White Burgundy vs. Riesling vs. ...
Hermitage Blanc?
2005 Guigal Hermitage Ex Voto Blanc
Over 30% Below the Lowest Price in the Nation

"Along with the late Thomas Jefferson, Guigal has always believed that white Hermitage is France's greatest white wine. With his recent acquisitions of superb vineyard sites, he is hell-bent on proving to the world that Jefferson was correct..."
- Robert Parker

Honestly, we very rarely make a fuss over Rhone whites. Usually, they’re completely ignored in our fiery debates over the best white wine in the world (half the staff is adamant it's white Burgundy, the others insist it's German Riesling). This is an almost daily exercise.

But when we tasted Guigal’s Ex Voto Blanc, we all got a little quiet, glancing at each other with conceding looks: “Is this really as good as I think it is??”

The Real St-Joseph, Please Stand Up
2007 Jean-Louis Chave St-Joseph
The Complement to Hermitage,
Less Than a Third of the Price

Except, of course, in his own case.

No big surprise, really, that Jean-Louis stated it flat-out to Wine Spectator last fall... most will agree that the appellation, sadly, has sprawled too far, hasn't maintained enough specificity.

Not in the case of Chave. Here is the region's benchmark, the beau ideal, the "O.G." if you like.

This is head-turning, terroir-screaming, reference point St-Joseph Syrah from one of the exemplars of the Northern Rhone. Today we offer this super-allocated St-Joseph at $53.40 a bottle.

The Virtuoso of Hermitage
2007 Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Rouge
"A Model of Controlled Grandeur"

The only suitable comparison to this kind of masterful blending is that of the great chefs de caves of Champagne.

Jean-Louis Chave has a gift for crafting absolutely transcendent Hermitage. Chave is one of the few producers I buy, unflinchingly, year after year. These are cornerstone wines in any serious collection; they are monumental expressions of Syrah.

J.L. Chave Hermitage Blanc: 1995-2000
Ideal Provenance - Unreal Prices - Surreal Wines

Luxurious, dizzying, quixotic, kaleidoscopic, even mysterious. Chave's great Hermitage Blancs need so much more time than you think, but when they finally reveal themselves...

...whoa.

We've confirmed this once again this week, popping corks on a pristine collection of back-vintage Chave as if it were the Fourth of July, corks from half-bottles, full bottles and magnums flying through the air instead of fireworks.

This email goes out today because if it didn't the parcel would disappear, through our own indulgence. (Seriously.)

Everyone who thinks they understand Rhône whites, think again. And think again seriously, because these are not just any Rhône Blancs; these are the flower-inspired monuments of the appellation, masterpieces from none other than Jean-Louis Chave.