Jean-Louis Chave, Hermitage 2015

vinous97

Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds

Youthful purple color. Mineral-accented dark berries, star anise, cola, olive and pungent flowers on the explosively perfumed nose. Offers impressively concentrated, expansive flavors of black raspberry, spicecake, smoked meat and candied flowers that are complicated by licorice candy and dark chocolate notes that sneak in on the back half. Sweet, sappy and precise on the floral- and dark fruit-driven finish, which shows outstanding clarity and round, harmonious tannins that build smoothly and steadily.

vinous98

Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds

As usual, tasted vineyard by vineyard from barrels. 1) from Les Beaume: Powerful, deep-pitched cherry, blueberry and violet character; intense mineral and spice overtones add vivacity. 2) from Meal: Densely packed but uncannily fresh and energetic, displaying sweet raspberry, cherry, spicecake and floral pastille qualities and a core of juicy acidity. 3) from Ermite: Superb depth of dark fruit and floral character; a core of minerality provides energetic lift and focus, giving an impression of energy, not weight. 4) from Bessards: Mineral and floral notes accent ripe blackberry and cherry, and a sexy Asian spice flourish lends an exotic touch and back-end cut. The final wine should be a knockout and I envision that it will come off as a hypothetical cross of Chave's 2009 (power and heft) and 2010 (energy and structure).

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck

As to the reds, the 2015 Hermitage looks to be about as profound as they come. As usual, I’m able to taste the different components, and while the differences in each sample were striking, the quality wasn’t; each sample showed full-bodied richness, gorgeous concentration, ripe tannin and impeccable purity. Possessing a sexy, voluptuous style, it’s a hypothetical mix of the 2009 and 2010.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski

After tasting several intermediate blends that will ultimately be combined in some proportion to create the 2015 Hermitage, I would not be surprised to see the final result achieve perfection. Although massively ripe and concentrated, there is still a feeling of balance and elegance in the wines that I fully expect to carry over into the final product. As the blending process isn’t complete, Jean-Louis warned that it was too early to say if there would be a Cuvée Cathelin, which is typically an outstanding parcel that, for some reason, doesn’t work in the rest of the blend.

robert_parker99

Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski

I had the opportunity to retaste the wonderful 2015 Hermitage and have taken this opportunity to up my rating of it a couple of points, more in line with how I thought it would turn out from barrel than when I first tasted it from bottle last year. Yes, it's closed up pretty tight, but the potential is clearly enormous, with pungent, peppery aromas accenting espresso, black olive and blackberries. Full-bodied, dense and supremely concentrated, with a tremendously long finish, this is a vintage to put away and forget for at least 5-6 years, maybe a decade.

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski

The 2015 Hermitage is in bottle and it's a profound, long-lived wine, although the 2017 may perhaps surpass it in terms of pure pleasure. The 2015 is a bit meaty and cedary up front, backed by a mix of berry fruit and spice variations. But what stands out is the wine's immaculate structure and balance. It's firm and tannic without being hard or unyielding, finishing with fold after fold of velvety richness. While the impatient can certainly derive some pleasure from it even now, I'd opt for cellaring it a decade or more.