Dom. Jean-Louis Chave
Hermitage
1995

The producer

Winemakers in Saint-Joseph since 1481, the Chave family was able to purchase parcels across Hermitage, after the devastation of phylloxera, from the late nineteenth century through to the acquisition of Domaine de l’Hermite in 1982.

The estate’s modern history starts in 1970, when Gerard Chave took over the running of the estate from his father.

Today the domaine covers 15 prime hectares, on the Hermitage hill, and is in the talented hands of Jean-Louis Chave, who took over from Gerard in 1992, following a degree in viticulture from UC Davis. Prime vineyards include Les Bessards, Maison Blanche, and L’Hermite.

The separates parcels for both red and white are vinified separately before blending and bottling after judiciously restrained use of new oak. These are some of the finest wines of the appellation. We offer both red and white Hermitage from Chave.

The wine

Chave’s Hermitage comes from 7 lieux-dits of 50–80-year-old vines, including Bessards, L’Hermite, and Meal. Each parcel is fermented and aged separately – until blending takes place – in a blend of concrete, stainless steel, and oak vats. Some grapes are destemmed, but a proportion of whole bunches is usually included. The finished wine then matures for 18 months in oak barrels, with around 10% of new oak. Arguably one of the finest wines produced in the appellation, Chave’s Hermitage has complexity, concentrated black berry fruit, firm focused tannins, all the while a lively and juicy acidity gives balance.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.