J.L. Chave Sélection Côtes du Rhône “Mon Coeur”

The Chave family is based in a small village on the northern right bank of the Rhone. There have been Chaves growing vines on the famous Hermitage hill since 1481. Gerard Chave took over from his father in 1970 and rapidly achieved megastar status due to the extraordinary quality of his wines and has since passed on the winemaking responsibilities to his son Jean-Louis.  Their unmatched meticulousness continues through five centuries to render venerable expressions of the purest of Rhône terroir. Though the Côtes-du-Rhône is technically made from purchased fruit, Chave generally has financed his sources and takes their grapes by a métayage (sharecropping) arrangement. He has more or less complete control over the farming, which is organic. The grapes are shipped to Chave’s facility inside his Saint-Joseph Le Clos site in Mauves. Fermentation is in stainless steel tanks and élevage is in an assortment of new and old barrels, demi-muids and large foudres at the magnificently restored cellar at Le Clos. At the conclusion of élevage, the wines are assembled and transported to the original “Selections Cellar” next to the Domaine where the wines undergo filtration, collage, etc. and are bottled. Total production is approximately 15,000 cases.