Yann Chave Hermitage 2022 –  One of the greatest wines produced in 2022 – TOP FIVE HERMITAGE PRODUCERS, DECANTER

An impressive wine… 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. (98) JAMES SUCKLING

the 2022 will turn into a Hermitage of real substance and class. NICHOLAS GREINACHER, Vinous

I continue to rave about the wines of Yann Chave, and readers should snatch up these wines before the market catches up to the quality. JEB DUNNUCK

This has been a rather overlooked domaine for many years.  But it has been completely revitalised by one of the best young men to appear in the northern Rhone in the past dozen years, Yann Chave. JOHN LIVINGSTONE-LEARMONTH, The Wines of the Northern Rhone

Gosh this is a good producer. Really delivers a combination between character of the appellation and fruit that you want to get your chops round. JANCIS ROBINSON MW

Before it ever had vines, Hermitage would have been an impressive sight. Towering above the Rhone river and everything else for miles around, it rises from the water like Egypt's pyramids ascend from the sand. Photographs do it no justice; its form is so massive and bulky that it defies conventional farming. It looks like it was placed there by an alien intelligence - a massive solar panel turned south to absorb maximum energy. RAJ PARR

We actually doubled down on our allocation this year, after tasting this wine. Australia never gets much but a little persuasion following our visit in April this year and Yann was nice enough to release a little extra. Hermitage may not be the most fashionable region at the moment, for what reason I honestly don’t know, but my Rhone being awesome and awesome value rants are numerous and well documented, but this wine will be your flavour of the month. 

I challenge anyone to drink one of these and not be taken back by how remarkable it is. At this level it is no longer about regional preference, for example, if asked I tell people I am a Burg geek. Tasting this, I am suddenly very much a Hermitage man and nothing can persuade me otherwise. Yann’s 2022 Hermitage delivers such phenomenal presence, extraordinary depth, characters drawn as if from a seemingly bottomless well of flavour. Tannins are pitched perfectly to assuage some of the onslaught of beautiful fruit that engulfs your palate from the first sip. 

Fresh, clear, and well defined in its articulation of place, this is a glorious Syrah that soars from the glass with a heady array of blue and black berries, a soft garam masala, pretty florals and then that granitic, fleshy, subtly cured meat aspect that speaks so beautifully of this one unique and special hill. It’s incredibly enticing already. It is textbook Hermitage in the sense that if I was to write a note for what I thought the perfect Hermitage Rouge should be, this would be pretty bloody close. 

The 2022 goes to further show what we have said for many years, Yann is a top five producer in Hermitage, his wines now rank along with the likes of Guigal, the other Chave and Chapoutier, who else joins them in that top five is up for debate, what isn’t is that Yann is now firmly in that top echelon and isn’t going anywhere in a hurry. 

Michael, Lachy and I spent more time than usual in the Rhone this year, and wherever we visited the mention of Yann Chave was met with lots of admiration and respect. You can tell a lot about the quality, and the trajectory, of an estate by talking to their neighbours and colleagues. Yann is now quite revered amongst his comrades. For the epic quality he produces but also the no fuss, no nonsense style in which he goes about his business of making some of the greatest wines in the entire Rhone Valley. 

A quick note on style here, Yann does not like the inflection of new wood very much, so his Hermitage sees old school, larger format casks. His style is ultra traditional, BUT with a modern understanding. It is something I comment on a lot, the best vineyards, the best viticulture, and a winemaker who understands the technical aspects but respects tradition, that is my “recipe for success”. 

That may be the most gushing review I have ever read from Suckling for any wine… but he is right to be thrilled, the wine is as good as it gets from that hill in 2022.

Interestingly, for me anyway, the wines rated as highly as this by Vinous this year are from those three producers, and Delas, who is making great wine again. 

I swear, one day soon, people are going to wake up to Yann Chave and we will be allocating these wines tightly, like the other Chave. As Jeb Dunnuck (the best Rhone critic) points out, “readers should snatch up these wines before the market catches up to the quality”.

It has started already and we get more inquiries about these wines now, certainly his star has risen quickly in Europe and the USA, a couple of years from now I think we will look back at an offer like this in astonishment as we dole out the wines to previous buyers. They deserve that kind of adulation, all of his wines do!

In part because of the extra stock we bought, and in large part because I would really love to see these wines in the cellars, wine fridges and on the dinner table of our customers, I have included extra discount this year. I get the impression Alex and Michael will not be very happy about that, but they are always on my case about something, we may as well give them some useful ammo…

It’s more than 20% off for three bottles and more than 25% off for six bottles. That price won’t be repeated, hell I may not get away with it this time. So, if this offer goes out with the 25% discount on the six pack just know that I ducked and weaved to get that across the line for everyone. Probably had to fight Alex off with a stick or something. 

If you want to order some of this, please reply to this email. Alternatively, you can order online by following the link below. 

Cheers

Roscoe 

*One final note here, which I include with a lot of offers for Yann’s wines. They drink so well young, because of the absence of so much new wood, as is seen in most producers around these parts, and his talent for coaxing out not only superbly deep fruit but also expertly managed tannins, that some people may overlook their potential to age. They do, incredibly well and with very long drinking windows as his wines mature on their overall harmony which means they tend to drink beautifully for many, many years.