1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

Community Tasting Notes (224) Avg Score: 94.0 points

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  4/5/2024 - essenceofreal wrote: 94 Points

  Listen up people decant this wine for a long while to experience its beauty!
  
  Went from 92-95 during its evolution. This means high quality in my book vs others putting 95 points on wines that are best suited for pasta sauce.
  
  Aroma of lilac, white roses, jasmine and purple iris. Hypnotic. Nose better than the palate.
  
  Decanted 3 hours then back in the bottle and on to Cafe La Haye in Sonoma. Nice meal albeit not sure the pairing fit. This wine needs red meat and lots of it.
  
  Decanted again at the restaurant and at hour 4 all in got better. This bottle needed at least a 6hr decant. So puzzled how other reviewers don't mention this. As if they don't decant? So weird. Kinda like what's the point on drinking high end wine when you don't give it the TLC it requires. Weird. Criminal for this pedigree and vintage if so.
  
  Regardless, the palate tasted like like lilac and purple iris. Some white pepper on the finish. Pretty interesting. Very plush. Big. Was young and was in the early stages of its drinking window. This bottle could go for 20 more years it seemed and then some.
  
  Good wine but I felt this could be more giving. Certainly in line of character of other Chave's I've had, perhaps even a tad more acidity than others which gave it a nice backbone. Nice balance after 4 hours, smoothed out. Bit of a meaty/beafy thing came to the party and was layered in. Was a bit monolithic with a thin finish early on (92 points). IE bit short and not as complex. Hit 94/95 on the 5 hr mark. By then I was kinda done w it, had only half the bottle. Was a bit too big for the meal as had risotto. Did have short ribs as appetizer and a better fit.
  
  Regardless, I saved half the bottle for tomorrow, will see what its like if I get a change. Actually opened a 95 Chapoutier Pavillon before this, decanted 2 hours and was still tight. Hence put it away and opened the 99 Chave! Kinda think the Chapoutier was better and will outshine this Chave. Will drink it in the next day or so.
  
  NEXT DAY: Tried a glass of the Chave brought home. Was soooooo much better! By a wide margin actually. Just shoved the cork back in after pouring back in the bottle at the restaurant. Shows this bottle needed about a full day of air to reach its zenith for the fireworks to appear. POOR SAPS WHO DON"T DECANT THIS FOR 5+ HOURS, THEY MISS ALL THE FUN! AND OF COURSE MISS THE WINE REALLY FOR WHAT IT TRULY IS.
  
  Ha, 3 days later still had another glass+ in the bottle, and it is still rocking. Amazing. This stuff is bullet proof.

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  3/17/2024 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points

  This is a good time to start popping corks on this gem. Over the years, this has blossomed into a fabulous wine. Now, you find smoky red, and black fruits, dried flowers, cedar, cigar wrappers, spices, and peppery thyme. There is a refined edge to the textures on the palate. The vibrant finish blends wild cherries, spices, blackberries, herbs, and smoke. The wine evolves in your mouth leaving you with a peppery-edged, lingering finish. Drink from 2024-2045.

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  3/16/2024 - soyhead wrote:

  smoky, dark fruit, dark berry, lush but powerful and excellent with lamb chops

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  3/1/2024 - vvWine.ch wrote: 94 Points

  Intakte Farbe, dezente Orangetöne am Rand. Expressive Nase, ledrige Noten, rote und dunkle Beeren, etwas Waldboden, Herbstlaub, Orangenzesten. Im Gaumen gereift, abgeschmolzene Tannine, feine Säurestruktur, die delikate Frucht ist noch präsent, der Wein zeigt Trinkfluss und Harmonie, wirkt schlank und hallt rotfruchtig und feinwürzig nach. Sehr schön aktuell, muss nicht mehr gelagert werden. Jetzt bis 2028

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  11/30/2023 - drwine2001 wrote:

  Deep ruby, lighter outer 10% only. Amazingly complex, poised aromas of smoke, pine needle, flowers, and blackberry. Medium weight but this expands and takes over the palate in a powerful way. Strapping and meaty yet at the same time round and harmonious. Great acidity and chocolatey tannins to give shape to the deep fruit, a bit of blood orange, and a strong dollop of olive at the end. A great Hermitage that is denser and larger scaled than the usual Chave, but it still has admirable restraint and fantastic balance. We recently had the 1998, and it too is outstanding but in a much lighter, lacier, herbaceous way than this titan of a wine.

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