TN: Chave Vertical (83/95/96/97/98/99/00/01/04/06/07/09)

CHAVE & BRISKET(10/29/2017)

A highlight wine dinner of the year as we tasted through 12 vintages of J.L. Chave Hermitage, my favorite Syrah in the world. The wines performed exceptionally well (save an off 2006). Wines at the 18-22 year old mark were in my sweet spot, though the 1983 at 34 years old was pretty freaking good as well. Cellar those Chaves! Oh, and pair with a killer brisket for maximum enjoyment.

• 1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served single blind and side-by-side with the '83 Jaboulet Chapelle. This was the far superior and more refined wine, and pretty easily identified as the Chave. A perfect 100 point OMG nose has an intense, detailed perfume of aged black fruit, olives, meat, mushroom, florals and old leather. The palate is similarly ethereal with light (but not quite dilute) fruit with precise balancing structure. Even though it’s lighter bodied there is striking intensity of flavor. Silky and poised finish. Bravo. Double decanted ~2 hours prior to serving. (97 pts.)
• 1983 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served single blind side-by-side with the '83 Chave Hermitage. This was a very nice aged Hermitage but paled in comparison to an epic Chave. The aromatics here are denser than the Chave with non-delineated aromas of aged black fruit and smoked meat. The palate is rustic with animale, ferrous and autumnal notes through. Good but would rather drink Chave 100 out of 100 times. (92 pts.)
  
  
  
• 1995 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 95/96/97. A simply stunning and nearly perfect nose (akin to the '83) with striking intensity and detailing that explodes from the glass – dried black fruit, olive, meat and black pepper. The palate has medium-rich black fruit with excellent tension, creating a vibrant finish of meaty black fruit and olive. Wow. In a sweet spot. (98 pts.)
• 1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 95/96/97, and unfortunately for this bottle is was sandwiched between two epic bottles of Chave. The 1996 has appealing rich and meaty black fruit aromas with olive notes – but not the intensity or detailing of the 95 or sheer power of the 97. The palate has delicious, savory black fruit and bright, lifting acidity. Excellent but not as layered or complex as its flight-mates. (93 pts.)
• 1997 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 95/96/97, and this was my favorite over nearly equally as good 1995. The nose here explodes from the glass and boasts so much powerful black fruit, black olive, smoked meat and black pepper. A wow palate with so much breadth and depth. Lush black fruit with a hair less acidity than the tense 1995, but generously layered and complex. A touch more forward and soft than the 1995, but makes up for it in its sheer power. Wow. (98 pts.)
  
  
  
• 1998 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 98/99/00/01. Big boastful nose of rich black fruit with plenty of sweetness left in the fruit aromas – olive, meat and pepper notes are there, but a little more reserved. The palate here is generous and forward with lots of delicious savory black fruit. So youthful and fresh. Needs another 5 years. 3-5 points of upside. (94 pts.)
• 1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 98/99/00/01. A stunner of a wine. Full, explosive nose has rich black fruit loaded with olive, black pepper and smoked meat. The palate here is young, but perfect. Dense with intense, intense black pepper and olive. Crazy powerful and long. A wine that impresses for its power while also having depth and complexity. My WOTN and favorite along with the 95, 97 and 83. (99 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 98/99/00/01. Jeez, another in a line of outstanding Chave bottles. Full, generous nose of black fruit (more savory than sweet), black pepper and olives. The palate boasts savory and earthy black fruit with olive and a bit of funk. Taut acids provide structure and lift into the finish. Drinking at peak. (95 pts.)
• 2001 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 98/99/00/01. Clearly the baby of the flight as the aromatics were tighter and required coaxing to reveal peppery black fruit and olive. The palate is very young and primary with intense black pepper and some olive, making for a tasty drink – but this has much more to give. 3-5 points of upside. (92 pts.)
  
  
  
• 2001 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
  Served as a blind intermezzo in a 12-vintage vertical of Chave. Full, explosive nose of big polished black fruit, florals, black pepper and olive. Delicious black fruit that is chewy and dense relative to the more refined Chaves up till this point. This is large scaled but the acids provide grip and balance. Great polish and sophistication, clearly old world but in a bigger style. Guessed LaLa, but had a hard time placing which one. Upside from here, I think. (94 pts.)
  
  
  
• 2004 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 04/06/07/09. Wow, very young with forward young black fruit, violets and some black pepper. Lots of good raw material here, with light-to-medium bodied forward rich black fruit and juicy acids. Great purity and elegance, but not showing much complexity, yet. Give it 5-7 years. 2-4 points of upside. (92 pts.)
• 2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 04/06/07/09. Sadly a flawed bottle as the wine was brown in color and showed oxidized. NR (flawed)
• 2007 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 04/06/07/09. Hasn’t budged in the 6 months since I had this last, and really shouldn’t be touched for about 10 years. The nose here is ripe, super rich and primary. The palate is seriously delicious in a purely hedonistic sense with rich and chewy black fruit. Lots of peppery spice on the back-end. Good purity and brightness. 3-5 points of upside. Hold! (92 pts.)
• 2009 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Served in a flight of 04/06/07/09. Wow, this is so good but so, so young. Explosive primary nose of rich fruit, road tar and exotic spice. Seriously delicious in a hedonistic sense (akin to the 07 tonight) but with a bit more going on in terms of the power and energy, as well as the spice and black pepper accents. A bad ass baby Chave. Give it 10-15 years. 4-5 points of upside. (93 pts.)

Sounds like an awesome event.

Waiting forever to Todd to ask why he wasn’t invited.

Ok, that is rather epic. I tend to prefer them a bit older, but that is one heck of a line-up.
I have generally preferred the pre '90 La Chapelle’s to same vintage Chave, but much of that is stylistic preference. Presume there was only one chave bottling run, unlike the runs of Jaboulet, so the '83 Chapelle ranges from good to great depending on which you open. Still holding a few Chapelle’s from the 80’s, but my oldest Chave is the '00. Glad you added a data point on it.

Wow

Great notes, Rich.

Thanks for the notes. Great wines…

Interesting - thanx.
Will do something similar here in Febuary with 28 Hermitages …

Great notes on an amazing dinner, Rich. Rare to see a wine so consistently deliver at such a high level. I have very limited experience with Chave, but have loved the handful of vintages I’ve tasted. Also very happy to have picked up a couple of bottles of the '99 earlier this year.

Thanks. I have many of those and this is very useful. Sounds like an amazing tasting.

Thanks for the notes.

Bruce

About a week ago we (my wife, my cousin and I) drank a 2000 Chave Hermitage alongside a 2012 Reynvaan Unnamed at dinner (grilled steaks). My impression of the Chave was that we opened it about 10 years too early. Even after a 3-hour decant, it was quite acidic; nose was fabulous (a bit bretty upon opening, but that blew off in the decanter), but the palate had not caught up to the nose. The wine was intensely acidic; we drank the wines slowly, in small pours, and only in the last glass did the Chave reveal its potential to replicate the 2000 Chave that you drank…which I think it will do, in 10 years or so.

The Reynvaan could not have been more different. It showed considerable chocolate and black olive brine, but needed more acid…I wouldn’t call it flabby, but I think it has exhausted its aging potential (and I get the same impression from the 2012 Stonessence). I plan to drink up all of our 2012 Reynvaans by Christmas.

sound like an amazing experience, thanks for sharing!

Very nice line-up. Your favorite vintage is my least favorite.

Thanks for the great notes and insights. It’s one of my favourite wines. I wonder whether the '01 will turn out well. Thought at the time it was a very good Northern Rhone vintage.

Thanks for the notes and data points on the Chave. Holding out here on those 90s.

Funny, I had a friend blind us on 83 chave v la chapelle as well recently. 83 chave was killer

Love Chave. Love your report. Wish I had them all in the cellar.