Jean-Louis Chave reflects on the Rhône

Jean-Louis Chave counts himself lucky. Not necessarily because he farms vines that produce some of the world’s best Hermitage, nor because 2015 was both an abundant and terrific-quality vintage, but because he never gets emails. In fact he can’t even remember his email address when he tries to give it to a fellow wine writer at a recent lunch in London.

Incommunicado he may be, but ultimately we all benefit from Chave’s offline existence because it leaves him free to concentrate on what he does best.

As a naturally modest and thoughtful person, Chave would much rather let the terroir...