The wines…
Chave Hermitage Blanc 2002
A delight when this opened. Hazelnuts, mineral, pear & flowers on the nose. The palate has a nice waxy note with rich yellow fruits, cleansing acidity, good depth & elegance and a fine finish. Drinking nicely right now. 91pts
Chave Hermitage 1989
Showing some age to the eye. The nose is delicious showing roasted meats, black fruits, cedar(!!!), leather and black tea. Great depth & interest on the medium bodied palate, with fine acids & a great finish. A very good bottle and probably needs more time. 95pts
Chave Hermitage 1994
The second bottle from my TWS purchase. This again is a delight with black fruits, bacon, spice and other secondary notes with a touch of Brett. The palate is more powerful than I remembered, beautifully balanced and a delight to drink now. I’ll have trouble keeping my hands off the remaining 4 bottles. 93pts
Chave Hermitage 1995
A very classic Chave on the nose with black/red fruits, violets, spice, earth and tar. The medium to full bodied palate is youthful, nicely focused with it’s pure fruit & high acidity. Very young. 94pts
Chave Hermitage 1997
This seemed, with hindsight, to be the odd one out. A delightful nose of black fruits, liquorice, caramel and currants. However the palate seemed ever so slightly disjointed, with jammy fruits & a slightly clipped mid palate. Perhaps I didn’t spend enough time with it? Very high acidity too, slightly masking the fruit. N/R
Chave Hermitage 1999
This was a delight & again classic Northern Rhone. Spice, mocha, bacon fat, blackberries & roasted meat. The full bodied palate was stunning and showed great structure, freshness, balance and length. Very young but still it was an absolute delight. 97pts
Chave Hermitage 2003
Holy s#it. The nose was identical copy of the same wine we had 26 months ago – absolutely unmistakable. There is something incredibly captivating and enchanting about it – velvet layered black fruit, minerals, espresso bean, incense, creosote and smoke and so utterly complex. The palate had changed slightly, still huge but it had lost a bit of its baby fat making the tannins slightly more prominent, great body, flavour, concentration and balance and a monumental finish. But it really is all about what’s on the nose with this wine for me, hence the big score. 100pts
Chateau d'Yquem 1986
Holy s#it, again. Charles really pulled out the stops here. This looks comparatively pale compared to the Kracker & boy what a stunning nose that shows incredible precision and complexity with pineapple, peach, vanilla pod, honeysuckle and chopped nuts. But the palate on this wine is for me has the marvellous magic. It has length & persistence that changes from second to second and flows over the palate in awe-inspiring complex waves with a finish that lasts well over a minute. Very young but what a super wine now. 97pts.
Kracher TBA #3 Nouvelle Vague 1999
This was the Chardonnay/Welschriesling cuvee. Far more flamboyant than the Yquem with orange & yellow fruits on the nose, sweet stewed apple, spice and honey. Slightly over ripe on the palate for me and lacks real depth & complexity, but it does have great cleansing acids & a long slightly cloying finish. But thankfully I’ve never had a bad Kracher. Lets hope Gerhard can fill his fathers steps since his untimely death. 90pts
