1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Beautiful showing for this thirty-one year old wine. While I don't think it will get better, it still has plenty of life left. Garnet in color, clear and bright. The nose is earthy with cherries, slight funk and a bit of dried fruits. On the palate, layers of black raspberry fruit, earth and slight funk. Deep and complex. Enough youth and acidity to keep things interesting. This is at peak. It will work better with food at this point. Roasted meats and vegetables, stews but also Indian food would be great. Should easily last another ten years if well stored.

Grade:

Score:

Vintage:

1988

Current Price:

$600.00USD

Rhone Valley & Spanish Rhone-style Wines Tasted at the 2008 Hospice du Rhone Events

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we reported on American Rhone-style wines we tasted at the 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008. We noted that this event was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective because, unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. While this was a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers weren’t represented, there was still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts.

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2008 Hospice du Rhone Events: Highs & Lows of American Rhone-style Wines Tasted

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. The 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008 was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective. Unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. The American wines were mostly from California (144 wineries), but a few examples from Arizona (2 wineries) and Washington State (5 wineries) were also included. While this is a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers aren’t represented, there is still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts. The events included two general tastings and a series of focused seminars.

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Northern Rhone Red: The Original Syrah

It’s summer, which means that for three months we say goodbye to rich, heavy red wines and welcome into our repertoire zippy whites and crisp roses to sip on the porch while soaking in the sun. That’s what most of the country does, at least. But not here. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, whose summer comes in the fall and spring, whose spring comes in the winter, and whose winter comes in the summer (and whose fall never comes).

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2003 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2003

Score:

100

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$700.00USD

What a spectacular bottle of wine. This will certainly be in the running for WOTY. Pop and pour, it took around thirty minutes to really open. Luckily, this was being share with just a couple of friends. This wine is no longer the port-like monster of its youth. It is still a big wine for Chave, but it is starting to have a certain control to it. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is amazing with black raspberries, violets, slight white pepper, minerals and earth. On the palate, this has tight layers that unwind in the glass. Black raspberries, white pepper and crushed rocks. Long fin

2011 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage:

2018

Score:

Grade:

A+

Always a privilege to be able to taste one of the worlds great wines and also one of my personal favorites. This is drinking very well at only 7 years from vintage and was quite open and much more accessible than a taste a few years ago. Ruby in color, slight purple at the core. The nose has some barnyard going along with black raspberries and white pepper. The barnyard is well under control though I would still look for well stored bottles if buying now. Complex and layered on the palate with boysenberry fruit and earth and minerals. Slightly drying but in a good way that is quite in

1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

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Rhone Valley & Spanish Rhone-style Wines Tasted at the 2008 Hospice du Rhone Events

2008 Hospice du Rhone Events: Highs & Lows of American Rhone-style Wines Tasted

Northern Rhone Red: The Original Syrah

2003 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

2011 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review