Winemaker Yann Chave returned home to his family’s Northern Rhône estate 30 years ago, and since then he’s earned an impressive reputation. Jancis Robinson writes of “really artisanal wine with masses of integrity and bags of personality.” The Wine Advocate’s reviewer writes “Chave’s continuing progress makes this one of the most exciting estates in Crozes-Hermitage.
We were really taken with Chave’s wines when we tasted through samples in Beaune in March, and our initial impressions have been confirmed since their arrival in our warehouse – they’re vibrant, beautifully balanced, and extremely complex for their level. A few years after his return home, Yann identified an old vine parcel in Crozes-Hermitage as worthy of its own cuvée, and began producing Crozes-Hermitage “Le Rouvre.”
The 2023 “Rouvre” is an old-vine cuvée wine with extra intensity and length, far more serious and interesting than most wine from the appellation. Chave deftly avoids the trap of overoaking, and the wine shows gorgeous savory complexity amid the lush fruit. At 13% alcohol it’s classic Northern Rhône Syrah: dark in complexion but with soaring aromatics and tremendous lift. Vinous’s reviewer awarded this wine 91 points, finding “black pepper and graphite accents, meticulously accompanied by finely tuned blackberry and dried violets.”
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Yann Chave Crozes-Hermitage “Rouvre” 2023
bottle price: $49
