2010 Jaboulet Hermitage La Petite Chapelle - The Jaboulet La Chapelle Hermitage has been a long time favourite of mine, but I finally drew the line when it soared in price (the grand vin, La Chapelle, sells for $365 Can. a bottle where I live). I bought a few bottles of this wine when it first reached my market and decided to open one.
First, a bit of inconsistency on naming - they used the name La Petite Chapelle at first and later changed it to La Maison Bleue. I have seen statements that the change was in 2015 and later but this 2010 is labelled La Maison Bleue, so I really have no idea when the change actually went into effect - it may have changed at different times for different markets…
The wine is quite dark in colour and shows hints of spice and red fruit in the nose. It shows ample but not obtrusive tannin levels and it developed some nice black olive notes with time. But - it was no La Chapelle, it was a lesser but decent Rhone - not in the same class as La Chapelle, but of course nowhere near as expensive either, and it was ready to drink much sooner (I have a vertical of La Chappelle from 89 to 97 waiting in the cellar). I’d be interested in how others have assessed this wine.
I love La Chapelle from the 1980s and 1990s. I stopped buying in the early 2000s when price went way up and the vintages/style got riper. Haven’t tried any recent vintages. The few La Petite Chapelle bottles I tried didn’t motivate me to buy them. Their Thalabert Crozes was also quite a nice wine in certain vintages and could be a screaming bargain.
I have the 89, 91, 95, 96, and 97 La Chapelles - enough to do three verticals but no big rush, I think. Plus quite a few cases of other Hermitages from other producers that I have to arrange in verticals or horizontals for future dinners. The nice thing is that they last so long and there is no real rush. The unfortunate thing is that keeping up a vertical is no longer cost effective
Good point - they took over in 2006 so this wine was made by Caroline Frey. I somehow think that French winemakers making wine in California produce a better product (or at least one my palate prefers) than the reverse.
Over almost a dozen vintages stretching back 3 decades, I consistently found Thalabert a better wine than Petite Chapelle, for less money.
About 7 years ago I did a blind horizontal tasting of Hermitage from the 2011 vintage, looking mostly at less expensive bottlings. I don’t have my notes and don’t remember all of the wines, but I do remember that Chave was the unanimous favorite (obviously not less expensive). Chapoutier Sizeranne and the Cave de Tain Grand Classique were in a tie for second. Among 8 tasters, 6 rated Petite Chapelle last. I don’t remember the other 2 in the tasting.
The 2005 La Chapelle was made by the old Jaboulet team (bottled by Frey), 2006 was kind of transitional in style, but 2007 was heavy in new oak … and after tasting I did not buy 2009 and younger …