Description
Most will know the Chave family for their Hermitage, which is only fair being that the estate-bottling is widely regarded as the outright best example and the most emblematic of the terroirs of that great hill. However, the Chave family is originally from across the river in Mauves on the St. Joseph side. In fact, they didn’t own any land in Hermitage before phylloxera.
For the current head of the family, rebuilding the original St. Joseph and restoring it to its former glory is his passion project. Jean-Louis has done immense restorative work all over the core of the appellation. From employing stone masons to restore old terraced vineyards, to re-domesticating vines that had been long since abandoned; and alongside all of that work, he has been studiously converting all of the acquired vineyards to biodynamic farming.
Though he does make a single-site bottling (Clos Florentin), this one is made with a similar philosophy as his Hermitage: blending sites to give a more comprehensive expression.
This is the perfect foil to those more famous and vastly more expensive Syrahs from the noble hill across the water. This is still incredibly full-bodied, yes, but a touch fresher, leaner, and with a more mineral edge. 2022 was a good, sunny vintage, and J.L. Chave never shies away from phenolic extraction, so this wine is built for the cellar (or at least for the decanter for a couple hours).
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.