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Hermitage 1990

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Rhône, France

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
Rhône France
  • 99
    Points
  • The 357 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 11 Pros of
    11 recommend
    this wine
112 99
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    302

  • Producer ranking ?

    3

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    2020-2035

  • Food Pairing

    Rib Eye Steaks with Demi-Glace and White Bean Purée

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Jean-Louis Chave Chave is known for opting for blending Syrah from their 15 ha vineyards on the Hermitage hill. Their philosophy is against single vineyard wines since blending guarantees more complexity in the wine. In this superb wine this is clearly indicated by the tremendous complexity. Syrah from Bessards is giving rich fruit intensity and concentration to the wine while Méal more depth in flavours and bouquet. Rocoules adds finesse in s...

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Wine Information

Parker 98 points: Gerard Chave has made many great wines, but his 1990s are extra special. Now that the 1990 Hermitage (except for Chave's new luxury cuvee) has been bottled, Chave, not one to extol the virtues of his wines, claims that it must be considered to be among his greatest. Keep in mind that the Chave family has been making Hermitage since 1481. Gerard Chave claims that the only other vintages to possess such extraordinary concentrat...

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Average Bottle Price

2015 2014 2012 2010 2005
689€ +5.4% 654€ +11.0% 589€ +4.6% 563€ +71.1% 329€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

color

Deep, Brick red and Healthy

ending

Medium, Pure and Vibrant

flavors

Pepper, Voluptuous, Cigar-box, Leather, Tobacco and Spice

nose

Youthful, Opulent, Ripe and Rich

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, High tannin, Multi-dimensional, Concentrated, Balanced, Medium-bodied, Fragrant, Rich, Vigor and Silky tannins

Verdict

Transparent and Exotic

Written Notes

I drink a lot of Chave, and the 1990 “regular” delivered 98 point bliss on two occasions: one night we began a flight with the headline act also known as the 1990 J.L. Chave Hermitage. I’d recently tasted two magnums of this in January that remained at the forefront of my brain, but that didn’t take away from the thrill of this bottle. There was great minerality, and it was consistent with my most recent, previous tastings. The Chave was like a full meal with its vegetable, animal and mineral components — WOW. It was long, fine and meaty, with flavors of iron, bacon and violet. This wine pretty much had it all. A second bottle was another evening’s last call: one final wine arrived, a mystery wine that Big Boy deemed ‘somewhere between strong and extremely strong,’ which was quite accurate. It had great bacon and mint aromas, with the perfect ‘zippy zip’ I wanted at the end of the night. It wound up being one of the best bottles of 1990 Chave Hermitage that I have ever had, firing away on all cylinders in all its rich and decadent glory (98).

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  • 98p
Good looking normal size bottle, in an perfect condition and has by the neck level. Colour is brick red, deep and full. On the nose it is wide, youthful, opulent, generous and rich. The taste is rich, vigor, fragrant, refined, with silky tannins, full-bodied, with multi-dimensional, balanced, well-integrated and concentrated structure. On the palate it is layered and has pepper, earthy, dried-fruit, blackberry, spice, steely, mushrooms, tropical fruits, tobacco, leather, cigar-box and violet flavours. The finish is endless, extensive, flavorful, pure and vibrant. This wine is transparent, exotic and masterpiece. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 20-30 years and decant at least 2h before tasting. Good value for money.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 98p

A local group of wine mates meet once a month for a themed lunch – I only made three this year but all three provided a wine for this list (the others being the Rousseau and the Conterno). The most recent was one where there were only about nine of us but, as they say in the classics, the boat was pushed out. Way out! Second place shared by two extraordinarily good wines, the 2001 Rayas and the 1990 Lafite. First across the line was this truly monumental wine, and in magnum! A wine with a legendary reputation and it more than lived up to it.

Served blind, this was wonderfully expressive, elegant, complex and mature. Red fruits here. Leather, spices and mushroom/truffly notes. So supple and seamless and so very long. This felt like the hordes of heaven had arrived. If any one wine went close to bringing me to tears this year, this was it.

100

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  • 100p

 Absolutely mind-boggling juice! This is one of the Holy FK wines with everything you could hope for in your glass. The nose, with its display of smoke, coffee beans, pepper, strawberry, leafy herbs, and cherries lets you know you are in for a ride. And the ride kicks into high gear once the wine hits your palate with its non-stop layers of sweet, ripe, elegant, regal, and unrestrained red fruits. The silky, powerful, seamless finish is effortless to drink. Be careful with this, else it will be gone before you kow it! Drink from 2023-2040.

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  • 100p

Pale lustrous ruby – slightly bluer than the Chapoutier Sizeranne 1990 – but very nuanced towards the rim. Very savoury and intense on the nose. Rich essence of northern Rhône Syrah. Transparent and very fine.  More sweetness on the finish than on the Sizeranne – wonderfully long.  But the tannins are only perceptible on the very finish.  Really lively and actually this is lightening up. Ready to drink, I'd say, to judge from this bottle.

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  • 95p

1990 was the perfect vintage in the Rhône Valley with both quantity and exceptional quality.
Pale and browning. Lovely, if very mature, nose. A real treat to taste a wine with this much bottle age. There’s undergrowth and polished wood and walnuts and just a touch of cigar box. Tannins are resolved and fine and not yet dry but I think this should be drunk soonish. Freshness is all on the long finish. A little longer and it may be drying out. (JH)

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  • 91p
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Information

Origin

Mauves, Rhône

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

None
Incorrect Information
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