2015 J.L. Chave Sélection Côtes du Rhône Mon Coeur

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  3/15/2018, (See more on JebDunnuck.com...)

  (JL Chave Selection Cotes du Rhone Mon Coeur) Login and sign up and see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Richard Hemming, MW
  2/7/2018, (See more on JancisRobinson.com...)

  (J L Chave Sélection, Mon Coeur Côtes du Rhône Red) Subscribe to see review text.

WineAlign

• By Sara d'Amato
  10/27/2017, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (J.L. Chave Sélection Mon Coeur Côtes Du Rhône, Ac red) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Michael Godel
  10/26/2017, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (J.L. Chave Sélection Mon Coeur Côtes Du Rhône, Ac red) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By David Lawrason
  10/19/2017, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (J.L. Chave Sélection Mon Coeur Côtes Du Rhône, Ac red) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Chave(ish), 10/10/2018

  (Chave Selection Mon Coeur Cotes du Rhone) Phenol55 REMINDER: Full Pull has partnered with Phenol55 for *optional* storage services for our list members. P55 is a full-service wine cellar less than ten minutes from our warehouse, in the subterranean basement of the Malt House in the heart of Georgetown. See here for more details, and then contact Phenol55 if you’re interested in signing up. ----- Hello friends. We have the return of a popular import debutante from last year. However unlike last year, this year’s release comes from the vaunted 2015 vintage in the Rhone. No surprise: everyone wants anything that JL Chave touched in 2015, so our parcel is down 15% from the 2014 vintage. Rough allocation seas ahead.Jean-Louis Chave is Rhone royalty. His Hermitage wines are unicorns, highly sought-after around the world and discussed in hushed terms by wine lovers of many stripes. And no, we don’t have any of JL Chave’s Hermitages on offer today for hundreds (thousands?) of dollars. Instead, we have the gateway wine into the Chave house style, and if it’s not quite a unicorn, I can tell you from experience that it’s still quite a difficult wine to source, especially in a year like ’15. Last year, we set upper order limits at 8 bottles. This year I’m going to try 6, but that may be a little optimistic. Actual allocations of 2-3 bottles would not surprise me. You may recall from our introduction to this project last August that Chave Selection is JL’s negociant project; wines made from outside his estate vineyards. Because he’s Chave, though, those vineyards are as carefully selected as you’d imagine. All the vineyards come from the neighborhood of Buisson, Visan, and Valreas (here), located just north of Gigondas and west of Vinsobres. And all the vineyards range in age from 20 to 60 years and have low natural yields. Furthermore, this blend is typically about half Syrah, half Grenache, way more Syrah than is typical for Cotes du Rhone, but perhaps unsurprising given the Syrah savant involved. The juice is fermented with some whole cluster material and is aged mostly in large neutral oak foudres. It clocks in at 14.5% listed alc and begins with a nose that embraces the sauvage side of the Rhone, with a wild brambly edge to the berry fruit, good meaty/spicy steak au poivre notes, and plenty of hot-rock minerality. The palate has the crazy mouth-coating pleasure of the 2015 vintage, all intensity and saturation, and the balance of rich fruit and meaty/briny savory elements is pinpoint here. The tannin structure is noteworthy, offering serious toothsome chew on the back-end, a pleasing sense of rusticity seemingly purpose-built for autumn eating. Time to braise a shank of some poor animal and roast some root veggies.