Fu's wild ride - a blind tasting around the country with a vertical of Levet with French, Henriquez, Alfert, Carnes and Kane

I've been doing my bottle share tasting with a few guys on the west coast for the past month to great success. I brought it up with Todd and the crew but no one was particularly enthused.

Finally (despite Todd's doubt of how well the wines would hold up to oxygen), they agreed to let them blind them on 6 wines.

I thought a vertical of the odd years of Levet Chavaroche would be fun. I siphoned the wines into 4oz Boston Rounds on Monday and shipped them out that day to everyone for our Zoom tasting on Friday. Also tossed in a 1988 Chave Hermitage Blanc cause Jorge loves his waxy white Rhones

I was a bit fearful that my blind tasting choices would be ruined due to the fact that Alfert sent us a picture of him drinking a 2007 Levet Chavaroche on Tuesday, one of the wines I sent in the box and after he'd then realize that every wine was a Levet. Fortunately it was not spoiled.

Thoughts on Levet: Levet is an interesting producer, I feel like they have their signature (savory & high acid cote rotie) but the wines themselves are shaped significantly by the vintage. I've largely avoided 2011 and 2014 Levet due to what I found to be under-ripeness in fruit and the opposite end with 09/15/16 (even though 15 is tasting nice but not very levet with significant air). Maybe I'm wrong but just a general impression I get, especially in "under ripe" vintages.

2007 the general consensus WOTN. Only Kane believed it was a Northern Rhone, everyone else thought burgundy (?)

• 1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  fairly tired bottle, waxy , low alcohol, honey and vanilla with some fading apricot.

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• 2005 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  There’s that big structured masculine frame of 2005 but with the ripeness of the fruit receding and concentrating into a deep flavored core of dark red fruit. Olive and spice are staring to explore with dusty tannins and mild acidity. Wine coats the mouth with its weight and makes you smack your lips as the saltiness emerges.

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• 2007 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  It’s in the zone for drinking. Cool bright red fruit mixed with iodine and a well balanced cool meaty undertone. Generous on the mid palate with that savory complexity expanding slowly across the palate.

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• 2009 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  ripe little berries that are uber expensive on the nose mixed with a blend of pepper and five spice. Palate is a bit short but there’s ample fruit. Mostly primary

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• 2011 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  lots of under ripe green stem on the nose with fresh cracked pepper and a bit of red fruit. The palate is high in acid, fruit while mild is clean and light. It’s certainly very drinkable but the vintage is a bit too underwhelming palate wise.

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• 2013 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  just not ready at the moment. Closed up. Sweet fruit on the nose but everything else is shut down. Similar from the last time I had it a few years ago. Mostly dry tannin at this point

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