Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle question

I’m curious what you guys think of the more recent vintages of Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle (2000-2013). I love the older stuff and have not purchased, or tried any vintage since 1998. I saw an offer today for some more recent vintages and was thinking of buying a few bottles to lay down to drink in my retirement, but didn’t know how these would stack up against the vintages from the 80’s and 90’s. Thanks in advance.

Here is a good read on the topic:

Interesting article by Jancis. The only surprise to me was that she did not include 1978 as among the best La Chapelle vintages.

Classic Jancis; loved the two characterisations of Chave and Chapoutier, and especially the closing sentence.

La Chapelle is a bit above my snack bracket, but I think there’s similar issues with their former QPA star the Dom de Thalabert Crozes Hermitage, more $ and less magic through the 00s is is that just me?

[edit to fox spell-mischecker]

I bought 2 bottles of the 2010 awhile back, but have never tried them. Something tells me these wines will never reach their peak while I’m still alive. Drinking window recommendation on CT goes out to 2042!

Caroline Frey at the end of a loooong boozy dinner at her Bdx property, la Laguna, popped one of those '78 chapelles for me… pristine, obviously as she’s the source now… how Jancis could not include '78 re confirms that we just don’t taste the same wines, even if we were to drink the same bottle…a legend for sure

My view:

After 1990 good is 1994 and 1995, very good 1991 - and 1996 and 1997 are outstanding -
1998-2000 are to be avoided (if they are not off-sales at bargain prices) - usually disapointing.

2001 is much better (they introduced a 2nd wine) but not great.
2003 is a great wine, IF you accept the vintage character … still needs time …
2004 is not very interesting …
2005 (last vintage of Jaboulet) is very structured and a bit dry and lean, but also concentrated, needs time, but will not be great.

2006 (1st vintage of Frey in the cellar): definitely more modern in style, but a bit one-dimensional,
2007 is better, more fruit-driven, elegant,
2008 is ok for the (mean) vintage,
2009 & 2010 are great wines in a very international style, very different from traditional Hermitage,
2011 is a huge success for the vintage …
not tasted 2012-

Unfortunately prices for the vintages after 2006 have at least doubled … compared to Jaboulet ownership …

BTW: 1978 is indeed one of the greatest vintages, although I would give the crown to 1990 …

No mention of 1989 as a great year? Perhaps falling under '90’s shadow?

Thanks for sharing the article. Wonderful read.

Sure a great La Chapelle ´89, but I was listing the vintages after 1990 …

1978, 1979, 1982, 1985 are great, 1988 is excellent,
1983 can be fine, but there are also disapointing bottles (bottlings)

I can’t help with La Chapelle post 2000, but I’ve had the '88 twice and both times liked the wines a lot and preferred them to Chave’s '88. Echoing Gerhard again, I’ve had several bottles of the 1997 and they’ve all been excellent – resolved and completely satisfying (and all under $100.)

+1

There were several bottlings sometime apart.

I stay clear of La Chapelle post-97 and frankly haven’t had anything yet that has made me change my mind, despite trying most of the vintages at some point. Personal favourite is the '85, though had a phenomenal bottle of the '62 a few years ago (never had the opportunity to try the '61). With most othe vintages from the '80s more or less equal in price to the better recent vintages I would have absolutely no trouble stinking with the former…

1985 is drinking fabulously now …
I have a lot of La Chapelle 1982-1997 … and a few younger vintages, but pricing keeps me from buying more …
Despite the new style I think they are going to become good Hermitages with time (2 decades) … but I definitely prefer Chave …

Last time I had the '82, '83 & '85 together, the '82 was showing very well (I haven’t had anything less than great '82 La Chap in the past 10 years), our '83 that night was a good bottle (not among the best tasted, but still very nice) and the '85 was really coming into it’s own and almost surpassed the '82.
I imagine the '85 will become the '82 soon enough and be the best of the 80’s for a 10+ year stretch at some point in the next decade or two. Don’t know if either the '88 or '89 can reach the same level for my palate. I hope to test that in 10 or 20 years.
These 80’s La Chap’s are becoming harder to find and more $, but were excellent finds for ages. Priced equal to or under the sane current release price (pre Frey) for ages.

It would be remiss not to include the 1972 in any discussion of top vintages of La Chapelle.

Planning a vertical from 1961 - 1978 in London this year which I am more than excited about.

A friend who knew the family well suggests the wines changed in character in the mid-1980s when a new cellar was constructed.

I have experienced huge bottle variation with the 1990 and ended up concluding that, while often impressive, the wine is borderline overripe. I do think there may be some substance to the rumor that there were several notably different cuvées.

It was standard practice in the Rhone in the 80s, certainly, to have multiple bottlings over several months. That was true for Guigal as well as Jaboulet, I know. And before EU law required lot numbers, you had know way of knowing unless you bought immediately on release. (I bought some '83 La Chapelle on the first release. The wine then disappeared from the shelves. Six months or a year later, more appeared and I bought more.)

I´ve had it a good 9-10 times, both from half and 0.75 bottles, no bottle variation among mine, just consistantly great … and nothing overripe …