Wine Advisor
Jean-Louis Chave, Hermitage Blanc 1993
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1993 white Hermitage is an amazing success for this horrendous vintage. The wine exhibits good ripeness, excellent freshness, some of the honeyed, white-flower character (acacia?), medium body, and a crisp, long finish. Anticipated maturity: now-2000. Last tasted 6/96.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The brilliant wine making of Gerard Chave, now assisted by his highly talented son, Jean-Louis, has turned out as successful 1992s and 1993s as any producer in the northern Rhone. The white Hermitage includes about 15% Roussanne, which is being fermented in new oak barrels to give the wine more definition and structure. This has always been one of the great white Hermitages made, and in top vintages it is capable of aging for 30+ years. It is a wine that takes on greater life and complexity when drunk with intensely flavored food. I recently had the 1988 Chave white Hermitage with a truffle soup made by the renowned Washington, DC chef, Jean-Louis Palladin, and the wine could have been a great Montrachet given how spectacular it tasted. The 1993 white Hermitage exhibits a pretty, floral component, with a touch of acacia flowers and honey. It does not possess the massive richness or unctuous texture of the 1994, but it is a tasty, medium-bodied wine with good concentration and a smooth, low acid finish. It should drink well for 7-8 years. Importers: Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800 and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
There will be an estate-bottled 1993 Hermitage blanc. Although it is light by Chave's standards, it exhibits some of the flowery, peach-like fragrance achieved by white Hermitage. Medium-bodied, with higher than normal acidity, this is Chave's lightest white Hermitage since the 1984. However, it is a tasty, elegant wine that will need to be drunk in its first decade of life. Importers: Langdon-Shiverick, Chagrin Falls, OH; Tel. (216) 247-6868 and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; Tel. (510) 524-1524
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted from Yapp’s reserves at a private vertical. A lucid greeny/golden hue – very clear. The nose does not quite have the clarity of the 1990, rather muffled with dried pear, lanolin and a touch of wet wool. The palate is actually better than the nose although it is quite simple. Pear, lanolin and a touch of pineapple, though there is a residue of wet wool on the finish. Fine, but drink now. Tasted March 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
I retasted the 1993 white Hermitage, which is an amazing success for this horrendous vintage. The wine exhibits good ripeness, excellent freshness, some of the honeyed, white flower character (acacia?), medium body, and a crisp, long finish. Longtime Chave enthusiasts will be thrilled to hear that Chave's spectacular 1995s are among the greatest successes in the Rhone Valley. Furthermore, the 1994s, now that they are in bottle, are even stronger than my commentary last year suggested. Importers: Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800 and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524
