, olives and smoke, but it's developed a more plush texture. Approaching its peak. Terrific bang for the buck.
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2/8/2011 - Jack Cranley wrote: 92 Points
Let me start by saying that this wine was awesome. Truly. But at $240 I'm kinda hoping for more than 92 points. This is definitely a "trophy" wine by which I mean you're getting about $120 worth of wine, and $120 worth of label. That being said, the nose was spectacular. Refined, elegant notes of blueberry, violets, lilacs and lightly peppered. Amazing integration of soft but assertive tannins. A hint of smokiness on the mid palate finishing into bacon fat and fresh aromatic black pepper. I'm still tasting new flavors a minute after the swallow. If you love Northern Rhones and you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, you will not be disappointed by this bottle.
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11/28/2010 - BlumJ wrote:
A true baby. Would not touch for another 10-15 years.
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11/3/2010 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Decanted for an hour or so - rich and beautiful nose. The palate followed with dark fruit and black pepper with espresso on the back end. Tannins were not overpowering and the acidity was just right. Later on, the wine seemed to fall apart.
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7/30/2010 - WDK wrote: 92 Points
Delicious right out of the bottle. A bit of barnyard on the nose, which blew off after an hour. Intense tart cherry/berry and pepper flavors, with a long earthy/fruity finish. Not nearly as good on day 2, so best to drink now.
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3/2/2010 - Troon wrote: 90 Points
Very dark purple in color, almost black as other reviews have stated. I decanted for about an hour before tasting. On the nose I detected Smoke and earth. I definitely get smoked meat and BBQ on the palate. The wine is balanced with a medium-long finish. I enjoyed this wine with fillet mingnon and the two worked well together. This is just a fantastic wine.
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2/18/2010 - madeiradog wrote: 96 Points
Dinner with Bernard Burtschy (Taberna del Alabardero): For me, this was wine of the night. So young but so great. A very balanced wine with a spicy currant nose that has great structure - tannins and acidity are all in balance. A very sexy, silky wine full of fruit.
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11/15/2009 - milwaukeewino wrote:
Knightsbridge Burgundy Tasting (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (IL)): Thrown in at the Knightsbridge Burgundy Tasting.
Oak and dark fruit.
Muted nose.
Some body funk.
Full bodied.
So hard to deal with in a field of Pinot. Plus, I am shot.
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11/15/2009 - Beavis77 wrote:
The nose was pretty muted. Didn't get much beyond oak and dark fruits. A touch of spice and espresso.
Big and soft dark fruits upfront, but with huge tannic grip. Not giving much up. Closed and big.
In my opinion, just way too young to be opened and/or appreciated.
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11/15/2009 - psmith wrote:
Characteristic refined cinnamon and spice notes - great aromatics. Medium body. Firm, with fine-grained tannins. Very nice wine.
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10/18/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
Knightsbridge's Burgundy Tasting (Knightsbridge, Northbrook IL): nose: extremely well balanced and very deep nose that is just filled with layered tones of black pepper, bacon fat, black cherries, smoke, bits of florals and great underlying spice tones. It doesn't necessarily scream, but instead works out a brawny richness that also has a beguiling side to it
taste: Great melded tones of smoked meats, black pepper, bacon fat, black cherries, and bits of floral tones on the palate with a great medium/full feel and good tannins and medium acidity. Well layered and very classy at the same time
overall: just a baby, but shows off what could turn into a stupendous wine. It already is an amazing wine, but is just so young at the same time and needs to really let itself emerge. A real breath taking young chave that is great now and should be great in 25 years
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10/13/2009 - Night Train wrote: 89 Points
Opaque, almost black. Terrific nose - grilled meat, earth, and minerals. Same notes plus olives and smoke on the palate. Somewhat astringent and light on the palate - needs time and/or aeration. Good, smoky finish. Needs appropriate food (cassoulet?)
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9/11/2009 - 5laton wrote:
2006 Northern Rhone Superstars at Vin Vino Wine: Spicy, savory olive, mineral nose. Ripe, juicy fruit with more olive and smoke. Mouthcoating intensity, with great acid and quite astringent, grippy tannins. This shut down hard in the glass; apparently not for current drinking. Seems full of promise, though.
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9/11/2009 - stanford88 wrote: 95 Points
VVW tasting of great Northern Rhone. Incredible nose with spices, pepper, and something I still haven't placed. Great mid-palate depth. Nicely structured -- can tell this will go a long time. Long finish. I love this stuff.
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5/16/2009 - JJL wrote: 94 Points
Just picked this up today and decided to benchmark it. We just finished a great bottle of '95 Krug and poured most of a flawed '94 Insignia down the drain, so I was in no mood for a corked or cooked bottle. Tree bark and menthol on nose. The balance and texture of this wine, like most Chave Hermitages, is great. The tannins were silky smooth and nothing was out of place. After an hour, the nose is more minty than menthol and the palate starts to show licorice, raspberry and rhubarb. Some roasted meat and garrigue near the end. Reminds me of a lighter version of the '03. Will garner more points as it ages.
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5/2/2009 - drwine2001 wrote:
Darker than the St. Joseph but not opaque. Beautiful, remarkably complex scents of whole berry clusters and smoke. This does not scream "Syrah" as much as the prior wine. Fuller, rounder, and more sublte integration of all of its elements than the St. Joseph. This seems to have perfect weight, acidity, mouth feel, and penetration. The level of strong acidity came as a shock after having tasted the '06 Clos des Papes earlier in the day. A faint herbal note adds additional complexity without rendering it weedy. Amazing how delicious it is now. A model of elegance and balance, this is a masterpiece of blending and may be one of those wines that never shuts down and is always a pleasure to drink.
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6/27/2008 - chefee1 wrote: 90 Points
Very dark Purple, almost black. Meaty, earthy nose with tapenade and violet top notes and a distinctive crushed stone scent. Rich and thick on the palate, this is a big, meaty style that favors the bacon and pepper side of syrah rather than the floral-violet side. Harmonious acids keep the wine light on its feet and the finish hangs around a good long time and echos the meaty scents of the nose. A really powerful Crozes that should age into something quite nice. Save for winter time drinking with hearty foods.
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