The 2015 Domaine Charvin has been uncorked....

[JimHow]

It is young.

[JimHow]

The color is Burgundian.

[JimHow]

Tastes like candy, very sweet.

[JimHow]

I wish I could tell you this wine wowed me.
It didn't.
This wine needs some personality, some oak.
This was candy.
Maybe just way too young to judge.
Definitely not a JimHow kind of wine.
Not even going to attempt rate it, let alone go in that 94-5 point range of WA, Leve, and the other CdP whores....

[jckba]

The Charvin CdP’s generally improve and transform with time in the btl so I would give this one the Blanquito treatment of retrying in another 5 years and reserve judgement until then

[JimHow]

Uh oh, Blanquito and I have very different palates...

[DavidG]

I haven’t had the 2015, but Charvin is usually considered a relatively traditional producer. IOW not one you’d expect to be over-ripe or over-sweet. That said, young Grenache can come across as too sweet.

[AKR]

I actually just ordered some of the 2015 from Garagiste.

Personally I think all these are better after some bottle age.

Pulled the 2000 out recently for consumption sometime in the next few months.

Charvin's grapes used to go into Rayas, and then they started making their own wine.

I think St Hesperide is the same way too. I've got a bottle of the 2007 of that but have not tried it.

[DavidG]

Agreed Arv. I usually start drinking my CdPs at about age 8 and find most in my wheelhouse at age 10-20. The ones I like best, like Beaucastel and Vieux Telegraphe, get even better with more age than that. Charvin is a candidate for that group but I don’t have enough experience with old bottles of it to be certain.

We know Jim likes young wines. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (in my best Seinfeld voice), but the sweetness of young Grenache may not be up his alley. Or maybe Charvin went uber-ripe in 2015, I don’t know. I bet Jim would prefer a higher-Mourvèdre CdP like Beaucastel in its youth. Before it develops those wonderful tertiary characters at 20-25 years of age. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with that...

[jckba]

For CdP’s to enjoy on the younger side I would choose something leaning more towards the modern end of the spectrum like a Janasse or Saint Prefert single vineyard not that they don’t age.

[AKR]

Agreed Arv. I usually start drinking my CdPs at about age 8 and find most in my wheelhouse at age 10-20. The ones I like best, like Beaucastel and Vieux Telegraphe, get even better with more age than that. Charvin is a candidate for that group but I don’t have enough experience with old bottles of it to be certain.

We know Jim likes young wines. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (in my best Seinfeld voice), but the sweetness of young Grenache may not be up his alley. Or maybe Charvin went uber-ripe in 2015, I don’t know. I bet Jim would prefer a higher-Mourvèdre CdP like Beaucastel in its youth. Before it develops those wonderful tertiary characters at 20-25 years of age. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with that...

There just isn't much old Charvin around to begin with since I think their first vintages were somewhere in the 1988-1990 time frame.

We had the 1990 a few years ago - no idea how my friend found it - and it was very nice.