Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2018

  • 100 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 99 Robert
    Parker
  • 97 Wine
    Spectator
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Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2018  Front Bottle Shot
Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2018  Front Bottle Shot Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2018  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2018

Size
750ML

Features
Collectible

Green Wine

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Generally 100% destemmed, as the Hermitage is meant to be about the expression of the individual vineyards and soils and Jean-Louis believes that stems have a tendency to level out the differences. Fermentation in wood tonneaux and stainless steel tanks. Aged in barriques for 30 months.

Professional Ratings

  • 100
    Lastly, the 2018 Hermitage is still resting in its individual components, and it’s such an education tasting through the samples from Bessards, Péléat, Méal, and Beaumes. In some years, each terroir is easy to see (the spice and complexity from Péléat, the opulence from the Méal, etc.), yet in 2018, the Méal was more structured and inward and the l’Ermite was shockingly opulent and powerful. The crème de la crème was the sample from Les Bessards, and wine doesn’t get any better than that in my opinion. Regardless, all the samples possess incredible quality and show classic, powerful aromatics reminiscent of a classic, almost cooler year paired with massive richness, depth, and structure on the palate. Possibly coming closest in my mind to a hypothetical mix of the 2009 and 2010, this is a legendary Chave Hermitage in the making.
    Range: 98-100
  • 99

    Chave's 2018 Hermitage is another in a long list of legends to emerge from this meticulously run estate. Showing remarkably complex aromas of pressed violets, ground cloves and cracked peppercorns against a backdrop of cassis, blueberries and licorice, it's a super effort. Full-bodied, concentrated, rich and velvety in feel, it's seamless and long—just the complete package in a wine that's surprisingly approachable, yet should prove capable of aging effortlessly for two decades or more. Best After 2022

  • 97

    Gorgeously pure, with flavors of plum coulis, cassis, cherry puree and blackberry preserves that are finely detailed and interwoven with singed anise, sweet tobacco and warm earth accents, then gilded with a subtle alder note through the finish. Long, very fine-grained and extremely precise. 

Other Vintages

2020
  • 100 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 98 Robert
    Parker
  • 98 Decanter
  • 97 Wine
    Spectator
2019
  • 100 Robert
    Parker
  • 99 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 97 Decanter
2017
  • 99 Robert
    Parker
  • 98 Decanter
  • 98 James
    Suckling
  • 98 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 97 Wine
    Spectator
2016
  • 100 Decanter
  • 98 James
    Suckling
  • 97 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 97 Wine
    Spectator
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
2015
  • 100 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 99 Robert
    Parker
  • 98 Wine
    Spectator
2014
  • 97 James
    Suckling
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
  • 96 Wine
    Spectator
2013
  • 97 Robert
    Parker
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
2012
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
  • 95 Wine
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2011
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
2010
  • 100 Robert
    Parker
  • 99 Wine
    Spectator
2009
  • 100 Robert
    Parker
  • 98 Wine
    Spectator
2008
  • 94 Wine
    Spectator
  • 90 Robert
    Parker
2007
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
2006
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
2005
  • 98 Wine
    Spectator
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
2004
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
2003
  • 98 Wine
    Spectator
2002
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 92 Wine
    Spectator
2001
  • 96 James
    Suckling
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2000
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
1999
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
1998
  • 98 James
    Suckling
  • 96 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 95 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
1997
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
1996
  • 94 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
  • 91 Robert
    Parker
1995
  • 97 Robert
    Parker
  • 97 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 95 Wine
    Spectator
1994
  • 93 Robert
    Parker
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
1991
  • 93 Robert
    Parker
1990
  • 92 Robert
    Parker
1983
  • 97 James
    Suckling
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
1978
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
Jean-Louis Chave

Jean-Louis Chave

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Jean-Louis Chave , France
Jean-Louis Chave  Winery Image

Going back to 1481, when the first Jean-Louis Chave was gifted a vineyard in St Joseph by the nobleman Farconnet, 25 generations have farmed some of the best parcels in the Northern Rhône. Though now known as perhaps the best producer of Hermitage (and certainly among the best blenders in the world), the family only expanded to this famous hill during the mid-1800s wave of phylloxera that decimated Europe's vineyards. 

In the 1970s, when Gerard Chave took over from his father, the domaine rapidly achieved megastar status due to the extraordinary quality of his wines. Gerard's son Jean-Louis (25th of his name) now oversees the estate and has shown an ever expanding dedication to improving the already stunning quality of these rare wines. Jean-Louis Chave regularly dedicates the domaine to intense and exacting projects, the benefits of which will be seen by future generations. Indeed, the estate employs three full time stonemasons just to repair the traditional stone walls dotting the vineyards. 

Since the 1990s, Jean-Louis Chave has offered a second label known as 'J.L. Chave Sélection' that provides a glimpse of the reason for the estate's fame at a fraction of the price. Many of these wines are from declassified estate wine and long term farming contracts, and are vinified in the domaine's primary cellar in Mauves. 

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Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”

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Hermitage Wine

Rhone, France

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One of the smallest and most important Syrah regions of northern Rhone, Hermitage is practically one single south-facing slope of crushed granite, thinly covered with varied, yet well-charted soil types. Many climats (well identified parcels) exist within Hermitage and while some smaller producers make single climat Syrahs, some larger ones blend to make one balanced expression of the appellation.

Though the AC regulations allow the addition of up to 15% white grapes to a red Hermitage, in practice it is usually made from Syrah alone. Winemaking is pretty traditional—or you might say historic—with hot fermentations and aging in older barrels of various sizes. The best wines, characterized by deep, dense and sexy flavors of black fruit, cocoa, licorice and tobacco, have massive textures and a solid 10-20 years aging potential.

The region of Hermitage is totally enclosed; the only place it could go really is to literally fall down its own hill into the city of Tain or the Rhone River. Soil erosion is a problem and terraces exist alongside the hill in order to keep the earth in place. Crozes-Hermitage encloses the region entirely to its north and south.

While Hermitage seems synonymous with some of the best Syrah on the planet, actually about one third of the wine produced here comes from white grapes. The full, lush and robust Marsanne or the less common, but almost more charming, Roussanne create wonderful whites in which the best have great potential for aging, like the reds.

FRMFW65135_2018 Item# 780075

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