Posted from CellarTracker
Thanks for the report. I opened a bottle of this four years ago and liked it but felt it needed more time. I only have one more bottle. From your note, sounds like it’s time to give it a chance. I’ll give it a lengthy decant first, though.
It definitely can be enjoyed now, John,
But it also has more left in the tank, by my reckoning. (I am holding on to one more.)) Rumor on CT is that the grapes, or juice (?) originate from Chave. Don’t myself know more than that.
Do post, please, if you try it.
I couldn’t find my notes on the last bottle.
Yes, my understanding was that it was Chave wine that, for some reason, they didn’t think belonged in their final blend of barrels.
Don´t know if it´s from Chave, but if then it´s definitely purchased wine, not juice or grapes.
Chave vinifies everything himself - and only then decides which barrels to put into the domaine bottling - and which to sell off - usually after one year when malos are finished and making the final blend.
Is the sourcing from Chave something that only occurred in '99, or a more regular occurrence with Texier’s Hermitage?
As far as I know, it was a one-time thing in Texier’s case.
It was a barrel from Chave, which has been publicly know for a long time. But I don’t remember the details, such as when during elevage Eric got the barrel. As far as I know, it was a one-time deal.
Personally I’ve always liked Eric’s 99 Côte Rotie VV better. It’s been drinking well for a long time and is still going strong, and I sometimes see it for sale.
I seem to recall Dressner saying it was a few barrels and it was essentially finished wine that Chave didn’t feel was up to the standards of his Hermitage that year, so sold them off to Eric.
Is there any more information on the Chave origin available? I’ve done some google searches, but all I could find were comments people made on CT or here, nothing concrete…
What I heard back at the time (and after) is the same as what Brad and others have mentioned above. Andy you will never see anything more concrete that what you have found. I have not tried the wine in eons. It was very good but not at the level of the regular Chave Rouge nor should it be expected to be.
Typically in cases like this, the maker doesn’t want it known that they were the source, and the negotiant/bottler agrees to keep quiet about it. So I wouldn’t expect this to be officially confirmed anywhere.
Very interesting, I had not known any of this backstory. It seems like Texier’s own bottlings really need time shake out. I remember trying some many years ago, and finding them kind of shrill, and then when friends poured them a decade later, they were really quite good. Enough so that I put away a bottle of Brezeme to see what happens.
Same experience here with many of his Northern Rhones. I’ve got various Brezeme bottlings from 07, 09 and 10.
I had one bottle of the Cote Rotie, which I liked a lot, part of why I grabbed the Hermitage. I agree with Arv, and it’s well known anyway, his wines take a lot of time, but I’ve usually found them worth the tariff and the time. Plus, Eric used to post here with some regularity, no?