Still a baby. Revisit in 15. — a month ago
It’s always a resounding ‘YES’ for JL Chave!!
That includes this luscious and concentrated Syrah from Saint-Joseph AOC in the Northern Rhône of France.
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave is a benchmark and icon of the Rhône Valley – a family-run operation since 1481 – with an entire range of deliciousness through the Domaine Jean-Louis Chave and JL Chave Selection portfolios.
This wine is deep ruby, trending on purple. It has pronounced aromas and flavors of boysenberry, blueberry, black cherry, cassis, pomegranate, also violet, bacon, sanguine, saddle leather, pipe tobacco, clove, cigar, damp earth, and black peppercorn. Alcohol is high (14.5% ABV) with medium (+) fine-grained and well-integrated tannins, medium (+) acidity, a medium (+) body, and a long, elegant finish.
It has a rustic and savory character with robust dark fruit notes; it’s layered, complex, structured, and age-worthy, benefitting from decanting. Still, it’s tasting wonderfully now.
Cheers to JL Chave and treasures of the Rhône!! — 2 months ago
I felt guilty drinking such a young wine, but it was exceptional. Beautifully balanced and fresh right out of the bottle (no time to decant since we were in a restaurant). Tasted a lot of raspberries and blackberries. — 15 days ago
Decant and leave for an hour or so. Delicious. — a month ago
Mesquite, garrigues, fruitcake, dark red fruit, tobacco and menthol. — a month ago
Believe it or not, this is my first La-La and what a way to do it with a 1994 no less! Flintstone vitamins, gym socks, pomegranate, purple flowers, minerals like crazy…and what seemed like an impenetrable wall of granite. Tons of baking spices. Modern? Yeah of course but my goodness the quality is indisputable and this worked really well with Iberico pork cheek, mushroom ragu with lavender and thyme. The reality is, even at 30 years old, this is youthful. Drink now through, I dunno, 2044? — 2 months ago
Wine auction winner. Smooth and subtle. Finish to match. Cherry tobacco notes. Paired with grilled ribeye steaks — a month ago
I would not have dared to drink this so young — but it was delicious, fresh & complex, — 2 months ago
The 1994 was initially a bit shy on the nose but after many hours in the decanter, it showed such amazing character. In fact, it shared some characteristics with a lightly peated single malt scotch, with light smoke, marmalade, honey, golden raspberry and wet stone. More of its character was unlocked with food. In this case, monkfish, sweet potato, leek, and winter truffle. Drink now through 2034+ — 2 months ago
Alessandro Dalle Carbonare
Imprecise, rustic and truly arteasanal. Despite this I have the feeling it will improve a lot with time. Perfect wine for food pairing. 93-93+ — 18 days ago