I recently had a discussion on this board in which I asserted one could find delicious wines even in poor vintages. Last night we enjoyed a perfect example in the 1992 Chave.
1992 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (11/30/2018)
Took to a local BYO, served in Riedel syrah stems, paired with the duck entree. We popped and poured this and were immediately struck by the beautiful, classic Chave nose. Soaring from the glass is a total cliche, I know, still that’s what happened. You could smell this while the glass sat on the table. Though maybe not as well delineated as our last bottle, we got textbook red fruit, forest floor, meaty herbs & spices. Not the fruit-in-the-face with a couple of notes in the background that syrah can be these days. Clearly mature, fully integrated. Earthy clean fresh ozone after a thunderstorm smell. In the mouth, not quite as expressive as the nose (but the nose was a superlative, so let’s be fair), it had the same elements as the nose, with great acidity and at the core, true to the region and producer, that delicious, cassis-like liqueur essence of hermitage. Not rich and voluptuous as one would get from a stronger vintage, just bang on what I associate with Chave hermitage, and perhaps a better pairing with food for being somewhat lighter on the palate. I’ve got '89s and '90s sitting beside these in the cellar, and I am delighted for both. Paid $450 for the whole case of 1992 in 2008. Yeah, prices were lower then, but you would have struggled to get a single bottle of the 1990 at that price, even then! A delight to drink, not in a “for the vintage” kind of way, and it was even better a couple of years ago.
Nice note Sarah. The 1992 was the one vintage I did not buy of Chave in that stretch, as it had this odd, damp earth and muddy aspect to its soil component when it was young that was hard to see past. There were all the other Chave elements there (very discreetly presented in the wine’s youth), but the soil component was rather particular to the vintage. I ended up buying a lot more 1993 at that time, as both vintages were bargains and the '93, though a tad lighter than the '92 out of the blocks, had all of the classic Chave elements right from the start which you described in the 1992. Should have just trusted Gerard and bought the 1992 as well…
The 1992 is a very good Chave, delicious, enjoyable. However side by side I even preferred the 1993 slightly some years ago …
and 1991 and 1994 are clearly superior …
It is simply quite a light vintage, with the nose better than the palate …
Very interesting, John, thanks for that. I didn’t try it in its youth, but what you describe sounds unpleasant and is not present at this point, at least not in the bottles I’ve had. It’s fascinating to see what these wines can do over time, even from bargain vintages like these.
I have never been a position to try them side by side - I bet that was very interesting. As you can tell from my note, I agree completely about it being light and the nose better than the palate.
Yes, I’ve also had good experiences with off vintage Chave especially with age. Also, nose a bit better than the palate works fine for me. Screaming good deal on the case purchase.
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