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96+ WA.
"Tasted from bottle, the 2011 Hermitage sports a ruby/purple color to go with an awesome bouquet of sweet cassis, dried flowers, spice-box, ground pepper and crushed stone. One of the more serious, focused and structured 2011s, it has fabulous concentration, sweet tannin and a seamless texture . . . . This was another terrific tasting with Jean-Louis Chave, and this family-run estate continues to fire on all cylinders. They've just finished construction on a cellar extension (the 2014s will be the first vintage made here) and while they still have a ways to go with their efforts in Saint Joseph (which includes a massive newly planted vineyard), this project seems to have progressed to a point where it’s at least possible to imagine the end. All of this appears to be a welcome relief, and the scope and amount of work involved in all of these new projects is truly monumental. They've done all of this while keeping their Hermitage releases as true to their idea of the appellation as possible, and I think as these notes show, they haven’t missed a beat. As normal, the latest releases (2013 and 2012) were tasted from barrel, and the current release, the 2011, from bottle. The 2011 is a classic, sweetly fruited effort that I suspect will continue to fill in as it evolved in bottle." Wine Advocate #216, Dec 2014 |