2007 Domaine Paul Jaboulet Anie, Hermitage “La Petite Chapelle” Northern Rhône, France.
One of the first wines made under the Frey ownership of Domaine Paul Jaboulet Anie, the 2007 vintage, of the legendary Hermitage vineyard, has become a beautifully elegant wine of delicacy and finesse with almost Pinot Noir like silken texture and has full maturity of fruit at this point. The lighter palate of this old Syrah revolves around faded earthy dried cherries, figs, blueberries and spiced raspberries, with dusty pepper, cedar, bay leaf, incense, minty herbs, anise and leathery notes. The Hermitage appellation, in the Northern Rhône, is a single 650 ft hill above the Rhône River. It is part of the ancient Massif Central and Hermitage hill has a diversity of soil types from four geological eras that have merged here with granite from the primary era, fragments of limestone from the secondary era, hills from the tertiary era, and glaciations from the ice ages. These 45 to 100 year old vines are grown on steep slopes and see the cooling influences of the La Mistral wind, which help give this area its long hang time, depth of flavors and richness, with ripe fruit and seductive savory notes This all has allowed this place to become the varied and complex terroir that has made Hermitage so legendary, as seen in the wines like this one. The more approachable styled La Petite Chapelle Hermitage, of this era, was sourced from a mix of parcels, all de-stemmed and aged 15-18 months in French oak with about 20% new. This aging, but graceful 2007 was a treat and I’m grateful to my friend Tom Hlasny, who shared this from his personal cellar.
The Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aine, which dates back to 1834, as mentioned in my prior reviews, is now owned by the Frey family, led by the talented Caroline Frey, has been an iconic estate in the Northern Rhone and one of the big three in the region along with Guigal and Chapoutier, most known for their fabled La Chapelle vineyard in Hermitage, Syrah’s most holy site! There’s been wines made here since pre-Roman times, but it was Antoine Jaboulet’s plantings in 1834 and focus on quality which really started to establish the area as one of the major wine producing appellations of the world, after he past the land was passed on to his two sons Henri and Paul, who’s name became company label. The Frey family, who bought the fade glory Jaboulet in 2006, have become big time players in premium French wine production having serious quality properties in Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux, which includes Chateau La Lagune in Haut-Medoc and Château de Corton André in the Cote de Beaune. Caroline Frey, who studied in Bordeaux is one of France’s stars and has her hand in many projects, with even a biodynamic high elevation vineyard in Switzerland, of which I am excited to try the wines from. The Jaboulet lineup is full of quality efforts, but without question Frey’s La Chapelle, which is now its own separate label (winery) and singular wine, is the top priority and it continues to be one of the most coveted wines in the world, while wines like this one, is a more affordable and easy to drink young version. The 2007 vintage wasn’t a classic or powerful vintage and this wine displays the year’s character and it should be drunk up sooner v. later, to best enjoy the life it has left.
($99 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive