L'Hermitage flight: An evening at Digress (Orlando FL) with the wines of Jean-Louis Chave

Jay Smith, for what seems like eons, stocked and ran Cavanaugh's Fine Wines (College Park, Orlando) in a staid, conservative manner; and the vibe and customer base reflected his orientation. Recently, Jay decided that the time had come to hang up his green apron and he passed ownership to a group led by Augustan/Premier ADST/Breakthrough alums Rob Chase and Brian Kearney. They have renamed the shop Digress but it could have just as easily been called Diverge, or Polar Opposites, because that is exactly what has happened.

Not only have these guys changed the physical look and feel of the establishment -- making it much more esthetically pleasing and welcoming. They have also changed the wines on offer from stodgy European fare to bright and buzzy wines from all over the world. And, best of all, they have begun hosting killer wine events.

One such recent event -- a collaboration with Progress Wine Group -- was titled an Evening with the Wines of Jean-Louis Chave. For anyone remotely familiar with this producer and its wines, this was a can't-miss affair. I will report on the evening beginning with this post on the Hermitage wines tasted.

Brian Kearney kicked off the tasting with a welcome to attendees and an introduction of Proal Perry (Progress Wine Group) who would be leading us on the journey through the wines (See here, here, here, and here for perspectives on Proal.).

Brian setting the stage for Proal Perry of Progress Wine Group

Proal Perry of Progress Wine Group (from the archives)

According to Proal, the Chave family history stretches back to 1465. The current patriarch is Gerard Chave who began working at the domaine in 1935 and took managing control in the late 1970s. His son, Jean-Louis, was born in 1966 and began working at the estate in the 1990s.

The domaine got its start in the St. Joseph appellation and did not acquire vineyards on the hill of Hermitage until 1865. The Hill, as I have shown in a prior post, is divided into a number of climats and the Chaves contend that the best way to bring out the structure and expression of the appellation is through the blending of said climats. Towards that end, the domaine owns 9.3 ha of Syrah vines spread over 7 climats and 4.6 ha of Marsanne and Roussanne spread over 4 climats. The table immediately below identifies the climats while the figures immediately following identify their locations and characteristics (Additional details on the Les Bressards, L'Hermite, and Le Méal climats can be found here).

Table 1. Climat sources for L'Hermitage and L'Hermitage blanc

	Syrah	Marsanne/Rousanne
Les Bessards	Largest contributor to L’Hermitage
L'Hermite	Second biggest contributor to blend	20% of blend. Marsanne gives rich wine with a buttery feel and a clear grip on finish. Roussanne restrained when young with acidity and tight texture
Péleat	Third most important	25% of blend; 100-yr-old vines that have never been replanted; provides an excellent rich middle
Le Méal	X
Beaume	X
Diognières	X
Vercandières	X
Rocoules		50% contribution to Hermitage Blanc
Maison Blanche		5%. Marsanne. Riper, fatter fruit than Rocoules

Source of data: Wines of Northern Rhone.

The average age of the Chave Syrah vines is 40 years while the Marsanne/Roussanne vines are, on average, 50 years old. The Hermitage Blanc is generally comprised of 80 - 85% Marsanne and 15 - 20% Rousanne.

As regards winemaking, the grapes are harvested and placed into small collection boxes. The Syrah grapes are destemmed and placed into stainless steel tanks for fermentation. The wines from varying climats are kept separately duirng the 18 months of cask-aging. The wines are blended in July and left in vat until September when they are egg-white-fined prior to bottling.

The whites are 80 - 90% fermented and aged in up to 1/3 new casks with the remainder fermented in stainless steel. The oak and steel components are blended in the spring, 18 months after harvest. The whites are fined with bentonite.

In discussing blending in The Wines of Northern Rhone, Jean-Louis Chave states:

 "... blending remains the quintessential cellar challenge. Here the task is to meld together the wines of different soils, from different ages ... Its much more difficult to blend the white wines than the reds. Reds have tannin, color, and their texture is softer and tighter. With the whites you have to balance things out with some freshness at the end -- white is a continuing challenge. Blending whites you get one shot and no second chance. With the reds you can come back to them.

We began the tasting with the negociant and St. Joseph wines but I will cover those in a future post.

Photo credit: Brian Herbst

The Hermitage wines tasted were the 2014 red and white and 2004 white.

The 2014 growing season in Northern Rhone, according to Jancis Robinson, was

A challenging growing season for reds in which grapes struggled to reach full maturity and particularly vigilant sorting was required thanks to the Drosophila Suzuki fruit fly. A successful flowering resulted in a decent crop, swollen in many cases by rain during the summer and red wine harvest. Whites fared better and benefited from a late rush to maturity but retained good acid levels. Reds likely to be for relatively early drinking.

The 2014 Chave Hermitage Blanc was aromatic with floral notes, yellow apple, stone fruits, and honey. Waxy. Unctuous on the palate. Power with balance. Lengthy finish. The 2014 Hermitage Rouge was floral with dark fruit, minerality, smoke, meat, spice, and herbs. Medium-bodied, textured, and structured. Lengthy finish.

The 2004 vintage, again as described by Jancis Robinson, was a welcome return to normal vintage conditions (post the 2003 heat-wave vintage) but it "was not generous and the wines have developed fast." The 2004 Chave Hermittage Blanc showed stone fruit, honey, hay, wax, baking spices, and orange peel on the nose. Thick and rich on the palate. Waxy with apricot notes. Lengthy finish.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme