Jean-Louis Chave, son of Gérard and reknowned Hermitage-producer, has been awarded the „Winemakers’ Winemaker“ award at the ProWein in Düsseldorf.
This award is given by the Institute of Masters of Wine annually since 2011. It´s chosen by a panel of winemakers - all Masters of Wine – plus award’s past winners … so it´s definitely of high importatce and relevance.
On receiving the award, Jean-Louis Chave said:
“I am very proud to win this award, especially coming from the Masters of Wine whom I admire so much. It’s impossible to make a wine from a vineyard that doesn’t inspire you, and a good winemaker should give a sense of the place in their wine. It’s more than a technique; it’s a deep understanding of the terroir and its history, which I try to express in my wines.”
The Chave family has been producing wines in the northern Rhône Valley for over 500 years. Jean-Louis took over the domaine in Mauves in 1992 after studies at the University of Connecticut and a degree in oenology at UC Davis/California … he is the 16th generation of winemakers in the family. They own 15 ha of vines on the Hermitage hill … plus vineyards in St.Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage.
Taken from the MW website:
"Chave now joins the impressive list of previous winners: Peter Sisseck (2011), Peter Gago (2012), Paul Draper (2013), Anne-Claude Leflaive (2014), Egon Müller (2015), Alvaro Palacios (2016), Eben Sadie (2017), Jean-Claude Berrouet (2018) and Angelo Gaja (2019). Due to the global pandemic, there was no award given in 2020 and 2021".
Well deserved. Of course since I consider Roberto Conterno the Jean Louis Chave of Italy( and JL Chave the French version of RC) ,He should probably get it too. Thanks Gerhard- never heard of that award .
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