1990 J.L. Chave Hermitage Rouge

1990 J.L Chave Hermitage

The hill of Hermitage is an impressive site standing sentinel over the town of Tain l’Hermitage, the terraces of vines enclosed by stone walls, zig-zagging up the slope to the chapel of St. Christopher.

Hermitage consists of 131 ha’s of vines and we’re getting to the most Northern extreme for Syrah here, the South planted slopes perfectly orientated to maximise ripeness & protect the vines from the dominant North winds. Three of the larger negociant houses, Chapoutier, Jaboulet & Delas,  account for 89 ha of the 131 ha total…..a fairly hefty 68% of the total plantings

The domaine of J.L Chave started in 1481 and, certainly for me represents the apogee for the appellation, eschewing technological heavy handedness and working 9.3 ha of Syrah vineyards with an average age of 45 years old.

The Chave plots include some of the most famous names in the appellation…..the largest is Bessards which Gerard Chave considers to be the frame around which they work…..the soils here are granite. Bessards is the rockstar plot of Hermitage….it’s where Chapoutiers Pavillon comes from, about 25% of Jaboulets La Chapelle and is the workhorse of the Delas wines.

Next is L’Hermite, a monopole purchased by the Chave family in 1984, situated at the top of the slope looking over Bessards and Le Méal, the soils here are more of a meeting point of various geological influences, full granite, crumbling decomposed granite and alpine residues, loess and alluvial stones or galets….the Chave vines within this climat are planted mainly on the granites and glacial residues…the resulting characters are spice & freshness with tight tannins.

Next is Peléat …lower down the hill, a esteemed L-shaped site with a fine soil – a mix of clay, silex and scattered galet stones….another monopole owned soley by the Chave family the gives rise to a wine that is refined and elegant ….red-fruited and taut.

Le Méal lies to the East of Bessards and consists of glacial stones and looser soils…this provides the flesh, aromatics and voluptuous character to the finished wine. Beaume in the centre of the hill  on a clay/sandstone climat displays riper fruit and tannins. Les Diogniere’s ….lower again…sandy, siliceaous, poor soils covered in stones for red fruits and acid backbone and finally Vercandieres a tiny, walled plot to the South of Besssards.

Chave Hermitage

So seven climats in all, vinified seperately then blended together after aging in cask to produce a wine where the whole, more often than not is more than the sum of its parts.

The fruit arrives at the cellars cool and is sometimes chilled to around 13 degrees C to negate the need for sulphur. The Syrah is nearly completely destemmed, with a proportion crushed by foot into four 50hL wooden open fermenters with the balance fermented in stainless steel. Yeasts are rarely added though sometimes in hot vintages it is necessary (1982, 2003).The cool fruit means the fermentation’s take off sluggishly and the cuvaison lasts for two to threes weeks…..no pumping over is done but the caps are punched down regularly via pigeage.

The wine is aged in oak for 18 months with the vintage dictating the percentage of new oak used….generally it runs at between 10-20% new oak with the balance being five year old casks.

Blending of the climats takes place around July and then they rest in tank until a September bottling…..no filtration though on occasion an egg white fining will be employed.

In exceptional vintages an uber-Hermitage called Cathelin is released….on average around 2,500 bottles.

Dark red with some bricking at the meniscus.

An amazingly complex nose of dark plummy fruits with blackberry, roasted meats, tar, gunpowder, olive tapenade, Asian spice, Bay leaf and earth. There are touches of funk, violets, iodine and game wafting about also.

The texture on the palate is stunning…..dense but almost Burgundian in its finesse. Rich, opulant and heady with layers of flavours contantly morphing with time in the glass. Quite meaty, dark & blackfruits, game and deeply etched with spice displaying a granitic, chiseled detail to its structure. Really….it ticks all the boxes…..balance, length, intensity and complexity….if I was a scoring man….I’d be 99 points on that….but I’m not so I’ll just say…..when it comes to Hermitage…..there is Chave and then there is daylight.