TN: 2018 Bernard Levet Cote Rotie La Chavaroche

WINE TALK
1

2018 Bernard Levet Cote Rotie La Chavaroche
The idea was that the hot year would mitigate the fabled sternness of Levet in its youth while still allowing the essential character of the site to show through; popped and poured and in the beginning things looked like they were playing out as hoped, with plenty of ripe fruit to smother any of the spiky edges that might be lurking underneath and pair with a small but welcome serving of funk alongside; that funk was everything you want in a Cote Rotie - briney, olivey/herby, meaty, at turns even fecal - enjoyable, in a word; but after an hour or so of air the funk had receded to the point of invisibility, the fruit became more candied, and a most unwelcome alcoholic heat started to break through on the palate, clipping the finish a bit; perhaps this will improve if age tames the lushness of the fruit, but on this night I couldn’t bear to drain the bottle; decent plus

2 Likes
2

Interesting on an early check in. Any chance in 15 yr imagining the fruit will fade and the funk (and fecal [barf.gif] ) will be revealed?

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Thanks for the check in. Sounds a little concerning with the heat. Been buying smaller amounts of the 2018 Northern Rhones myself as it really seem to be a year where it is all about how well the producers handled the heat.

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Sounds like it’s just too early. I think some people drank 15 chav in 2019 or so and decanted 8 hours and it was still tight. I haven’t opened any levet younger than 2010 and even those are tight.

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I am all about the Levet funk (roadkill?) so hopefully burying them for a long time will do the trick. Thanks for checking one for the team though!

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I’m not an experienced Levet drinker at all but that’s the hope, certainly [cheers.gif]

7

I would expect this wine to work itself out with some long cellaring. The 2009s, for example, are (comparably?) solar wines, and are not all that close to ready yet.

8

I popped a 2010 Chavaroche the other night and it remains tight, though I personally think the bigger issue is that the acid is a little elevated for the fruit profile, making it a bit harsh on the palate. The nose is great. Just needed a little more fruit, in my opinion.

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Fruit is overrated!

[wow.gif]

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We want the funk.

Gotta have that funk.

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Some of us prefer our funk to be uptown.