Jean-Louis Chave, Hermitage 2003

robert_parker88

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Right, let’s get this straight, I love Chave’s Hermitage, it is one of the greatest wines on the planet. But I could pass on the 2003. A huge, unsubtle nose does not so much seduce you, but shags the olfactory senses senseless, with super-ripe cherries and cassis and a lot of warm alcohol. The full-bodied palate has an almost impenetrable core of tannins and its hedonism just seems out of synch to what I expected the wine to be. Maybe this wine and I were just never meant to get on? Tasted June 2008.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck

The 2003 Hermitage is as profound as they come. Inky in color, with incredible kirsch, blackberry liqueur, flowers, licorice and hints of underlying meatiness, it hits the palate with a full-bodied, massively concentrated profile that has nothing out of place, seamless integration of its fruit, alcohol and tannin, and an overriding elegant, perfectly balanced feel. Drink it anytime over the coming three decades. Jean Louis’ two 2003 Hermitages should be on everyone’s bucket list of wines to try at least once (preferably more) in their life. They both represent the essence of Hermitage and are as good as wine gets.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski

Chave's 2003 Hermitage, like the most successful Burgundies from that anomalous vintage, somehow retains a sense of mineral freshness that balances this wine's remarkable concentration and massive fruit. Tasted at the domaine, it's even floral and perfumed on the nose, an incredible feat when faced with that summer's implacable heat. Full-bodied, massively rich and decadently creamy in texture, it delivers waves of mixed red and black fruits that avoid any overtly raisiny character, finishing vibrant, peppery and long.

robert_parker89

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted from Yapp’s reserves at a private vertical. The second time I have tasted this Chave. It has a lucid, deep garnet core. The nose is still rich and decadent, black fruits, tinned prune, raisin, melted dark chocolate and vanilla. The palate is full-bodied, dense and sinewy, very sweet ripe, fig and prune lacing the black fruits, a huge arcing structure, not as much heat as before (although this bottle had just been bought up from the cellar.) Very atypical and just not what I look for in a Chave Hermitage. Tasted March 2009.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

While there will undoubtedly be a Cuvee Cathelin culled out, the 2003 Hermitage is the most provocative and extraordinary vintage I have tasted chez Chave in the 26 years I have been visiting this domaine. Every cuvee tasted before blending together had at least 16 and as much as 17% natural alcohol, yields averaged 10-15 hectoliters per hectare, and the qualitative potential is unbelievable. The wine tastes more like dry vintage port than anything I have ever tasted at this estate, with amazing concentration yet remarkable freshness. Certainly Les Baumes (16.5% alcohol) tastes like crushed stones intermixed with creme de cassis liqueur. Even more stony in its unreal mineral richness and unctuosity was the cuvee l’Hermite. The two cuvees from Meal and Bessards were simply to die for, the most concentrated, intense Hermitages I have ever tasted, with extraordinary ripeness, power (16-16.5% alcohol) and richness. Of course, the yields were historically low, and the high level of ripeness and richness unprecedented, so what we have is probably something for the archives of the Chave family, a wine of prodigious richness, longevity, and extraordinary intensity. It would be hard to believe that the Cuvee Cathelin, can actually be any better, but it will obviously be a bit different as it tends to see a bit more small oak cask and/or new oak, and the bulk of it tends to come from their holdings in Les Bessards. One of the last producers to harvest in the north, Chave began picking on September 5th, and refused to acidify despite the fact that analytically there was virtually no acid left in his grapes. He told me this vintage has made him totally re-examine all his ideas about winemaking since the finished wines taste fresh, lively, and while they possesses enormous levels of alcohol (15-17% plus), they are neither hot nor heavy. He said, “perhaps it is our terroir, but I never thought wines like this could be made.” Everything was still in barrels as the assemblage had not yet taken place, so my tasting notes are based on tastings from each individual cuvee in the cellars. Importers: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524 and Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800. Note: Importers are in the process of changing.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The perfect 2003 Hermitage has acquired extraordinary minerality as well as definition since I first tasted it 12 months earlier. Its inky/purple color is accompanied by glorious aromas of creme de cassis, black cherries, licorice, crushed rocks, and flowers. Prodigiously rich and full-bodied yet elegant and fresh, this is a tour de force in winemaking. There are no overripe, scorched, pruny, fig-like notes in this extraordinary Hermitage. It will be drinkable young, yet evolve for 35-40+ years. Importer: Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800