Notes from a dinner - Tuesday, January 25, 2006, at Troquet Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA. Our party of thirteen got together for an eagerly awaited vertical of Hermitage, by Jean-Louis Chave. Many thanks to Jay Selman for organizing this, to Steve Satz for making the arrangements, and to Christopher, Jenna, and Stephan for their expert pouring.

Overall impressions: first, these wines were all excellent to outstanding in quality. Except for the corked '88, all of the wines were in very good condition -- though, there was some question about the '96 Rouge and the '95 Blanc showing some flaws. The '82 Rouge and '85 Rouge were neck-and-neck as my favorite wines of the tasting. Both were impeccably balanced, with the '85 coming in as slightly more complex in tertiary flavors. In addition, the '97 Blanc was beautiful and the '82 Heidsiek Champage worked wonderfully as a starter.

1982 Charles Heidsiek Champagne Charlie (magnum)
Beautiful toasty aromas and flavors, with juicy acidity and seemingly perfect balance. Delicious!

1st flight - Amuse Bouche of pate on crusted bread

1995 J-L Chave Hermitage Blanc
Nice, but somewhat muted floral nose, with touches of melon. Thick and viscous in the glass, and literally chewy in mouthfeel. The flavors were very much woven together, and the wine seemed more about its viscosity than definition.

1997 J-L Chave Hermitage Blanc
Lightly toasty and floral in the nose, with a fascinating baked pineapple scent. Very lively on the palate, and nearly impossible to resist.

2001 J-L Chave Hermitage Blanc
Lovely floral nose. Initially seemed slightly sweet in mouthfeel, with touches of pineapple, clover and a hint of melon. Quite viscous, though seemingly less-so than the ‘95, with a nice touch of candle wax accenting the fruit.

2nd flight - Roasted Beets with goat cheese and pistachios

1979 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Nose of smoked meats with hints of tar, leather, sweet-sour spices, and just the barest hint of jalapeno. Very balanced on the palate, somewhat hi-toned with bright flavors of smoked meat and an interesting A-1 sauce-like streak that brought out the juiciness of the fruit.

1982 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Gorgeous nose seemed filled with smoked and seared meats, and just a bit of earthy funk layered in the background. Also meaty in flavor, with a nice juicy acidity, and some residual tannins.

1985 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Another great nose of meat, mushroom quiche, caramelized brown sugar and sweet-sour spices. Somewhat brighter in mouthfeel than the ’82, but substantially meaty, with a little more herbs and earthiness.

3rd flight - Seared Blue Fin Tuna, with papaya, tomato and herbs

1988 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Corked!

1989 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
A bit tighter and more tannic than the previous wines, with notes of meat drippings, leather, and a touch of tar.

1990 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Drop-dead beautiful nose of meat drippings, smoked and cured meat, and something approaching Brown Sauce. Still quite young in mouthfeel, but the fruit here is big, chewy and meaty, and somehow the smooth tannins almost add a meat-stock, gravy-like texture to the finish.

4th flight - Lamb Saddle, with escarole, Kalamata olives, pine nuts

1994 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Nice nose – similar, but not as profuse as the preceding vintages. A bit brighter in tone and texture, with very good balance and nice finish.

1996 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Initially seemed flawed, with touches of vinyl or antiseptic in the nose. While this seemed to blow off with time in the glass, the mouthfeel also seemed largely acidic, and the flavors faded with time as well.

1997 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Lovely nose of meats, spice and herbs, and a hint of anise. Approachable, delightful in aroma and flavor, this was clearly the best bottle of the three in this flight.

5th flight - Cheese course

1999 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Attractive nose, distinctive for a blood and iodine quality that I hadn’t picked up in any of the previous wines. Very nice balance, if a bit acidic from later palate onward through finish. Similar meaty flavors, but seemingly more on the rare-side, accented by the blood and/or iodine aspects. Picked up a little bitterness on the finish.

2000 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
Just way too young right now. Wisps of smoke accent the dark berry in the nose. Fairly primary dark berry flavors, with hints of some background notes, and a bit acidic and tannic at this point.

2002 J-L Chave Hermitage Rouge
What a difference a couple of years makes. While the ’00 is hiding like a sulking teenager refusing to come out of its room, this wine shows the exuberance of youth – at least in the nose. Beautiful aromas of dark berry, caramelized brown sugar, and herbs and spices. Still a bit clamped down in the mouth, the dark berry is evident, but you’ll need some serious decanter time to discover more.

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