Recently had 2007 Levet Cote Rotie La Chavaroche and absolutely loved it. First time trying Levet and wow it was amazing. On the hunt to find some more, but it seems to me that retailers only have recent vintages’-'15 to '17. Can Levet wines be enjoyed young or do they need to be aged for awhile? Curious to know how '16 and '17 are showing since they seem to be more readily available. And how different is regular cote rotie bottling from La Chavaroche or Journaries?
Certainly better, much better with age. The 2007 is outstanding. Our wine group drinks a lot of Levet, tends to win wine of the night each time it shows up. Recently a 2014 was drinking quite well, but I’m aging mine.
Drank the 2017 Péroline this summer with fellow forumites Mikko and Ilkka. Wasn’t too thrilled about the wine, because it felt super primary and sweetly-fruited with a surprisingly distinct streak of vanillin. I can imagine those elements will disappear with bottle age and the wine will become wonderfully complex once the tertiary elements start to emerge. However, this experience was enough to keep me from opening any young bottles.
I’ve had their Cote Roties from '13, '14, '15, and '16 young and disliked what they were showing at that time. Tight, darkly fruited with very little secondary character at all. Very similar to Otto’s impressions above. Never had one with age on it, but I suspect some aging is required…
Thanks for the notes. That’s really helpful to know. Sounds like I’ll have to keep hunting for some older vintages!
07 is amazing for them. We did a odd number vertical from 05-15 and the 07 blew everything out of the water with its balance and purity of fruit. I really like their 12s if you’re looking for a near vintage
Sounds like I hit the jackpot with '07. It was really a random purchase too. No wonder it was so good! Charlie, any particular bottling for '12 or just in general?
i liked them both - but i lean toward chavaroche cause i like the feral edge
Most vintages need age to show well but there tends to be a good supply of back vintages out there.
Where? I think the oldest vintage I saw was '13 on wine searcher’s regular version.
Anyone have 2017 Chavaroche yet? I had a bottle a month ago and it was the most un-Levet I’ve ever experienced. Didn’t resemble the type of wine I’ve come to expect from Levet. Maybe it was bottle variation, maybe it was just too young. . . but I didn’t like what I tasted.
Interesting. Seems like people haven’t really enjoyed recent vintages. Wondering if they were just too young or Levet went through some change in style? Obviously I’ve only tried the '07 so not the one to answer that question, but would be curious to know.
i had two bottles of les journaries from 2009 and thought they were absolutely awful…tart, light…i could barely tell it was syrah.
im chalking it up to a terrible storage from the shop i purchased them from but until further notice, im not a levet fan.
Young Levet is hard, especially La Chav. These wines morph into beauties. Have patience.
So for the 2007, what about this wine for this vintage makes it so enjoyable. I have had it twice and thought highly of it both times. Should the 2009 be similarly enjoyable? I haven’t opened those because they are birthyear wines for my kids.
All the usual cellar resellers. Chambers, benchmark, sometimes they show up at auction. Lots of fans and still reasonably priced so they sell through pretty quick I think.
Robert, how long do you usually wait?
Anyone have any recent TN on the Chav. ‘10?
Regarding waiting on Chavaroche; I do agree, however, I’ve had beautiful examples of 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 shortly after release. Again, my experience with Levet is not as deep as some of the other guys here like Robert. . . just saying that 2017 was really surprising to me. Hoping to try another bottle soon.
J, 2016 Chavaroche was okay young? Seems to me that’s the only bottle available in my area at the moment.