La Chapelle Hermitage Syrah

From mag. A soulful, slightly tangy savory wine. Red fruit, medium bodied with a heft of acidity. Pretty and complex

Very good, but not the best ‘97 Chapelle bottle I’ve had.

The fruit for "La Chapelle" is sourced predominantly from Le Méal and Bessards (with a little form Greffieux and Rocoules. Relative to the two Chave’s, the 1988 “La Chapelle” seems a bit more like a Hermitage fastball right down the middle of the plate. Desiccated mixed berries, olives, purple flowers, and minerals with a touch of ethyl acetate. Again a great pairing with grilled lamb and Moroccan spices. Vinous and drinking well now through 2035.

Tart, dried blackberry fruit leather, earthy breeze smell on the nose (I don’t know what that means either, but that’s the first words to come to mind). Blackberry bramble, silk, and pepper. Some iron, but it’s soften over the years. This is a Belgian Sheepdog wine. Dark, bold, elegant, eager to please any Syrah fan. I want to go for a long hike through the woods, picking wild blackberries with this dog. Then we go home and share leg of lamb, rub the dogs silky ears, and drink this (just me. Don’t give alcohol to dogs).

Drank this 2012 in early 2023 and I think it is still young! Could go another decade. Delicious nonetheless. Immediate scents of green bell pepper and herbaceous goods that morphs into blue and black fruits. Vanilla is present but definitely secondary. Upon drinking there is a solid structure with a focused power of restrained medium acidity. Spices and some grease come to the forefront. Great lasting finish. Would love to try again in a few years.

Quite fulsome and dense for a 15 year old Rhone - but it is Jaboulet La Chapelle. Probably opened too early - I only have one other. Ripe black fruits, some smoky notes, a touch of pepper. A little square sided on the full bodied palate. A Syrah with excellent potential but not worth the $417AUD I paid to be honest. One would be better off with 3 bottles of Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier and some change in your pocket.

6L

Until Caroline Frey took over wine making responsibilities, “La Chapelle” was sort of known to me as a perennial underachiever with very few vintages in the last 40 years really meeting their potential. The late 90’s was perhaps the deepest point of the malaise. That being said, this bottle proves that the underpinnings were always there and I found it to be very enjoyable, if not quite on the level of the other examples of late-90’s Hermitage we enjoyed on the night. There is still quite a bit of life left.

2006 vintage. The first vintage for Caroline Frey to be in charge. This shows beautifully now for a wine that was totally underrated by Robert Parker on release.While it may not have the depth and power of the greatest vintages of this iconic wine, this 2006 is a terrific wine in it's own right. Complex nose with spices, black fruit, tobacco and cedar. In the mouth it is beautifully balanced with bright acidity embracing layers of black fruit and spices and velvety tannin. Impressive length too. Abv. 14%.

Day 2 of WineBoyz Wineapalooza. I brought this to pair along side it's big brother, the 61 La Chapelle. Deep, dark and almost opaque. Notes of dark black fruit, mocha, cranberry. Nice floral notes too. Rich and silky in the mouth, and grew with airtime. Side by side, this definitely has similarities to the 61 next to it. Needs 10+ more years to gain more complexity. The next day this was still singing. 95+