Allemand vs. Chave

Florida Gulf Coast best. We are already talking about it. Your presence is expected!

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I heard both Allemand and Chave taste better in Copenhagen. You should definitely do the event here.

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Don’t forget the one off Balthazar made from Juge’s vines

I would almost be willing to give up Burgundy for a cellar of old Chave.
Not really, but I’d def take the cellar of old Chave.

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The rumor that Balthazar made the last vintage (2015) of Juge? I’ve not heard that it has been substantiated. Do tell!

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Your post made me think about these which I had forgotten. I’ve not tried it yet, should probably pull one and give it a go now.

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9 posts were merged into an existing topic: Chave vs Allemand (vs Reynard vs Jamet?) - Los Angeles, 2023, gauging interest

I consumed a bottle of the 2015 Balthazar/Juge Cornas a few years ago without realizing what it was. At the time (2019) the wine was so heavily reduced and gamey that it wasn’t terribly enjoyable for my palate. My note is on CT.

Of course I now wonder what could have been if I’d known what it was and let it age for a few years.

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BTW, event posted in Event Planner

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Do you mean potentially Chaillot and not potentially Reynard?

What’s that?

Just had the 11…amazingly elegant and full of floral right now!

I have a lone bottle of '11 Chaillot I was thinking of bringing to the event!

You guys totally highjacked this thread. :joy:

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Yeah, partly my fault…I’d move the posts into the Event Planner but some are a bit intertwined…

That said, can everybody post about the event in the Event Planner thread, not this one, from now on? The question the OP posted remains ‘unanswered’ :wink:

Here’s the link to the event thread, for those who need it again

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Berserker Days and these types of offlines sometimes, always?, make me sad I’m so far away… Enjoy and post!!

i often see references to JL Chave not being as good in modern vintages. Can someone with experience explain when this happened and how/why? Huge Chave fan, but haven’t yet tried any of my younger vintages… say 2005 forward.

TIA

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Chave is great, but different. More powerful, higher alcohol, and more fruit since 2003. Stylistically it has separated from some of the Chave followers style preferences up to 2001 when it was sterner and more linear acid driven expression of Syrah.

Last '86 I had still needed some time to resolve.

I think you can describe four different phases of Chave (at least wines that you’re likely to encounter today). The Gerard phase, until mid-90s. The current Jean Louis phase. And overlapping that is the old cellar vs. new modern barrel room. I’ve been in the old cellar, which is/was a typical ancient cellar, with all the gunk, cobwebs, mold and dust you’d expect (or at least not be surprised to see). Have not been in the new barrel room, but from pictures it looks spotless and modern. The wines seem to reflect both the differences in winemaking to the father and son, and the cellar environment itself, with wine of this century being cleaner (and in some ways less interesting) than wines of the last century.

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Yeah, I don’t have a big sample size (or a huge degree of confidence in my opinion on this tbh), but I’ve found 90s/80s Chave to be more restrained and complex, while more recent Chave is bigger and fruitier (while still great, just different!). By contrast, I’ve never loved a bottle of 90s-era Allemand–I’ve found them a big hard and edgy in their middle age–while by contrast more recent Allemand is just so complete and polished (in a good way).

Perhaps in another 10 years, we’ll see that recent Chave is best of all. Or not. We’ll find out!

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