J.L. CHAVE FARCONNET HERMITAGE ROUGE 2018 -

For much of the fruit Jean-Louis uses his domaine's young vines, which produce less tannic berries. And the sourced fruit comes from the AOC's northern corners, where the grapes are naturally fresh and elegant. Chave, of course, makes the wine with the same light touch as he uses for his Hermitage, in a style that emphasizes fruit purity rather than power. All of this helps to make the wines eminently drinkable on release.

Of course, with excellent balance of structure and fruit all these wines are good candidates for the cellar. But the idea is too drink the Selection wines over the next few years while waiting on the Hermitage, which is a masterpiece that will require many years of aging.