Big, deep and rich wine at this stage. Ordered off the list at the New Sheridan chop house in telluride. Obviously young and needs time, but still tasty to drink now with a big steak.
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This wine joined the line up due to the generous pull of a good friend. The unfortunate part is this vintage is shut down. In reading my previous notes and behavior is a few years in so I highly suggest keeping these out of sight!
17 was glorious in the early going but is now a sleeping giant. Very muted on the nose and monolithic on the palate.
No score.
21 Ridge Grenache Blanc 17 JL Chave Hermitage 16 JL Chave Hermitage 14 E. Guigal La Londonne 11 JL Chave Saint Joseph 10 Vieux Chateau Certan
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(BYO Blind tasting) Full and incredibly succulent nose. Rich and flowery. Very deep and complex. Exotic spices, red fruit and black fruit. Violets and blueberry. So elegant! Fullish, utterly balanced and elegant palate. Incredibly velvety tannins. Dense, concentrated and succulent. What a fruit, what a grip. Gently oaky and with a load of exotic spices. Pure and clean and very long. Mind-boggling revelation! How can a Hermitage be so like a Burgundy Grand Cru? Wines I have tasted that reminds of this includes Anne Gros Richebourg and Clos de Vougeot! A unique character, and light-years from the 2014 La Mouline tasted at the same occassion. Surprisingly approachable, but can, of course, be cellared for many decades.
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What a magnificent wine. The nose has plenty of blue and purple fruit, but it is the prominent notes of bacon fat, violets, and garrigue that stand out for me. The palate has great acidity to balance out the massive fruit and earthy notes. Tremendously long finish. While this was very enjoyable young, there is no doubt it will improve with another 10+ years of bottle age, and I plan to let my remaining bottles sleep a long while before touching another one. This is a wine that reminds me why I love wine so much.
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Nose: [58°-64°] Floral scents that give way to dark red fruits and ripe blueberries, soft gooseberries, fresh damp earth with a field of pure grass, a subtle touch of anise and damp peppery tree bark. There is also a streak of clean mineral throughout that seems to help brighten the dark aromas.
Palate: [58°-64°] Dark red fruits and berries that melds with an expansive deep earthiness on the palate, with a pleasurable bitter and burnt undertone on the mid-end palate. Just like the nose, the minerals on the palate are there from the beginning to the end, and with the help of great acidity, both really help give the flavors a bit of lift and intensity.
Attributes: Clear dark ruby with a bit of magenta. Dry with medium-plus to high amounts of strong, fine tannin. Medium to medium-plus body with medium-plus to high acidity (the acidity is well integrated). Great finish of at least 30+ seconds.
Thoughts: First bottle from Jean-Louis Chave and it did not disappoint. I did not expect this from a Syrah; so fragrant and such a unique play on the notes of fruit, earth, spices and minerals. This was so enjoyable throughout the entire tasting. I personally would enjoy this by itself as food seemed to have made the flavors wobble on their tracks at certain points. Though, this is most likely due to what I was eating during the time I was not tasting. This wine can and will age for years. Quite curious to see how this will develop over 20 years. I figure with the amount of tannin and acidity in this, 5-10 years wouldn't do much as this would probably still taste similar as it did today.
Serving notes: Bordeaux glass. Served one glass and emptied bottle into a decanter at cellar temp ~55° and consumed over 6 hours. Recommend serving ~62°-64° as the flavors became a bit flat and purple as the wine reached warmer temps (66°-68°). Decant if needed.
Massive personality with phenomenal delicacy. This Hermitage shows powerful blackberry and plum alongside the underlying stony, spicy and meaty characteristics.
A friend pulled this bottle on New Years Day and we took it for a spin. What a night and day difference two months have made since the magnum we pulled on my birthday. Either this is bottle variation or 2017 has completely shut down and gone to sleep.
92/93 at best. This might be piece out till 2028.
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2017 Paul Jabouilet Aine vs. 2017 JLC Hermitage Both in 1.5L format.
Paired with Beef Bourguignon which was a perfect match!
Both bottles very approachable at PNP. Our dinner party gave the edge to the JLC as it was more focused and refined. Both are killer bottles in their own right and would not hesitate to add both producers to the cellar. 2017 is offering some early windows on wines that typically need 10 years plus of bottle age. 2017 is offering some early windows on wines that typically need 10 years plus of bottle age.
La Chapelle 97+ Drink or Hold JLC 98+ Drink or Hold
Quarantine; 3/12/2020-5/29/2020 (Chicago, IL): #4289. This is massive. It doesn't quite have the potency of 2015 or the elegance of 2016 (the last two iterations I tasted right at commercial release), but there is plenty of fantastic material here. The fruit is borderline purple, but it's not over the top in any way. A smidgen of vanilla that is mostly a product of youth and will almost certainly integrate away. Most distinctive is the already prevalent blood and meat flavours here. Acidity that is heightened and prominent, but serves to give this wine lift. A fair bit of tannin as expected, too. On the whole this is a bit of a step down from the 2015/6 in terms of vintage, but it's really not like I'm ever turning a glass of this away, and by no means is that a statement indicating you should skip this in favour of the last two vintages. Chave Hermitage is truly the king of the hill, year in year out.
3/12/2024 - joshabramson Likes this wine:
Big, deep and rich wine at this stage. Ordered off the list at the New Sheridan chop house in telluride. Obviously young and needs time, but still tasty to drink now with a big steak.
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2/16/2024 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine:
Don't even look at it. Just keep walking.
This wine joined the line up due to the generous pull of a good friend. The unfortunate part is this vintage is shut down. In reading my previous notes and behavior is a few years in so I highly suggest keeping these out of sight!
17 was glorious in the early going but is now a sleeping giant. Very muted on the nose and monolithic on the palate.
No score.
21 Ridge Grenache Blanc
17 JL Chave Hermitage
16 JL Chave Hermitage
14 E. Guigal La Londonne
11 JL Chave Saint Joseph
10 Vieux Chateau Certan
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10/13/2023 - Argrath wrote: 97 Points
(BYO Blind tasting)
Full and incredibly succulent nose. Rich and flowery. Very deep and complex. Exotic spices, red fruit and black fruit. Violets and blueberry. So elegant!
Fullish, utterly balanced and elegant palate. Incredibly velvety tannins. Dense, concentrated and succulent. What a fruit, what a grip. Gently oaky and with a load of exotic spices. Pure and clean and very long.
Mind-boggling revelation! How can a Hermitage be so like a Burgundy Grand Cru? Wines I have tasted that reminds of this includes Anne Gros Richebourg and Clos de Vougeot!
A unique character, and light-years from the 2014 La Mouline tasted at the same occassion.
Surprisingly approachable, but can, of course, be cellared for many decades.
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10/15/2022 - jtreger Likes this wine: 98 Points
What a magnificent wine. The nose has plenty of blue and purple fruit, but it is the prominent notes of bacon fat, violets, and garrigue that stand out for me. The palate has great acidity to balance out the massive fruit and earthy notes. Tremendously long finish. While this was very enjoyable young, there is no doubt it will improve with another 10+ years of bottle age, and I plan to let my remaining bottles sleep a long while before touching another one. This is a wine that reminds me why I love wine so much.
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3/6/2022 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 98 Points
Nose: [58°-64°] Floral scents that give way to dark red fruits and ripe blueberries, soft gooseberries, fresh damp earth with a field of pure grass, a subtle touch of anise and damp peppery tree bark. There is also a streak of clean mineral throughout that seems to help brighten the dark aromas.
Palate: [58°-64°] Dark red fruits and berries that melds with an expansive deep earthiness on the palate, with a pleasurable bitter and burnt undertone on the mid-end palate. Just like the nose, the minerals on the palate are there from the beginning to the end, and with the help of great acidity, both really help give the flavors a bit of lift and intensity.
Attributes: Clear dark ruby with a bit of magenta. Dry with medium-plus to high amounts of strong, fine tannin. Medium to medium-plus body with medium-plus to high acidity (the acidity is well integrated). Great finish of at least 30+ seconds.
Thoughts: First bottle from Jean-Louis Chave and it did not disappoint. I did not expect this from a Syrah; so fragrant and such a unique play on the notes of fruit, earth, spices and minerals. This was so enjoyable throughout the entire tasting. I personally would enjoy this by itself as food seemed to have made the flavors wobble on their tracks at certain points. Though, this is most likely due to what I was eating during the time I was not tasting. This wine can and will age for years. Quite curious to see how this will develop over 20 years. I figure with the amount of tannin and acidity in this, 5-10 years wouldn't do much as this would probably still taste similar as it did today.
Serving notes: Bordeaux glass. Served one glass and emptied bottle into a decanter at cellar temp ~55° and consumed over 6 hours. Recommend serving ~62°-64° as the flavors became a bit flat and purple as the wine reached warmer temps (66°-68°). Decant if needed.
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2/11/2022 - ChaseBlk Likes this wine: 99 Points
Massive personality with phenomenal delicacy. This Hermitage shows powerful blackberry and plum alongside the underlying stony, spicy and meaty characteristics.
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1/1/2022 - MJP Hou TX wrote: 93 Points
A friend pulled this bottle on New Years Day and we took it for a spin. What a night and day difference two months have made since the magnum we pulled on my birthday. Either this is bottle variation or 2017 has completely shut down and gone to sleep.
92/93 at best. This might be piece out till 2028.
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11/6/2021 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 98 Points
2017 Paul Jabouilet Aine vs. 2017 JLC Hermitage Both in 1.5L format.
Paired with Beef Bourguignon which was a perfect match!
Both bottles very approachable at PNP. Our dinner party gave the edge to the JLC as it was more focused and refined. Both are killer bottles in their own right and would not hesitate to add both producers to the cellar. 2017 is offering some early windows on wines that typically need 10 years plus of bottle age. 2017 is offering some early windows on wines that typically need 10 years plus of bottle age.
La Chapelle 97+ Drink or Hold
JLC 98+ Drink or Hold
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5/1/2020 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Quarantine; 3/12/2020-5/29/2020 (Chicago, IL): #4289. This is massive. It doesn't quite have the potency of 2015 or the elegance of 2016 (the last two iterations I tasted right at commercial release), but there is plenty of fantastic material here. The fruit is borderline purple, but it's not over the top in any way. A smidgen of vanilla that is mostly a product of youth and will almost certainly integrate away. Most distinctive is the already prevalent blood and meat flavours here. Acidity that is heightened and prominent, but serves to give this wine lift. A fair bit of tannin as expected, too. On the whole this is a bit of a step down from the 2015/6 in terms of vintage, but it's really not like I'm ever turning a glass of this away, and by no means is that a statement indicating you should skip this in favour of the last two vintages. Chave Hermitage is truly the king of the hill, year in year out.
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