1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Selection Saint-Joseph Offerus

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