Dinner Vertical-Chave Hermitage from the Late 1990's

San Francisco
Tasted Friday, December 22, 2017 by drwine2001 with 250 views

Flight 1 - Champagne to Start (2 Notes)

Flight 2 - The Titular Wines (3 Notes)

  • 1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Opened 4 hours prior to pouring. Ruby without lightening. Ripe blackberry and smoky aroma. Full, solid, chocolatey, and fruit driven compared to the 2 older vintages. Sappy but not heavy at all, a touch of green, excellent acidity, ripe tannins. How can I put this? Ripe for its time, but tame and elegant in today's terms. Monolithic and not ready-give it another 5 years anyway. On the second night, lacier, more herbal aromatics.

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  • 1998 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Opened 4 hours prior to pouring. About the same shade of ruby as the '99. This is much more developed with beautiful high toned perfume. Amazingly supple and perfect middle weight. More red fruited than the '99, a squeeze of citrus, leather and other savory bits, mint, fine acidity, and a long, gentle finish. This is the epitome of the Chave style-subtle, complex, and understated. An absolute beauty that made me swoon and far outshone the more heralded 1999. This lost some fruit and texture overnight, suggesting it may be pretty close to its apogee.

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  • 1997 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Opened 4 hours prior to pouring. A shade lighter than either the '99 or '98. Much more menthol aromatic profile. Thinner and lighter than the other 2 vintages. Oddly confected red fruit, higher acidity, dominant green and mineral notes. Largely the same as it was 2 years ago, this has nowhere to go but downhill. Pretty clearly the third place wine in this group of 3 consecutive vintages. Still very, very good, but likely to attenuate fairly quickly.

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Flight 3 - Dessert (2 Notes)

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