Wow – immediately as you lift the glass it's clear that this is the essence of Hermitage. Smoky berry fruits soar from the glass, joined by notes of perfumed cigar box, smoky bacon, bonfire smoke, star anise and incense. It's full and cooling on the palate, with no excess weight despite its breadth and depth of flavour. Lovely sappy berry acidity runs through it, leading to a long, weightless, saline finish. A really precise and fine wine, highly complex, well balanced and classically Hermitage. Drinking Window 2019 - 2040.Decanter | 100 DECSpiced 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. Drink now.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 1998 Hermitage showed beautifully, with an almost Burgundian, elegant style. Possessing lots of minerality and liquid rock like nuances as well as plenty of darker fruits, leather and earthy nuances, it glides across the palate with a medium to full-bodied, layered, seamless texture. The tannin are relatively resolved and while mature, it’s going to continue evolving gracefully for another decade. It’s a beautiful, mature, elegant wine from Chave.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe 1998 Hermitage is also gorgeous, yet has more concentration and depth. Described as a “granite year” by Jean-Louis, this puppy has searing, liquid rock-like qualities to go with ample dark fruit, gunpowder and flint. Structured, firm and backward, yet with a rock-star mid-palate and finish, give it another 3-5 years and drink bottles through 2028.Located in the tiny village of Mauves, just south of Hermitage, lies one of the true bastilles of traditionally made wines, and there are few vinous experiences that surpass getting to taste through the different terroirs of Hermitage and Saint Joseph in Chave’s cellar. Founded in 1481, Chave has seen a long succession of generations, with Gerard Chave, who was born in 1935, slowly beginning to hand over the reins to his brilliant son, Jean-Louis (born in 1968), in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, the estate stays firmly planted in tradition, yet is far from resting on its laurels or reputation, completing work on a new cellar (just across the street from their existing cellar and connected via a tunnel) in 2014, and working hard on a number of new vineyard sites. While this new cellar includes a state-of-the-art lab, Jean-Louis was quick to point out, “you don’t need a lab to make great wine.” In addition, and along with the help of Jean-Louis’ wife, Erin Cannon-Chave, they’ve continued to grow their negociant label, Chave Selection, which offers fabulous bang-for-the-buck and includes both Northern and Southern Rhones. While Jean-Louis has a professor-like level of expertise with regards to Hermitage, today his passion is firmly directed at the steep slopes on the western side of the Rhone River, in the appellation of Saint Joseph. He has numerous new vineyards coming on-line, and while everything is currently blended into his estate Saint-Joseph, each of the individual terroirs are incredibly unique, and I’m sure will be bottled on their own sometime in the future. With more and more of Hermitage going to larger corporations these days, it’s inspiring to see this small, family owned estate still sitting near the top of the hierarchy. Jean-Louis is still young (and has a young son who takes after him, and a daredevil daughter who takes after Erin), so the future is very bright at this estate! Looking specifically at their Hermitage, the Chaves vinify each of their individual terroirs separately, and the components are all aged in small barrels before blending and bottling without being filtered. As is the norm in Hermitage, everything is completely destemmed, and the percentage of new oak is kept to a minimum, falling in the 20-30% range. The style here is beautifully transparent, with the wines always showing the vintage characteristics clearly (which Jean-Louis breaks into a “Granite” year, or a “Sun” year). In addition, when tasted as individual components, each plot’s characteristics always shine through. While the wines have the balance and purity to dish out plenty of pleasure in their youth, they age beautifully, with Jean-Louis recommending at least 15 years of cellaring for most vintages.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPOpens with a vibrant berry, chocolate, Asian-spice, rosemary, olive and bacon-fat nose so good you linger before tasting. Sour cherry, licorice, brush, leather and a meaty note show on the palate. The wine is lean yet velvety, with powerful, deep structure. It closes with full, ripe tannins, notes of black tea and pepper. Cellar this keeper until 2004, drink through 2015+.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEFull ruby. Subtle, extremely complex nose melds cassis, bitter cherry, licorice, menthol and gunflint. Great purity and class in the middle palate, though extremely young and not currently showing the texture of the unfinished '99. But this is utterly compelling syrah, finishing with superb length and extremely fine tannins for the vintage. The '99 may be more pliant in the early going thanks to its sweeter tannins, but I'm not yet convinced it will surpass this brilliant '98.Vinous Media | 94+ VMOffers very enticing floral, dried currant, cherry and blood orange notes, with twinges of cedar, mesquite and clove. Lots of perfumy spice, but no edges. Supple and polished. Fully mature, but with the balance and freshness to hold here a while.—Non-blind Chave vertical (June 2012). Drink now through 2025. 2,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(Chave Hermitage) The hype surrounding the 1998 Chave was in full roar months before the wine was ever released, and one has to wonder if anyone doing the hyping had really tasted this polite, modestly-scaled vintage of Chave. The nose is pretty and elegant, offering up notes of blackberries, licorice, road tar, hot stones, vanillin oak and violets. On the palate the wine is only medium-full, with only modest depth on the attack, but good focus and balance, and a good bit of grip on the modestly tannic finish. This is a pretty vintage of Chave that may end up quite perfumed and complex, but unless it puts on some weight in the middle, it may always seem a bit insubstantial. Not a bad wine by any stretch of the imagination, but not a great Chave either. (Drink between 2006-2025).John Gilman | 90+ JG
