Chave is the greatest producer in Hermitage. His family has been making wine there since the 1400s. The current proprietor is Jean-Louis, and the Domaine’s full name is Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, but this is in... Read More

Chave is the greatest producer in Hermitage. His family has been making wine there since the 1400s. The current proprietor is Jean-Louis, and the Domaine’s full name is Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, but this is in honor of his grandfather, who bore the same name.

Chave is a true believer in blending, and his red wine is produced from numerous vineyards, though the backbone comes from Bessards. He is not a full-blown traditionalist, preferring to de-stem most of his fruit, fermenting mostly in smaller casks and steel, rather than the traditional open wood casks, and aging his wines in small, Burgundy-sized barrels of 228L (though only a small portion of those barrels are new).

Chave's Hermitage combine purity with grandeur. They speak clearly and with intensity. Grand vintages age effortlessly; weaker vintages always surprise — even 1996s and 2002s, bad vintages both, are shockingly good wines, though for drinking at a younger age to be sure.