Crozes-Hermitage Silène 2021

JL CHAVE SELECTION

Crozes-Hermitage Silène
2021

Country
France
Regulated designation
Appellation origine controlée (AOC)
Region
Rhône Valley
Subregion
Northern Rhone
Appellation
Crozes-Hermitage
Varietal(s)
Syrah
Colour
Red
Producer's website

About this winery

The Chave family is the epitome of 'People, Place and Time'. They have been vignerons in the Rhône valley since 1481 - an astonishing 16 generations. Originally the family farmed only in St. Joseph, moving to Hermitage about a century ago when phylloxera swept through the region. Today Chave Hermitage Rouge and Hermitage Blanc are generally regarded as the appellation's greatest wines. In recent years Jean Louis has begun the painstaking process of restoring the steep St. Joseph terraces that...

See the JL CHAVE SELECTION detail page for more information on this brand

Press reviews

Vinous

- 93 points -

Josh Raynolds, December 2022 (Vintage 2020)

Opaque ruby-red. Expressive, spice- and mineral-accented cherry and black raspberry aromas are complemented by suggestions of cured meat, olive and succulent flowers. Seamless and vibrant on the palate, offering taut dark berry, cherry-cola and violet pastille flavors with a spicy touch of white pepper. Lively and appealingly sweet on the juicy, persistent finish, which features well-knit tannins and resonating minerality.

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Wine Spectator

- 93 points -

January 2022 (Vintage 2019)

Expressive, with dark plum and blackberry compote notes laced liberally with hints of anise, singed alder and sweet bay. There's a nice mineral drive through the focused finish too.

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Vinous

- 93 points -

April 2020

Inky ruby. Pungent, mineral-accented black and blue fruit qualities on the nose, along with hints of olive, licorice and peony that build in the glass. Supple and weighty on the palate, offering expansive blackberry and boysenberry flavors that become firmer with air. The floral note comes back strong on the penetrating finish, which shows outstanding persistence and fine-grained, well-knit tannins. 60% of this fruit was sourced from the granitic soils and steep slopes in the northern sector of the appellation and the other 40% came from the south, where the soils are lighter, based mostly on limestone clay and covered in large alluvial stones and smaller river rocks.

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Decanter

- 91 points -

September 2022 (Vintage 2020)

Introverted on the nose for now, fairly powerful, the alcohol is well balanced but the tannins need taming – they're big, bold and chewy. Naturally good fruit, but not the most elegant at this stage. Give it a couple of years to come together. From the Chave family's J-L Chave Sélection négociant range, a parcel of vines from Larnage.

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