A benchmark Hermitage from the famed western slopes of the hill, sourced largely from Le Mal with Rocoules and Bessards. The 2017 shows classic notes of cassis, black olive, roasted meat and baking spice, wrapped in a dense, velvety texture with superb depth and length. Powerful yet refined, with beautifully integrated oak and immense ageing potential, this is a highly collectible La Chapelle that will evolve gracefully for decades.

The Wine Advocate| RP 98
Published: Dec 19, 2019
Drink: 2022-2045

The 2017 Hermitage La Chapelle comes from the firm’s vineyards on the western half of the Hermitage slope, primarily Le Mal, but with substantial contributions from Les Rocoules and Les Bessards. Classic notes of cassis, black olives, mocha and roasted meat are joined by hints of baking spices in a wine that’s full-bodied, deep, dense and rich, with a velvety texture and a lingering finish. It’s lower in alcohol than the 2018, less voluptuous and maybe just a step behind that monumental wine, but it’s still a serious collectible with three decades of evolution ahead of it.

With properties now in Bordeaux (Chteau La Lagune), Burgundy (the former Chteau Corton Andr) and Switzerland (she purchased a vineyard in the Valais in 2016), proprietor Caroline Frey is increasingly drawn in different directions, so I was fortunate to be able to sit down with her for a few hours at Michelin-starred Maison Chabran in nearby Pont de l’Isre. She brought representative barrel samples of the 2018s, plus the bottled 2017s, which we tasted through before dining. This year, Frey was excited to show me the 2017 Ctes du Rhne Parallele 45, which is now made using only organic grapes. At up to two million bottles (red, white and ros) per year, that’s no small achievement. But as always, we spent the most time on the wines produced from the firm’s own vineyards, which are all farmed biodynamically. Frey explained that they cannot be certified, as the winery also processes grapes and wines from the ngociant operations. The grapes are all destemmed, although she said they will experiment with whole clusters. “When we did it in 2013, for me it was not OK,” she said. She has begun doing more pigeage (punching down) in the winery, versus just remontage (pumping over). “We have good results on the texturefleshier.” The glory of Jaboulet is the legendary Hermitage La Chapelle, which is finally reflecting all of the hard work put into the vineyards by the Frey family and the Jaboulet team. “We still have many things to do,” said Frey. “But I think in the past 13 years we’ve come a long way.”

James Suckling | JS 98
Published: Jul 17, 2019

The icon is in dangerously seductive form. Such pristine dark cherries, blackberries and dark plums, dark chocolate, finely crushed spices and plenty of crushed dark stones on offer. The palate is very intense, very slick and fine tannins deliver an almost playfully soft impression. The oak is super integrated. Like La Maison Bleue, this approachability is an aberration, as it has immense power, concentration and length with such regal and alluring swagger at the finish. But there is so much more to come. Try from 2024, better after 2030.

Jancis Robinson | JR 16.5+
Published: Mar 6, 2019
Drink: 2022-2037

Rich, cooked fruit on the nose. More convincing tannic heft than their Maison Bleue, but pretty tame in terms of complexity at this early stage.