1998 | Domaine Jean-Louis Chave | Hermitage Blanc

Deep and intense, it powers its way through the palate, delivering bursts of fruit and earth. Silky and full-bodied, with distinctive personality, this ripe, thick and well-made white has earthy, smoky, bread dough and beeswax complexity.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: A retasting of the 1998 Hermitage blanc confirmed its brilliant quality. It is an elegant, floral-scented, structured white Hermitage. It boasts fabulous concentration, but is less flattering and precocious than either the 1999 or 2000.

• James Suckling: Spiced melon fruits, wet stones and dried yellow flowers with a honeysuckle edge. This has aged beautifully with the fat rendering from the palate over time to deliver a composed and smooth-edged core of melons, minerals and a fresh, toasty finish. This sits in a superb zone as a complete, mature white.

Producer Information

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave is a powerhouse wine producer absed in the village of Mauves, in the Saint-Joseph region and just over the Rhône river from Hermitage – the source of the estate's most acclaimed wines. Chave's red and white Hermitage – based on Syrah and Marsanne and Roussanne respectively – are some of the most important in the Rhône Valley, commanding both high prices and exceptional, sometimes 100-point scores. The Chave holding counts some 14.5 hectares (36 acres) of land in Hermitage, making it one of the largest land owners in the appellation. The vineyards are terraced and today cover eight different plots on the hill (some of which, including holdings in the likes of the Méal and Bessards sections, are highly coveted), providing a range of mesoclimates and terroirs for the Chave wines. Many of the vines are between 30 and 60 years old. The plots are brought to the winery and vinified separately. Grapes are usually destemmed, and are fermented in stainless steel before being aged for up to 18 months in oak, a small portion of which is new. All of the wines are bottled unfiltered. Jean-Louis Chave make several wines under the Hermitage banner. The generic red and white Hermitage wines are Chave's flagships, although the range is headed by the Cathelin cuvée – one of the Rhone's most collectable wines. Chave also makes a couple of wines from Saint-Joseph and a Côtes du Rhône wine. Several wines are produced under the family's négociant arm: JL Chave Séléctions. The Chave family have been growing grapes since 1481, and today the domaine is run by Gerard Chave and his son, Jean-Louis.

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