Benchmark Wines by

Jaboulet

The Winery

Paul Jaboulet Aine

"In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary."
- Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Paul Jaboulet Aine is a celebrated wine powerhouse. Known for their famed La Chapelle Hermitage vineyard, the company was founded in 1834. The Jaboulet family is largely responsible for the popularity of the Beaumes de Venise region, creating unrivaled Muscats. What is amazing about these wines is the balance. Even though the wines are hot (15.5% alc) and sweet (100 g RS), they are beyond enjoyable.

Generations of the Jaboulet family have tended to the vineyards and cellar. Praised by Thomas Matthew of the Wine Spectator because the family "offers reliable wines across the entire range of appellations (in the northern and southern Rhône)." This highly lauded wine legacy sources from vineyards across the Condrieu, Côte-Rôtie, Cornas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage appellations. Most wines are drinkable now, while the La Chapelle has more longevity.

1997
3 In Stock
750ml
FM97
WE96
WA93
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Tasting Notes

WE96
A wine that sells for around $100 a value? Yes, when it has the pedigree of La Chapelle and the intensity of this particular wine. The best wine to come from Jaboulet since the awe-inspiring 1990. And yes, in these days of newly released $250+ first-growth Bordeaux, a value.
WA93
The 1997 Hermitage La Chapelle has begun to completely close down, which is surprising in view of how sweet, seductive, and precocious this vintage can be. However, the color seems to get deeper with exposure to air (the wine was far more drinkable after 24 hours of aeration than it was upon opening). The moderately intense bouquet exhibits plenty of ripe blackberry and cherry fruit, in addition to spicy, mineral characteristics. There is considerable weight and volume, but the wine is tight, and nearly impenetrable, leaving an impression of a large, deep, four-square monolith in need of 7-10 years of cellaring - at the minimum. This is an outstanding Hermitage La Chapelle that will have at least three decades of positive evolution. For readers intent on committing infanticide, open and decant it 12-24 hours in advance. The improvement is dramatic.

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