Domaine Jean-Louise Chave, Rhone Valley with Tasting notes
DOMAINE JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE
The Chave family have been growers on the Hermitage hill since 1481, an unbroken tradition that must be unrivalled anywhere else in the Rhône Valley, if not throughout the wine-growing countries of Europe.
The Chaves, alternate generations being christened Jean-Louis, the name of the domaine, live at Mauves, on the other side of the Rhône from Hermitage, a few kilometres south of Tournon. Not for them, however great the reputation of the wine, a grand country house, Porsche at the front door, swimming pool at the back. The Chave house is modest but comfortable, and lies directly on the main street of Mauves, with only a discreet, rather battered, rusty metal sign to let you know where they are, and to post you up a narrow side alley to the back entrance and access to the cellars. This is, of course, a family affair. Gérard Chave, paterfamilias, is today in his 60s; Jean-Louis, his son, is in his early 30s. Responsibility for the wine is shared between them. Monique, Gérard’s wife, runs the commercial side of the business.
The Chaves have 5 hectares of white grapes on the Hermitage hill and 10 hectares of red. The white grapes – some 80-90% Marsanne and 10-20% Roussanne (they can’t be more specific because some of the older vines are mixed plantings) – come from two types of soil at the eastern end of the 125 hectare appellation: limestone, which gives the wine richness, and a Victoria plum flavour; and loess, which produces a balancing acidity, and gives white flower aspects on the palate. You can make good red in these white wines soils, says Jean-Louis, but not vice-versa. If the white varietals are not planted in the right soil the wine tends to be too alcoholic, too flat. We need a balancing glycerol in the wine to give it interest and grace.
There are at least three more very different soil structures for the red grapes, Syrah of course. At the western end, in the climat of Bessards, for instance, the composition is based on granite. This will give you the structure. L’Hermite, a little more to the east, and high up, is loess, and will give you the spiciness, characteristic of Hermitage. Méal, lower down, is a limestone filled with quartz stones: this gives flesh and floral tones, while Peléat, a brown sandy-pebbly mixture, imparts purity and aroma. The Chaves also have vines in the loamy climates of Greffieux and Diognières, lower down, which give finesse and scented fruit, and in the red marly soils of Beaumes and Rocules, half way up, adding delicacy, elegance and in the best years, a voluptuous touch.
None of these, however, is complete on its own. The art of Hermitage is the art of the blend. The explanation why the Chave Hermitage is the best wine of the appellation is not only that they are rare in having vines in all these climates, but that they are geniuses in this art, the creation of something which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Wine-Making
The wine is made in a number of small buildings opening out onto the yard at the back of the house, and matured underground in a series of inter-connecting cellars roughly forming an H. Even before the grapes arrive, normally towards the end of September, the Chaves have put a great deal of thought into how they can make the best wine out of the raw product nature has provided them with. They start with the quality, quantity, state of health, nature of ripeness and concentration of the fruit. It begins there, and part of the art is thinking it through before you begin.
By and large, the vinification is traditional. The white wine is fermented both in cask and in tank at 20°C and the malo-lactic fermentation is encouraged. There is no bâtonnage. The wine is matured, again both in vat and in wood (10-15% new) from the Limousin of varying ages, for about 18 months before bottling. That vinified and matured in oak is a broad, mellow, fullish wine with structure and a slightly spicy, apricot and nuts aroma. That made and kept in tank will have more zip, a slight element of unreleased carbon dioxide, which will give crispness and freshness to the resultant blend. This is the greatest, most serious white wine of the Hermitage area, perfumed with honey, flowers, acacia and honeysuckle when young, retiring into a certain awkwardness after a year or so in bottle, and finally emerging at the age of five or six to produce a gloriously complex, generous bottle of decided class and individuality which will last a good half a dozen years further: a real and delicious treat.
The red wine, again, is fermented and matured in two different receptacles. The great care with which it is made begins in the vineyard itself. Only the ripest, healthiest bunches are selected; anything inferior is cut out and thrown away, or left on the vine for the birds. On arrival at Mauves, the wooden bennes or tubs are picked over once again. Any fruit not up to scratch is rejected. Up to 1988, depending on the vintage, the bunches were partially or totally de-stemmed before being tipped into the fermenting vats. The 1984 was égrappé completely. In 1985, a ripe, concentrated, successful year, vinification took place partly with the stalks. Since 1988, the grapes have been de-stemmed every vintage.
Fermentation takes place in concrete vats or in larger three metre high, 100 year old, wooden foudres at a temperature of 30-32°C. As the fermentation proceeds, the chapeau is trodden down into the juice twice daily, thus helping to extract colour and tannin. The timing of the length of maceration, must with skins, is crucial. Too long a cuvaison and the resultant wine will become too tannic, too sturdy, too tough. Too little and it will lack structure and backbone. The point at which to decant (écouler) all depends on the quality of the original fruit. “Hermitage is not necessarily a big wine,” says Jean-Louis. “What is more important is that the fruit is ripe and the elements are in balance. We’re looking for finesse rather than power.”
All the above, except, perhaps, the imagination behind it and the dedication with which it is accomplished, is what goes on, to a greater or lesser degree, in vat houses, cuveries and wineries at harvest time all over the world. It is what takes place thereafter in the Chave cellar which is the measure of this family wizardry: the élevage or maturing of a large number of different wines from the separate climats on the Hermitage hill in wooden casks and foudres of different sizes and ages, and, eventually, the creation of the masterwork, the blend.
The Chaves have vines in seven of the Hermitage climats, as I have outlined above. Each has its own character. This complexity will be further enhanced in the cellar: some of the wine is kept in barrel, some in foudre. The same wine will turn out differently, depending on the receptacle. The wine is not assembled until it is 18 months old. By then it is even more expressive of its origins than it was at the start. Only gradually, like a painter with his palette or a chef in his kitchen, will the Chaves adapt the styles and flavours of each different ingredient at their disposal, and create a blend of the best.
The resulting wine, of course, is splendid. It is rather more austere than the Jaboulet’s Hermitage La Chapelle, not nearly as oaky. The acidity seems higher, the fruit and flower flavours also more high-toned. Ten years is the barest minimum before the wine is ready for drinking. Twenty would be better still. I am not touching my 1990 for some years yet.
Cuvée Cathelin
In 1990, for the first time, the Chaves released a Cuvée Cathelin. They don’t always declare it, and it doesn’t necessarily denote a superior vintage, for they produced a 1991, a good-but-not-brilliant vintage, and have not made a 1999, a splendid year. Nor have they yet decided on 2000. So far there have been four Cathelins: 1990, 1991, 1995 and 1998. Two thousand bottles are usually produced.
The Chaves are at pains to point out that this is not a super-cuvée, merely a different blend. There is no pre-ordained recipe. All the seven lieux-dits are used. “It depends on the vintage” says Jean-Louis. “Our endeavour is to get the balance right.”
As far as I am concerned Cuvée Cathelin, whatever the Chaves may say, is a superior wine to the usual Chave Hermitage. It also seems more new oaky. It is certainly more expensive.
The Tasting
I sampled the following wines in Mauves in October 1994.
Hermitage Rouge
Optimum
Drinking
Hermitage Rouge, 2001 2014-2040
Full, youthful colour. Very lovely pure Syrah fruit on the nose. Ripe, rich, full and firm on the palate. Still slightly austere. But not a bit solid or sturdy. Intense, profound and very, very classy. Very ripe tannins. Very good grip. Long and distinguished at the end. A wine with real finesse. Potentially very fine indeed.
Hermitage Rouge, 2000 2012-2028
Full, youthful colour. Riper and more opulent on the nose than the 2001. Less depth, less substance and less vigour though. Fullish body. Good acidity, but the tannins are a little more astringent at present. Rich though. Long. and with good depth. Fine.
Hermitage Rouge, 1999 2009-2030+
Fullish colour. Still youthful. Raspberry and cherry elements on the nose. Nothing aggressive here. Fullish body. ripe, rich and opulent, very with good acidity. The tannins are softening. Very good follow-through. Clean, pure, classy and intense. I prefer this to the 2000 but it is more advanced and accessible. Very fine.
Hermitage Rouge, 1998 2010-2035
Medium-full colour. Still quite youthful. Lovely fruit on the nose with a slight touch of austerity. Yet some evolution now. Fullish body. The tannins softening. Slightly less opulent than the 1999 but long and complex and very classy. Very lovely finish. Delicious. Very fine plus.
Hermitage Rouge, 1997 2006-2017
Good fullish, vigorous colour. Quite rich and opulent on the nose, but not a lot of backbone behind it. Medium-full body. Just about mellow now. Good freshness. Very ripe. This is a fine example of the vintage because the acidity is so good. Lovely fruit. Ready soon.
Hermitage Rouge, 1995 2007-2020
Some development on the colour now. Spicy nose. Roasted nuts and exotic woods. Medium-full body. Some tannin. Slightly burly. Good acidity though. The finish is more stylish than the attack. It will always be a wine that will be proportionately better with food than most. The tannins are not as sophisticated here as they might have been. Very good indeed.
Hermitage Rouge, 1991 Now-2018
Fullish colour. Some hints of maturity now. Like the 1995, there is not the sophistication on the nose of some of these wines. Fullish body. Now ready. Ripe and rich on the palate. Decent acidity. Good depth and vigour. Velvety and long. But very good indeed rather than fine.
Hermitage Rouge, 1990 2006-2040
Full colour. Still immature. Magnificent nose. Rich, full, concentrated, very profound and very classy. Still vigorously youthful. But it is getting there. Full body. Excellent grip. Very fine tannins. Complex, plentiful, balanced, ripe fruit. Still a little tannin, but now softening. Long. Distinguished. Excellent.
Hermitage Rouge, 1988 Now-2030
Fullish colour. Still very youthful. Lovely nose. Vigorous, rich, harmonious and complex. Very fresh. This is now à point. Fullish body. Lovely ripe, classy fruit. Still plenty of energy. Balanced, long and classy. Very fine.
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin, 2000 2015-2050
Splendid full, youthful, intense colour. Full, rich, concentrated, quite powerful but creamy-opulent nose. Very ripe indeed. Full body. Very fresh. Quite tannic but the tannins are very ripe. Very good grip. Very concentrated. A big but vigorous and very harmonious, profound wine. Excellent.
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin, 1998 2012-2045
Excellent, fresh, full colour. Fabulous fruit on the nose. Intense, pure, harmonious and very concentrated. This is essence of Syrah. Very full but not a bit too sturdy. Some tannin. Excellent acidity. Long and intense and very, very classy at the end. Even better than the 2000. A really great wine.
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin, 1995 2009-2029
A fine colour, now beginning to develop. Subtle nose. Quite exotic but a lot more classy than the "basic". Very lovely fruit with a touch of spice. Fullish body. Some tannin in just a touch of a sturdy way. Good grip. This is fine and still needs to be kept.
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin, 1991 Now-2018
Full colour, now showing some development. Like the 1995, this shows the character of the vintage. Ripe, opulent nose. Not as pure as the 2000 or 1998. Full bodied and rich on the palate. Slightly astringent. Decent acidity but it lacks a little intensity and grip and therefore elegance. Very good indeed. Not significantly better than the "basic".
Hermitage Réserve, Cuvée De Cathelin, 1990 2009-2050
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