2010 Hermitage Cuvee Cathelin
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Tasting notes
Pure perfect, as well as one of the greatest young wines I’ve ever tasted, the 2010 Hermitage Cuvée Cathelin is always tiny cellar selection that comes from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of Hermitage Hill. It tends to see a touch more new oak, but it never shows due to the wealth of material the cuvée always possesses. Off-the-charts notes of pure crème de cassis, burning embers, crushed flowers, liquid rocks, and cured meats all come soaring from the glass. Massively concentrated, full-bodied, thick, and opulent on the palate, it has a monster mid-palate and finish, yet it still holds on to the hallmark purity, elegance, minerality, and finesse that’s the hallmark of the wines of the Chave family. It’s a heavenly mouthful of a Hermitage today and will keep for 50+ years or more.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
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A desert island wine, the off-the-charts 2010 Hermitage Cuvee Cathelin is a cellar selection (mostly from the granite soils of Les Bessards) that sees a tad more oak than the standard cuvee. Flamboyant and insanely complex, with cassis, blackberry, ground herbs pepper, liquid rock and tings of licorice (among other things), this massive, yet incredibly elegant Hermitage has a full, thick and chewy mouthfeel, huge extract and blockbuster length. Due to the tiny quantities, I doubt this cuvee will even hit the market place, nevertheless, in my opinion, it’s one of the most spectacular wines in the world. Give it a decade or so and enjoy it over the following 2-3 decades. One of the highlight visits during my time spent working in the Northern Rhone, Jean-Louis Chave (who is often called “The Pope of Hermitage” by others) makes some of the most profound wines in the world today. As he says, “We don’t make Chave, we make Hermitage,” and there are few things more educational, when trying to understand this storied appellation, than to taste through each of Jean-Louis’s different Hermitage plots from barrel. The striking minerality and austere cut of the l’Ermite parcel is in stark contrast to the voluptuousness and texture that’s found in the Le Meal (which is just down the slope); and both are completely different from the silky, polished and perfumed Peleat lieu-dit. Despite the notoriety here, Jean-Louis remains one of the most humble and straight talking winemakers out there, and his wines deserve a place in any wine lover’s cellar. One of the highlight visits during my time spent working in the Northern Rhone, Jean-Louis Chave (who is often called “The Pope of Hermitage” by others) makes some of the most profound wines in the world today. As he says, “We don’t make Chave, we make Hermitage,” and there are few things more educational, when trying to understand this storied appellation, than to taste through each of Jean-Louis’s different Hermitage plots from barrel. The striking minerality and austere cut of the l’Ermite parcel is in stark contrast to the voluptuousness and texture that’s found in the Le Meal (which is just down the slope); and both are completely different from the silky, polished and perfumed Peleat lieu-dit. Despite the notoriety here, Jean-Louis remains one of the most humble and straight talking winemakers out there, and his wines deserve a place in any wine lover’s cellar. Importer: Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
About the producer
The Chaves have been growing grapes in the Northern Rhône since 1481. Jean-Louis Chave is the 16th generation to head up the family domaine, having taken over from his father in 1992.