“Red Rhônes and… Detroit Lions?!”

OK, I admit it, I jumped back on the bandwagon just like hundreds of thousands of win-starved football fans around the Motor City and beyond. The Lions finally put together a good team and made the NFL playoffs for the first time in how many years? I’m old enough to (vaguely) remember watching the Lions on a black and white TV the last time they won a league championship back in 1957. I have even clearer memories of those great early ‘60s Lions, who would have been the best team in pro football, had it not been for the damned Lombardi-Starr Green Bay Packers. Since then, it’s mostly been tough times for the guys wearing the Honolulu Blue jerseys.

I was geeked up for the Lions-Rams game, and I wanted a good bottle of something to open, so, considering its age, I figured this one was a safe bet. JL Chave Hermitage is one of THE great wines of the world, vintage after vintage. At its best, it is among the very finest expressions of Syrah to be found anywhere. We’ve had a lot of wonderful experiences with Chave Hermitage, and this had been in our cellar for a number of years, so I decided its time had come. As it happens, it isn’t quite as “mature” as I expected it might be.

2000 Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, 13% alc.: This has obviously moved into secondary territory, but it’s not yet close to its peak. It shows leather, mahogany and a little black olive right off the bat on the nose, with flavors that echo and expand with a good dose of earth and iron; my wife Kim mentions a note of mint. Still a bit tight and astringent on the finish, it is full-bodied, concentrated and intense, and has significant tannins yet to shed. This bottle could have easily gone another 5 years in the cellar. I would expect that, at 24 years old, different bottles might have gone different ways, but this one isn’t quite there yet. With extended air, more of the original core of black plum and black currant becomes evident, but expect the leathery secondary characteristics to continue coming to the fore as it continues to age and develop. Find this wine

Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Inc., Cleveland, OH

Gang of Pour “swag” from back in the day.

I can’t say exactly how or when I happened to take possession of this wine, but it likely sold for around $80-100 when it was the current vintage available. A quick survey of online sources shows that, these days, prices can range anywhere from $400-800, so this is definitely not one of my usual QPR gems. I was actually concerned that I might have waited a little too long to open it, but such was not the case. In retrospect, I should have waited on it at least another five years, maybe even longer. If you have some of this, you needn’t be in any hurry to open yours, because, if my bottle was any indication, it has a long life ahead of it. Patience will be rewarded.

Wine growers in the northern Rhône since 1481, the Chave family (currently helmed by Gérard and son Jean-Louis) represents 16 generations of unbroken lineage committed to the production of some of the finest Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne on the planet.

The key to perfect balance in Chave’s Hermitage is in their remarkable blending skill, which begins again every season. Many hours of thought, insight, and conversation go into the final component blend for Hermitage. Never once has the Chave family released a single vineyard or cru Hermitage. While percentages vary from year to year, the constant backbone of Hermitage Rouge is Syrah from Bessards Vineyard with its steep, granitic slopes. Long-lived wines of great purity, elegance, power, and finesse, Chave Hermitage is winemaking in its apogee.

Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo

Home | Tasting Notes