1983 L'Hermitage

This wine was tasted over dinner at Ristorante Morini, NY in May, 2014.

On my annual visit to the Rhône Valley in December, the Chaves, by most accounts the oldest wine family in the Northern Rhône Valley (dating back to 1481, when most of their neighbors were still amoebas), staged a rare vertical tasting of their extraordinary red Hermitage. The Chaves have built up their holdings on the Hermitage hill to 15 hectares, including 10 of red Hermitage spread over seven of the appellation top lieux-dits: Diognières, Rocoules, Péleat, Méals, Beaumes, L'Hermite and Bessards. The multiple components are vinified using traditional methods and aged separately, then blended during the second spring after the vintage. It is this careful blending that makes the Chaves' Hermitage so unique, and so complete: Gérard Chave, ably assisted in recent years by his son Jean-Louis, looks for the perfect mixture of fruit, spice, and tannin. The finished wine has the force and virility of Hermitage, but also great delineation of flavor and refinement. Wine that does not fit into the blend is sold off in bulk to the négoce. Total production of red wine ranges between 1,800 and 2,500 cases per year.x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D While Chave's overall winemaking philosophy has remained virtually unchanged in recent decades, there has been continual evolution of technique over the years; in my tastings of Chave's Hermitage, I have always found the wines beginning with '85 a bit more modern in style. Indeed, since this time, reports Jean-Louis Chave, the Chaves have picked grapes with even more thorough physiological ripeness; greater attention has been paid to gentle handling of the grapes between vineyard and cellar; destemming was introduced; and élevage, particularly the timing and frequency of racking, has become more precise. Also in 1985, the estate began to use a bit of new oak.x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D The best vintages of this great Hermitage need 10 to 15 years to approach maturity and are easily capable of lasting for 25 to 30 years, or longer. (I've had fabulously expressive vintages of Chave's white Hermitage back to 1929!) Following my vertical tasting, the Chaves also showed me the three vintages to date of their special Cuvée Cathélin. This wine is a master blender's master blend, made in very limited quantities in outstanding vintages—that is, years in which the Chaves are confident that borrowing a bit of wine from a few lieux-dits will not compromise the quality of the estate's main wine.