2020 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/1/2023)
Warm, slightly smoky, fairly ripe fruit compote on the nose, perhaps expected from the vintage, sweet and rich in the mouth, frankly sweet is the dominant note. There's a creamy texture to the wine, with mild/moderate slightly grainy tannins. It's pretty tasty, if a bit sweet, gluggable, but not what I expect from a wine of this stature. (87 points)
2020 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (10/1/2023)
Deep dark red in the glass, not quite opaque, hmm, bit of an odd, underripe vegetal note on the nose, no obvious fruit notes, no interesting spice notes; palate starts medium rich, doesn't show particularly sweet, but doesn't really show a lot of depth or complexity, shows a touch of tartness, some astringency, and the finish dies off quickly. tannins are there, a bit chalky on the finish. Not a particularly interesting, deep, or flavorful wine. Who knows, maybe this will become something as it ages, but I'm not paying to find out. (86 points)
2018 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (10/1/2023)
Unusual nose for a Chave, with some ripe fruit compote, but also a bit of a cheesy sour note that's at best unattractive. Coming back later, it's distinctly the smell of Cheez-It crackers from the box; quite ripe on the palate, frankly that's about it, ripe, sweet, high toned fruit, I'm struggling to find any depth or complexity, though it's well balanced for what it is, with decent acidity, and some medium fine tannins. My prediction is that this just falls apart with age. Victim of the vintage, falling well short of the standards set for this wine. (86 points)
