2009 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (10/2/2017)
One of the pleasures of posting TNs is trying a wine that I find to be very special and share the experience. This is one of those wines. Pop and pour, incredibly mineral nose which is rare in red wine, ripe yet pure blue fruit, blueberry, blueberry liqueur, a slight hint of ash and blood, wet stone, lead pencil, ink and lavender. There is a hint of Lafitesque/Bordeaux lead pencil. For my palate, one of the key signs of great young wine is the silky/airy palate and this is one of the silkiest young northern Rhones of my life. Very airy and silky, feels almost slightly lean and light, beautifully layered blue fruit, good acidity, unbelievably mineral, strong presence of very fine tannins and a seamless long finish that resonates with mineral and cool blue fruit. Two hours later, even silkier and gains density and sweetness, a bit of black fruit emerges and no longer showing much ash but still remain incredibly mineral.
The second and third night, gains even more weight and becomes sweeter, incredibly dense blue and black fruits. The finish is incredibly long. It is enjoyable in a very youthful way but will require another decade or two to reach the peak. At this stage, it is not as nuance driven and showing a lot more black fruit than the Chave. Some may find it a bit too straightforward. I am confident that this will develop like the 90 but less “fruitcake like ripeness”. I will definitely try to source a case or more. In the current market where the top wines are heading north of $500, this represents a great buy if you like the 78 or 90 Chapelle. (98 pts.)
There was a hint of lead pencil like mineral. I followed over three nights and it became a closer classic Hermitage in the second night. IMO, some of the 90s Chapelle, like 94 through 99 are quite good but suffered due to Bob’s ratings.
I drank a fair deal of the '94 (K&L sold it off cheap). It was very approachable and pleasant, but hardly classic La Chappelle. It was very soft and low in acid. How did it suffer from Parker’s review?
It is hard to figure define what a “classic” La Chapelle should be since it is rare to find a great one. In general, Bob wasn’t too keen on the 90s La Chapelle. The 97 had a good barrel score but downgraded.
I have more familiarity with the ones before ~ 1985, so I have a sense of what it can be at its best. As I said, the '94 was very pleasant, but it wasn’t even that Hermitage-like, though I think that was mainly the vintage speaking.
Which is your favorite and how would you define the classic La Chapelle? The 61 is one of the greatest wines that I had but not sure I can call it a classic anything.
Since 2006 new ownership, different winemaker, different style:Caroline Frey whose family owns La Lagune bought Jaboulet and she has turned La Chapelle and stablemates around.
Huge sums were spent upgrading the winery and vineyards as well as converting to biodynamic practices,
She is a fascinating, multi talented woman, a sort of superstar winemaker in France.
That’s interesting. I don’t think I ever tried the 09, but looking at my notes, the 13 was so generic I couldn’t really tell if it was Rhone or Bordeaux. 13 was a really good N. Rhone year, they should have done better than this.
That’s disappointing. I posted on the 2010 Dom. Thalabert - Crozes a few months ago, which is showing really classically. That was a pleasant discovery, since the Thalabert really seemed to go downhill after the mid-80s.
The WA note on the 09 reads like a modern Bordeaux (98 pts.):
It will be thrilling to follow the 2009 and 2010 la Chapelles over the coming 40-50 years. Much more sexy, voluptuous and layered than the 2010, the 2009 Hermitage la Chapelle offers sensational levels of extract and concentration to go with notes of cassis, black raspberries, coffee bean, toasted bread and sweet spice. Beautifully pure, layered, and yet massively endowed, with sweet tannin, it will be drinkable at an earlier age than the 2010, but I suspect will be just as long lived. It’s a true tour de force in Hermitage!
The first day, it certainly resembles the style of modern Bordeaux a bit. However there is also a hint of ash and blood which tell me it is a syrah. The second day, it is clearly a big scale ripe syrah. This will take another ten to twenty year to be ready and show the classic syrah profile. I am pretty certain that you will not care of this wine at this stage… twenty years later… who knows!
Yea Kevin, I wondered. I’m not willing to plonk down the cash for it now, but I’ve certainly had some beauties in the past. Would love to try that legendary '61, but doubt that ever happens.
When the 09 Chapelle is ready, I hope my preference will still remain French and not the hundred acre and Saxum. I bet there aren’t too many of the 61s left.
I should write him a thank you note for lowering his score; I’ve bought numerous bottles of the '97 over the past few years, from different retailers and all for under $100, and not one has been less than highly enjoyable (all the way to excellent).
Thank you for the insight. I suppose the 97 is an excellent example of a classic La Chapelle.
Unfortunately no recent TN from me but my note from Dec, 2011. This was a sound example of the 97 Chapelle, starting to show some tertiary characters. Mostly ripe black fruit, some olives, leather, smoke. Excellent concentration, sweet fruit, bright acidity and resolved tannins. Lovely showing. 94 pts.
