Winemaker Notes
Bright color, purple with a violet hue. Discreet nose requiring aeration. Aromas develop with finesse and much complexity; blackberry jam, licorice sticks, a hint of roasting and spice. Full and generous on the palate. Mid-palate reveals rich aromas of ripe fruit and a hint of smokiness. Tannins are dense and intense, but with great finesse, giving the wine imposing structure and a long finish. A truly superb wine.
Pair with roast duck breast fillet, creamy polenta, grilled mezenc rib steak with truffled mashed potatoes, Creamy Brillât Savarin or Chaource cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An impressive wine, broad, textural and layered, with such brightness at the center. Dark cherries, blueberries, violets, grilled meat, dried herbs, ashes and warm spices on the nose. It’s full-bodied with finely grained tannins. There is a brightness at the center, with crunchy blue fruit and violets mingling with the spices under the watch of a solid frame of finely grained tannins. Structured and harmonious on the broad, dense, textural and focused palate. Such intensity and drive, always in control and with a very refined texture. So much depth and layers funneling trough a vibrant, spicy, flavorful and very long finish. From organically grown grapes.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Hermitage will be terrific, if not up with the finest from this estate. Darker currants, roasted meats, leather, and peppery spice notes all define the aromatics, and it's a big, broad-shouldered Hermitage with terrific mid-palate density, ripe tannins, and outstanding length.
Barrel Sample: 93-95+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Hermitage from Yann Chave has turned out beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of spices, licorice, dark wild berries, mulberries and blueberries. Full-bodied, dense and concentrated, ample and seamless, it's suave and enveloping with a multidimensional core of fruit, supple tannins and a long, mineral, racy and slightly chocolate-inflected finish. Matured in new large barrels from Taransaud, it's a blend of two terroirs: Beaumes, with its loess soils, and Péléat, known for being one of the warmest, sunniest spots on the hill of Hermitage.
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Wine Spectator
Potpourri, lavender and incense merge with black currant and smoked meat in this perfumed, ripe version. A beam of iron supports all of the elements, with savory, salty acidity bringing lift. An elegant, creamy red that never feels heavy, with tension through the plush finish, which wafts with mesquite smoke. Best from 2026 through 2040. 30 cases imported.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
One of the smallest and most important Syrah regions of northern Rhone, Hermitage is practically one single south-facing slope of crushed granite, thinly covered with varied, yet well-charted soil types. Many climats (well identified parcels) exist within Hermitage and while some smaller producers make single climat Syrahs, some larger ones blend to make one balanced expression of the appellation.
Though the AC regulations allow the addition of up to 15% white grapes to a red Hermitage, in practice it is usually made from Syrah alone. Winemaking is pretty traditional—or you might say historic—with hot fermentations and aging in older barrels of various sizes. The best wines, characterized by deep, dense and sexy flavors of black fruit, cocoa, licorice and tobacco, have massive textures and a solid 10-20 years aging potential.
The region of Hermitage is totally enclosed; the only place it could go really is to literally fall down its own hill into the city of Tain or the Rhone River. Soil erosion is a problem and terraces exist alongside the hill in order to keep the earth in place. Crozes-Hermitage encloses the region entirely to its north and south.
While Hermitage seems synonymous with some of the best Syrah on the planet, actually about one third of the wine produced here comes from white grapes. The full, lush and robust Marsanne or the less common, but almost more charming, Roussanne create wonderful whites in which the best have great potential for aging, like the reds.