Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I was remiss in forgetting to mention I tasted my first 1996 Chave Hermitage at the Grand Aioli.....

Oh yes, sorry, I got carried away with the beautiful food pictures, so carried away I forgot that I and everyone else in attendance also enjoyed Samantha's contribution to the evening, a wine that is not a Rose, but a red, none other than the 1996 Chave Hermitage. This is a wine I have never experienced before, but it gave me one of those "Ah, yes, this is why it is good to cellar wine" moments, which I have too few of, because I don't really cellar wine (don't have a wine fridge yet).

The wine is one of those wines you stick your nose in to greet, and it greets you back with seduction. It says "Come here nose, and stay awhile. What's your rush?" It has that great bouquet that grabs you and stops you from taking a sip, because the bouquet is where it is at, and it demands attention and time. I can't really relate it to smokiness per se, it's just a wine aroma that is not really aged, but just perfect, not too old, not too young, though of course this wine can still go another 10 years in the bottle with no problem. But that's the aroma I like, a wine on its way up, not on its way down, nor even necessarily at its peak.

I liked it. I cherished the opportunity to taste such a great wine.

Thank you Sam for sharing!

1 comment:

Samantha Dugan said...

Hey Nancy,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Chave...it really was amazing in the nose, although I think the wine needed more time and was a touch closed on the palate.
You and I must have looked like such geeks sitting there with our noses burried in our glasses whispering back and forth to each other.....whatever...it smelled THAT good, so sensual, haunting really. Good reminder as to why we need to give wines like that time in the cellar. The tiny hairs on my arms just stood up simply remembering the aromatics!
I cant take all the thanks for that wine as it was in fact a gift from Randy so he too should get credit for giving us that experience....so glad I got to share it with all of you.