1985. 40 years young. Gave it an hour to open up before dinner (paired orange ginger glazed duck with pistachio apricot farro). Thankfully my partner is a master of the Durand. There’s very little for me to compare this too - most aged whites are preserved by acid; Chave relies on glycerol here. It gives the wine gravitas but also life and freshness. Pleasant wood veneer/wood shop notes, dried apricots at first (become fresher with time), yellow plum, truffled earth. Salty poached apricots and timelessness. In a perfect world, we’d be sharing this with my dad. Strange & sensational. — 3 months ago
SILO in San Antonio - with Rhea and Ralph and Brantley — 5 months ago
Absolutely fucking magical. Such an experience drinking this wine — 6 months ago
Very composed and subtle Syrah from Northern Rhone with some age on it. Burnt red on the eye. Lots of black cherry on the nose, some blood and only a hint of white pepper. The mouthfeel is elegant; full bodied, medium alcohol with powerful black fruit but equally powerful with earth, iron, soft tannings, and a decadent finish. Amazing find. Vigneron: Natasha Chave. If you don’t know who she is, you probably should. — 5 years ago
Beyond beautiful! Immediately soft upon opening—had planned to decant for 4-6 hours but decided against. Open and had small taste with Maggie Harrison around noon. Decided to re-cork it and decanted at 4PM.
At noon I got (very unexpected) cranberry notes on the nose and the palate was considerably more gentle than expected.
After two hour decant: Soft (cat tongue), integrated tannins, pomegranate, black cherry begins to emerge. Herbs, smoky/meaty notes emerge
Tasted: 5.20.26
Attendees: Mark Cerimele, Maggie Harrison, Steve Pfancuff, Lorne McClelland, Andy McCray, Denise Casino, Randy Nelson — a month ago
Youthful & rich from a hot year — 3 months ago
Big fruity nose. Dark purple hues. Big, but easy drinking. Plums. Cherries. Vanilla. — 4 months ago
Somewhat analogous with my 2013 Chave Blanc impression, this was more about peering into the bright future in store for this wine. The potential is simply buried deep beneath the surface. All the stuffing is there for a special wine down the road. While enjoyable now, patience will be handsomely rewarded. Personally, I wouldn’t touch well-cellared examples until much closer to 2030. — 4 years ago
Splash decanted immediately before service; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2018 pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous notes of blackberry, fig, black pepper, bacon fat, lavender, aromatic wood resin, warm spices and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is already an absolute banger and hides its 15% alcohol as well as any wine I have ever encountered. I almost gasped when I saw the ABV on the label because I couldn’t believe it. This is beautifully balanced, and I feel privileged to try this wine in its relative youth. Drink now with a splash decant and through 2052+. Bottle No. 15902. — 2 months ago
Jlchave tasting @modern — 4 months ago
My contributions for a fun right bank Bordeaux dinner. This ended up being a standout amongst the group but others included ‘95 Cheval Blanc, ‘05 L’Evangile and ‘89 Figeac (the starter whites may have stole the show…mag of ‘10 Chave Hermitage Blanc, ‘08 Dom, ‘21 Magi’s CdP Blanc…this ‘04 ZH I brought was an excellent bridge to dessert…good r/s but not cloying; incredible vineyard).
I’ve only had TR once before but it was infanticide many years ago. At roughly 20yrs, I was excited to catch this on what I expected to be near peak. Very tight upon opening but after 45mins in the bottle, this really strut its stuff. Red and purple floral aromatics, bay leaf, and leather. Beautifully elegant on the palate but everything is in its place…supremely balanced. Clean (no brett), multi-layered fruit spectrum (red, purple, blackberries), sweet tobacco, espresso, little cassis. No roasted or over ripe profile, and also not a lean/green machine. Balance balance balance. Lovely. Wish I had another. — 4 months ago
Probably from last Chambers sampler. 11/8/25 Cold Night. Very dark pour, potent scent out of bottle. Black fruits on nose. Moderate tannins. Solid sediments on second day. — 8 months ago
Stunning , wine of the night . 2009 vintage . Just beautiful — 5 years ago
Maggie Harrison
2024 enjoyed 5/2026. tasted in lineup of Rhône Blanc, mostly rich and oily. this would have shown better if we started with this. I really like, I prefer the more mineral style -which is this. subtle white flowers, honeydew, under ripe peach. lemon curd showing after opening. — a month ago