Saint-Joseph: Domaine Jean-Louis Chave 2019
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The Chave's Domaine Saint-Joseph, which derives from their very best south-facing vineyard sites in the historic heart of the appellation, remains the reference point for Saint-Joseph wines.
The Chave's own-estate Saint-Joseph rouge is bottled as a full Domaine wine and we have long championed it as a veritable bargain. It is made from pure Syrah grown on steeply terraced slopes in Saint-Joseph's historic heartland around the communes of Lemps, Mauves and Tournon.
The wine is fermented in vat for 3 to 4 weeks and then raised in used oak barrels for up to 20 months before bottling. While it does not have the complexity or the longevity of the Chave's celebrated Hermitage, if decanted it can be drunk in its youth, but it can cellar well for a decade or more.
| Style | Red Wine, Sec, Full-bodied, Non Sparkling |
|---|---|
| Wine Region | Rhône, Saint-Joseph |
| Grape Variety (Cépage) | Syrah |
| Food & Wine Matching | Beef, Lamb, Mushrooms |
| Viticulture | Non-Organic |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Cellarage | Drinks well young but can age well in the medium term 5 to 10 years. |
| Vinification | The grapes are hand harvested at optimum maturity and are then pressed before the juice is transferred into stainless steel vats to ferment. The wine then spends 15 to 20 months in 2 to 5 year-old casks and is fined with egg whites prior to bottling. |
| Alcohol By Volume (%) | 15 |
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
'De Père en Fils Depuis 1481' (from father to son since 1481) is the impressive statement that graces every bottle of Chave Hermitage. The Chaves farm 13.9 hectares (of Hermitage's 137 hectares) comprising 9.3 hectares of Syrah spread across 7 different climats and 4.6 hectares of Marsanne and Roussanne (in an 80% to 20% respective ratio). Jean-Louis (born in 1968) took over from his father Gérard in 1992 on completion of his viticultural studies at University of California, Davis and an MBA at Hartford. The Chaves are famous for their fastidious and skilful blending as their extensive vine-holdings give them a very broad palette of fruit to work with. Jean-Louis married his American wife Erin Cannon-Chave in 2003 and they have two children Louis (born 2006) and Emma (born 2008).
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