1999 St Joseph Offerus
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Tasting notes
The delicious 1999 Offerus St.-Joseph is from a superior vintage in terms of raw materials. The wine boasts a deep ruby/purple color as well as a big, peppery, bouquet of black currants, minerals, licorice, and earth. It is sweet, fleshy, and ripe. This hedonistic offering should be consumed over the next 4-5 years. There are two cuvees of St.-Joseph, one from the estate vineyards on the hillsides behind the village of Mauves, and a negociant bottling put together by Jean-Louis Chave and sold under the brand name Offerus. When I arrived at 6:00 p.m., September 11, 2001, at Domaine Chave, I found Chave in tears and his family distraught. I had heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, but not the subsequent collapse of both towers. Gerard Chave knows all about suicidal bombers, having served in the French military during the Algerian revolution. It took a long time to gather sufficient focus to do my tastings. However, the brilliant wines that unfolded in the cellars were, at least for several hours, a much needed antidote for pushing to the back of my mind the horror of 9-11-01. Importers: Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland OH; tel. (216) 861-6800 and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Saturated deep red-ruby. Black raspberry, gunflint and pepper on the nose. Juicy and complex in the mouth, with flavors following directly from the aromas. Still quite primary, even grapey. But offers lovely shape and grip, and some early sex appeal. Today this negociant bottling seems a bit more complex than the Chaves' domain Saint-Joseph, though I suspect the latter wine will be more interesting in the long run.
About the producer
The Chaves have been growing grapes in the Northern Rhône since 1481. Jean-Louis Chave is the 16th generation to head up the family domaine, having taken over from his father in 1992.