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).
