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.
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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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