Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc 2018

Professional Ratings

• 100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Chave's 2018 Hermitage Blanc, now that it's been blended and bottled for over a year, smashed my already lofty expectations. Showing a wonderfully delicate and intricate nose of white flowers, toasted grain and white peach, it's also impeccably balanced. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it nevertheless comes across as almost weightless but with amazing presence and length on the palate. If you're fortunate enough to latch onto multiple bottles, open one now to experience this legend as a young wine, then try to hide the others deep in the cellar. Best After 2022

• 98 Jeb Dunnuck
  I was able to taste the 2018 Hermitage Blanc from multiple barrels and tank, and I continue to think Jean-Louis fashions one of the greatest whites on planet earth. Gorgeous white flowers, honeysuckle, ripe quince, and toasted almond notes dominate the bouquet, and it has that rare mix of richness and opulence paired with incredible purity, freshness, and focus. It has a wealth of material yet also shows the vintage’s more rounded, sexy style. Plan on drinking bottles on release and over the following 2-4 years or hold off for a decade. It’s certainly in the same ballpark as the 2017.
  Range: 96-98
• 97 James Suckling
  The thickness of the skins on Chave’s old vine parcels is what gives this wine its unrestricted depth and intensity, as well as it s ability to age for a very long time. Aromas run from very pretty and floral, through peaches and lemons and into crushed and grilled nuts. The palate is such a textural essay with an attractively youthful and pithy shunt of tannin that underwrites a considerably long finish and long cellaring potential.
  Range: 96-97
• 97 Decanter
  Rich and silky, but showing no heaviness, with a touch of lemon verbena on the nose. The alcohol is high yet not unbalanced, with an inner mineral freshness leading to a rich, long and generous butterscotch finish. A big vintage for Chave's white Hermitage, though not outrageously opulent.
• 97 Wine Spectator

  Beguiling, thanks to a creamy, caressing mouthfeel that belies the definition and range that lies within. Showcases mirabelle plum, white peach, Cavaillon melon, heather, salted butter, apricot and bitter almond notes that all weave together, with flashes of jasmine, brioche and macadamia nut. The long finish sails through effortlessly, despite its obvious weight and depth. A luxurious wine. Marsanne and Roussanne.