2009 L'Hermitage

"The only problem with 2010, and it's a big one," said Jean-Louis Chave, "is that production was down by 50% of normal because of the rain at flowering."He went on to describe the vintage as bright in character, saying that, in comparison "2009 is more angular, with the tannins not yet in harmony with the other parts of the wine."Chave's syrah vines are up to a century old and he is a firm believer in the primacy of massalle selection "because the newer clones are all fruit, without the violet character that defines--or defined--the variety."He noted that working with new oak is always tricky "because if the wood hasn't been properly seasoned, then the wood tannins will overwhelm the fruit tannins and throw the balance completely off, and even age won't make everything come back together.The bitter, raspy tannins won't integrate and will always stand out."

Jean-Louis Chave led off our annual tasting by comparing his 2009 red wines to the estate's 1988s. "It's a vintage that combines power and balance. The wines are rich but not roasted, with very good purity and a tightness that suggests that they will age well," he told me. He observed that "the heat of the 2009 summer caused nitrogen in the grapes to drop, especially in low-lying and hot sites, which means that a lot of people who like to use ambient yeasts weren't able to do that." [Note: yeasts require a certain level of nitrogen in the grapes to survive, and if that level is too low there must either be an addition of nitrogen or the introduction of a cultured yeast that can get the job done.] Chave calls 2008 "an awful growing season that I'd like to forget. Every problem you could imagine happened: rain at flowering, then mildew which seemed to come up all season, and then rain at the end of August as we were gearing up for harvest. Thankfully we had three weeks of completely dry weather starting after the early September rain so the grapes were able to attain full maturity. Chave would also like to forget 2008 when it comes to his white wine, not because of the wine itself but because "it was the smallest production we've had in a long time." He told me that the biggest concern he has when making white wine is getting brightness and purity. "Richness is a given and heaviness is a danger with white Hermitage. We never do battonage and we try to keep movement of the wine to a minimum and to preserve the carbonic gas, which helps retain freshness and minimizes the need for sulfur." Jean-Louis added that "there's great syrah in a number of places in the Rhone but white Hermitage is utterly unique because of its marriage of power and finesse and especially its ability to age."