Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, Rhone, France 2022

In the Northern Rhône, the Chave family is considered winemaking royalty. The family boasts a continuous lineage of winemakers who have tilled the granitic soils of Hermitage hill dating back to 1481. The current 16th-generation vigneron is Jean-Louis Chave, whose cerebral, confident, yet understated style has “propelled Chave wines to status among the world’s most sought-after collectibles,”

Few who cherish the power and perfume of classically made Hermitage would argue that the greatest red and white examples emerge from the Chave family cellars. The current generations in charge, father Gérard and son Jean-Louis, use their knowledge, experience and spread of lieux-dits to craft wines that combine all the power, longevity, nuance and refinement that the Hermitage hill is capable of.

" The 2022 Hermitage will be a beauty, but it has the focused, firmer, straight style of the vintage. As usual, I was able to taste through all of the lieux-dits: Péleat, Les Beaumes, L'Ermite, Le Méal, and Les Bessards, all being mid- to upper-90s ratings, the standouts being L’Ermite and Bessards, with the Méal possessing a more focused, tannic style than normal. All of the barrels I was able to taste had remarkable purity, beautiful overall balance, and classic Hermitage class, with an incredible sense of minerality. This is a great wine, but it's going to take a decade of bottle age. The firmer structure and incredible minerality actually remind me of the 1998, although I think there's a touch more sun-kissed fruit here." Jeb Dunnuck 97+