Côte-Rôtie: Untamed and Beautiful
2010 Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche
"One for the long haul."
"There is no more consistently great wine in our portfolio than Levet's La Chavaroche... If you want the truest of Côte-Rôties... if you admire both the intellectual and the savage, then this is a must-buy wine." -Neal Rosenthal
The famed importer Neal Rosenthal breaks it down here: amidst his strong portfolio of people like Fourrier and Barthod, Levet's Côte-Rôtie Chavaroche is one of the best.
In 2010 Levet's Côte-Rôtie Chavaroche is a "must buy," indeed.
Levet's Chavaroche offers a glimpse of Syrah at its rawest, its most wild, and its most beautiful.
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In 2010, Levet's Chavaroche has its beating soul laid bare with absolute clarity and stunning finesse.
For in the Rhône, the 2010 vintage is a magical vintage - it's that simple. The vintage combines almost a dream brew of concentration, structure and sparklingly pristine expression.
For me, it's impossible to taste Levet's wines and not feel a deep respect for them. There's a directness to them, a truthfulness: this is Côte-Rôtie with its finesse, and with its wildness. There's something unique about its plain honesty that's elusive - and startlingly compelling. The sad part is that Levet is one of the last producers making wines like this on Rhone's famous "roasted slope."
Chavaroche is a brutally rocky and steeply-terraced southwest facing vineyard. There's an untamed beauty here, and that's exactly what Levet captures in their wines. They pamper their vineyards and let the grapes simply do their thing in the cellar - vinification is thoughtful, but there's no artifice at work.
And when we say pamper, we mean it. Neil Rosenthal writes, "I have encountered no one who takes better care nor manages a vineyard with the talent of the Levet family."
Patience and proper cellaring here will be rewarded in spades. We've created special 4-pack pricing for this reason. Ideally, you'd give this five to ten years, at least, and it likely has a couple of decades of aging ahead of it. If you choose to respectfully disobey, you should wisely consider a long decant to begin to witness the character and complexity here.
A 98 Chavaroche tasted recently was just beginning to enter early maturity a couple years ago, and it was pretty awesome. It was absolutely gorgeous - a seamless weave of animal, mineral, violets, olives and dark fruit... Sauvage, for sure, but with elegance to spare as well.
The pricing today is as low as you're ever likely to see it - when our parcel runs out, so does the price.
To order, please reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
2010 Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche
2010 Levet Côte-Rôtie Chavaroche arrives 6/10.
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