The theme of the club tasting at TGVins animated by the Rhône expert, Pierre Ghysens, was a comparison top domaine wines from the 1996 and 2005 vintages of Paul Jaboulet Aîné.
This famous family négociant firm was sold in January 2006 to the wealthy Frey group, who are owners of Château La Lagune and also of a Champagne house, with whose brands I am not familiar. The guiding spirits are 29 year old oenologist, Caroline Frey, and her former Bordeaux professor, Denis Dubourdieu, also owner of Château Reynon on whose red Bordeaux I reported in Wine Focus.
Some critics consider that Jaboulet was under-performing in the late 90s and early 00s but this could be a function of their increasingly unfashionable traditional style (e.g. no new wood). The new owners are credited with the intention of raising the firm’s reputation back to the summit by regularly obtaining top Parker points and by, thereby, obtaining the highest prices. Pierre predicts that new vintages of La Chapelle will be sold for over € 300 before the decade is out; the Belgian price for 2005 is € 145.
The 2005 which we tasted here were grown and initially vinified by the old team but the new team was responsible for selection of the wines for the final blend and for the “élevage”. Two immediate impacts of the new team were the drastic reduction of quantities of top cuvées produced (la Chapelle will be more than halved) and the renewal of the barrel stock; this, especially the latter, can already be tasted in the 2005s but the full impact of their methods will only be felt from the 2006 vintage. There will be a new white Hermitage “La Chapelle" as well as the famous red and the existing Chevalier de Sterimberg white.
From these 2005s, I think that is already possible to say that the wines will be more accessible when young than formerly but also that they will be more marked by wood, which was for me at the limit of the acceptable at present, and perhaps by a more international style with less sense of place. The wines were also weightier than the 1996s but that may be a function of vintage. Mature judgment of the new team's efforts will only be possible after a good few years.
All the bottles, except the second of Roure 96, had been decanted at least three hours before serving but the wine was somewhat cold (about 15° C, I guess).
1st pair
Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Roure 1996 (1st bottle)
N was elegantly rich and complex with notes of sour cherry, raspberry and mint. P was also elegant, medium depth and complex with length and fragrance; but was there a touch of cardboard on the finish?
Pierre declared the bottle slightly corked and at once everyone’s heads nodded. The TCA was so slight as to scarcely mar my enjoyment. A second bottle was brought up from the cellar. 16/20 for this flawed bottle.
Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Roure 1996 (2nd bottle)
N distinctly less complex than the first bottle. P was purer, smoother, better focused and integrated but tighter and less complex than the first. It also merited 16/20 and probably would have reached 17/20 if it had been able to sit for three hours in a decanter and develop the same aromas minus TCA of the first.
Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 2005
N showed rich plum and vanilla and P was richer, sweeter and more ripely tannic than the 96 but showing caramel notes from its oak ageing (about 25% new according to Pierre); 15/20 with + potential when the oak integrates.
2nd pair
Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert Sélection des Vieilles Vignes 1996 (the only vintage this cuvée was made)
N was brilliantly focused but less complex than the first bottle of Roure. (Here Pierre interjected interesting descriptors for the Northern Rhône nose “red meat and smoke”, “blood and incense”; personally I find a lot of sour cherry but I see what he means.) P was rounder, richer, longer and more elegant than Roure but still somewhat tight aromatically. Better than many Hermitages and WOTN; 17/20 + potential.
Hermitage La Petite Chapelle 2005.
N showed rust, caramel and spice becoming more fruity on swirl. P showed red fruit, body and “gras” with strong caramel integrating better with time in the glass; 14.5/20 ++ potential.
3rd pair
Hermitage La Chapelle 1996
A big disappointment in the light of the excellent showing of the two Crozes and of this vintage’s stellar reputation for La Chapelle. C was more evolved than the pristine red of the other two 96s. N was frankly oxidative with the typical Northern Rhône aromas seemingly curdled with touches of varnish. P showed outstanding length but again flavours were slightly “off”; prune, candy and paste. I hope that this is a rogue bottle as I have a small stock purchased for as little as £ 28 in the late 90s. Pierre says that previous bottles have been highly promising and that wines sometimes recover from an oxidative phase like this.There was no trace of TCA or ullage; 10/20 for this bottle.
Hermitage La Chapelle 2005
N was rounder, richer and less woody than la Petite Chapelle 05. P showed great depth and length with good weight of round fruit with pepper touches and oak induced caramel which receded into the background with more exposure to air; 16/20 + potential.
