"This bottling is up there with the best wines that I have ever had from this domaine, and I am familiar with their work going back to their 1983 vintage."
When it comes to unyieldingly honest and unapologetically traditional Côte-Rôtie, Levet's wines are without peer.
These are some of the most unique and exciting Côte Rôties around. They combine wildness with a breeding that's incredible.
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Chavaroche is a brutally rocky and steeply terraced southwest-facing vineyard. Levet's vines in Chavaroche were planted in 1940 and makeup approximately sixty percent of the wine. The remainder comes from Mollard, another highly regarded site. Levet's work is meticulous in the vineyard, but the grapes simply do their thing in the cellar – vinification is thoughtful, but there’s no artifice at work.
What results is a raw and untamed expression of Côte-Rôtie. Chavaroche offers up a complicated and rugged presentation of animal, minerals, violets, olives, and dark fruit.
Even in the context of a wine that ages extraordinarily well, the 2020 Chavaroche has all the making of a distance runner. With age, Chavaroche is absolutely gorgeous - a seamless weave of animal, mineral, violets, olives, and dark fruit. It's sauvage, for sure, but with elegance to spare as well.
Levet's Chavaroche is one of the most traditional and fascinating wines currently being made in the northern Rhône. The 2020 Chavaroche is a don't miss vintage of this wine.
We can't close this email without expressing our sadness at Josh's passing in March of this year. He was a long-time friend of the store, and we greatly admired his wine writing. Personally, I'll miss his warmth, insight, and conversations that would cover everything from wine and dumpling making to where you could find the best pit beef in Baltimore.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media: "Opaque violet color. Expansive blackberry, kirsch, licorice, smoky bacon and potpourri aromas are complemented by a vibrant mineral overtone. Taut and sharply focused on the palate, offering deeply concentrated, smoke-laced black and blue fruit liqueur, olive paste, black cardamom and floral pastille flavors that deepen steadily through the back half. Finishes extremely long and precise, with repeating mineral, floral and dark fruit characters and youthfully solid tannins. This bottling is up there with the best wines that I have ever had from this domaine, and I am familiar with their work going back to their 1983 vintage."