Jeb Dunnuck (100)

An absolute blockbuster of an Hermitage that tastes like the blood of Syrah, the 2019 Hermitage Le Greal sports a saturated purple hue to go with insane aromatics of pen ink, smoked meats, burning embers, currants, and ground pepper. Massively concentrated, full-bodied, structured, and yet also flawlessly balanced, this legendary Hermitage is going to need a decade or more to get close to maturity, and I suspect it will have 40-50 years of overall longevity. I wouldn't be surprised if the 1961 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle tasted similar to this on release.

Jeb Dunnuck (99)

Even better, the 2020 Hermitage Le Gréal showed brilliantly, and this powerful, concentrated Hermitage is going to be one for the cellar. Revealing a dense purple hue as well as great aromatics of blackberries, new saddle leather, truffle, roasted herbs, and peppered meat, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, mouth-filling texture, building tannins, and a great finish. It's going to take a decade to hit maturity, but this brilliant Hermitage will have 30 years of longevity. Bravo!

Decanter (96)

A particularly fruity Gréal, much more open than usual at this stage. It has weight and presence and a seriously mineral edge. Less concentration and structure than a typical year, but it should last well thanks to its energy, tension and strict tannins, and end up very Pinotesque in style with age. It’s pure and elegant and with good ripeness of fruit and tannin. Impressive, but don't expect a huge wine. Very true to Bessards, like sucking pencil lead. Vines partly grown on Le Méal, partly on Les Greffieux, and 10% whole bunch used.

Vinous (97)

Saturated ruby. A heady, impressively complex bouquet evokes ripe red fruits, candied flowers, garrigue and incense, along with exotic spice and mineral notes that build with air. Utterly stains the palate with vibrant raspberry liqueur, cherry cola, licorice and fruitcake flavors that are sharpened by a jolt of spiciness on the back half. Polished tannins add gentle grip to the strikingly long, floral-dominated finish, which shows no rough edges.

Jeb Dunnuck (95)

I was able to taste two wines from the 2017 vintage, and I suspect that no Quet cuvée was produced. The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape checks in as a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre that was brought up mostly in concrete tank, with 20% in older barrels. This powerful, ripe, incredibly sexy beauty should be snatched up by readers. Blackcurrants, black cherries, ground herbs, graphite, and licorice notes all flow to a deep, full-bodied, rockingly textured base cuvée that more than delivers the goods. Expansive, layered, and concentrated, it competes with most special cuvées out there. It's not for wimps. Drink this terrific wine over the coming decade.

Vinous (92-94)

(aged in concrete tanks for the Grenache and barriques for the Mourvèdre) Deep ruby. Heady, smoke-accented aromas of black and blue fruits, incense and potpourri gain vivacity from a zesty mineral flourish. Densely packed black raspberry and blueberry flavors open up and turn spicier with air. Shows a suave blend of richness and finesse, offering outstanding focus and tenacity, subtle tannic grip and no excess fat.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

One of the wines of the vintage, the 2015 Côte Rôtie Belle Helene is up there with the handful of greatest young Syrahs I've ever been lucky enough to taste. Coming all from the Côte Rozier lieu-dit in the northern portion of the appellation, just above Guigal's la Landonne lieu-dit, this majestic wine offers incredible blue fruits, liquid violets, olive tapenade, and aged meats. Full-bodied, ultra-fine, deep, concentrated, and as seamless and pure as it gets. It's already approachable (which is rare for this cuvée) due to its perfectly ripe tannin, yet will need 7-8 years of bottle age and keep for 2-3 decades.

Wine Advocate (97)

Even better and shockingly good in the vintage, the 2011 Cote Rotie Lancement is 100% Syrah that comes from the more southern end of the appellation (more Cote Blonde than Cote Brune). Giving the top Belle Helene cuvee a run for its money, this thrilling 2011 dishes out spectacular notes sweet berry fruit, bacon, pepper and gamy nuances that flow to a full-bodied, seamless and incredibly textured, lengthy feel on the palate. Possessing no hard edges and perfect integration of its acidity, tannin and fruit, this is riveting stuff that should not be missed!

Vinous (90)

First harvested in 2014, this 10,000-vine plot was created by basically exploding large blocks of flint with dynamite to obtain a flint-rich vineyard full of large rocks. The result is a creamy, silken 2019 Pouilly-Fumé Barre à Mine that is welcoming; flavor-wise, it's all ground almonds and oyster shell with masses of acidity. There's a firmness on the finish due to the flinty soils, providing upright structure and freshness, but once again, as with other 2019s, the alcohol gets in the way of the finish. An appetizing yet structured wine.

Vinous (93)

Produced from a flint site that needed to be blown up to make the terroir and made from relatively young vines, this is initially a tender and supple style with a whiff of gunsmoke/flint, a taut line of precision that runs through its core, a mere hint of green herbs reminding you that Pouilly is a Sauvignon producer and even a hint of white pepper. It's a powerful style that has an attractive sense of bitterness holding it together. At just 13%, this is wonderfully balanced, aromatic and driven in this vintage. You may even feel this sense of spice that warms the palate, almost like you've had a warming Indian curry - it's not the alcohol but something else - maybe it's the lint. Unique and intriguing.

Vinous (91)

Lurid ruby. Pungent red berry, cherry liqueur, incense and lavender aromas are sharpened by a suggestion of white pepper and a smoky mineral quality. Intense raspberry and bitter cherry flavors show very good clarity and slowly gain sweetness as the wine stretches out. Youthful and seamless in texture, finishing very long and smooth, with a strong, repeating raspberry note and slow-building, harmonious tannins.

Vinous (85)

My birth year will not go down in history as the stuff of legends: a relatively cool year without much botrytis and a fairly low residual level for the 1981 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon. It's a touch smoky with some earthy characters alongside sweet apple. While it's sweet (76g/L) and round, it retains a surprising amount of tension, providing an almost refreshing finish. It's a fairly straightforward sweet style with modest length but it provided good milestone toasting.

Vinous (92)

(made from two-thirds grenache and one-third syrah): Opaque ruby. Heady scents of red berry preserves, lavender, anise and sandalwood, lifted by a peppery topnote. Offers intense, palate-staining raspberry and cherry-cola flavors that gain weight with air. Impressively lively and pure on the persistent finish, which features gentle tannins and a late note of bitter chocolate.

Wine Enthusiast (96)

2016 marks the first bottling of de Nalys under the Guigal umbrella and this intensely ripe but pristine wine makes a promising debut. It's luscious but elegant, loaded with rich black-plum and cassis flavors firmed by piquant hits of licorice and pepper. Silky tannins make it approachable already but the wine should improve through 2036 and hold further still.

Vinous (93)

Deep, lurid violet. Potent, mineral- and spice-accented red and dark fruit preserve aromas take on hints of olive and licorice as the wine opens up. Shows very good depth as well as energy in the mouth, offering gently sweet raspberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors and a touch of spicy black pepper. Distinctly suave and focused on the impressively long finish, which features sneaky tannins and a late, sweetening jolt of candied violet. For an entry-level Côte-Rôtie, this wine is awfully impressive. 10% new oak.

Vinous (96)

Inky ruby. Powerful, spice- and smoke-accented aromas of fresh black and blue fruits, candied violet, licorice and cola, along with a hint of exotic spices that builds in the glass. Sweet, palate-staining cassis, boysenberry, floral pastille and licorice flavors turn livelier with air. Impressively concentrated but surprisingly energetic, courtesy of its spine of smoky minerality. Finishes sappy, youthfully chewy and extremely long, with steadily mounting tannins and lingering florality. 25% new oak.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2017 Cote Rotie Domaine des Pierrelles is full-bodied but exceedingly elegant, with silky, fine-grained tannins. Charming notes of violets, raspberries and black olives lead the way, backed by hints of dried spices and mocha, finishing long. It's a complex and compelling example of Cote Rotie, and it's great to see all of the Jaboulet team's hard work in the vineyards paying off.

Wine Advocate (94)

Bearing more than a passing resemblance to an actual Hermitage, the 2017 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Roure comes from granitic soils, and it comes across as darker, more concentrated and sturdier than Jaboulet's other Crozes bottlings. Cassis and black olive notes abound in this full-bodied, structured wine, which finishes long and velvety, picking up hints of baking spices along the way.

Jeb Dunnuck (94)

This terroir always delivers a wild, opulent, gamey style of wine, and the 2017 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert doesn’t disappoint. Loads of chocolaty black fruits, ground pepper, truffle, and smoked game, as well as a hint of black olives, emerge from the glass, and it’s medium to full-bodied, has a rocking texture, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It’s a classic example of this wine and terroir. Drink it over the coming 15 years or so.

Wine Advocate (93-95)

Although the fruit sourcing has changed from the old days, the 2018 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert remains a solid offering in the Jaboulet lineup. Violets accent blackberries and plums on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, lush and velvety, underscored by doses of salinity and licorice on the lengthy finish.

Matthew Jukes (18+)

Following on from the terrific 2018 vintage, this is another exuberant wine with an inky dark hue and masses of swirling, black fruit notes. This is certainly the most exotically perfumed Thalabert I can remember and this reflects the unique fruit concentration and ripeness found in this vintage. Once you taste this wine you see that it is not all about the luxuriously appointed nose because the palate is packed with spice and tension and the finish is positively electric. In terms of accessibility and also potential, this wine is a conundrum – how can something so young and attractive also seem so compact and age-worthy? This is the key to all of Jaboulet’s 2019s. The exquisite balance between ravishing fruit and refreshing, robust tannins is mesmerising. This is a stupendous Thalabert and I think it is a notch up on the brilliant 2018.

Matthew Jukes (18+)

Following on from the terrific 2018 vintage, this is another exuberant wine with an inky dark hue and masses of swirling, black fruit notes. This is certainly the most exotically perfumed Thalabert I can remember and this reflects the unique fruit concentration and ripeness found in this vintage. Once you taste this wine you see that it is not all about the luxuriously appointed nose because the palate is packed with spice and tension and the finish is positively electric. In terms of accessibility and also potential, this wine is a conundrum – how can something so young and attractive also seem so compact and age-worthy? This is the key to all of Jaboulet’s 2019s. The exquisite balance between ravishing fruit and refreshing, robust tannins is mesmerising. This is a stupendous Thalabert and I think it is a notch up on the brilliant 2018.

Matthew Jukes (18+)

Yet another beautiful 2020, Thalabert is deep, dark and brooding in this vintage, and it has an almost Italianate liquorice and black-fruited theme underpinning its Syrah characters. This makes it an indulgent treat, and the palate is more velvety and forward than any young Thalabert I have tasted. In addition, it has the stuffing to age well, too. What more could you ask for?

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Lastly, and a legendary wine in the making, the 2015 Hermitage La Chapelle is reminiscent of the 1990 with its full-bodied, opulently, sexy, yet concentrated style. Offering sensational notes of blackcurrants, smoked herbs, beef blood, and chocolate, it’s a huge yet elegant wine that has masses of sweet tannin, incredible purity and finesse, and a killer finish. It’s the finest wine from this estate in close to 30 years. Hats off to Caroline Frey and Jacques Desvernois!

James Suckling (97-98)

Very spicy and peppery with blue-granite aromas plus hints of grilled and smoked meat. Cloves and nutmeg. Full body, round and juicy tannins and a super spicy finish that almost burns with so much character yet turns fine and focused at the end. A beauty.

Jeb Dunnuck (99)

The 2017 Hermitage La Chapelle showed incredibly well and is a brilliant wine that's reminiscent of a richer, denser 2011. Loads of sun-kissed dark fruits, leather, graphite, and flowers, with ample spice and sandalwood nuances, give way to a full-bodied, pure, deep, multi-dimensional Hermitage that’s just about as good as it gets. The balance, length, and depth of this is something to behold, and while it unquestionably offers pleasure today, it has another 20-30 years of prime drinking ahead of it.

Wine Advocate (98-100)

Jaboulet's 2018 Hermitage La Chapelle features scents of crushed stone, violets and cassis. It's a classic trio, backed by a wine that's full-bodied, rich and powerful yet also airy, somehow carrying intense plum and black olive flavors without any sense of heaviness or excess weight. Then the wine finishes long and softly dusty, with tannins that accentuate its savory character, picking up delicious hints of licorice at the very end. The proportion of new oak has been trimmed back to a very reasonable 20% and is hardly noticeable in the wine.

Matthew Jukes (20++)

Like La Maison Bleue, La Chapelle barely moved an inch over the five days that it sat open (and gradually oxidising) on my tasting bench. This is a monumental wine with the finest Syrah nose I have seen since the ethereal and intriguing beauty of the remarkable 2016 vintage and also the monolithic stance of the legendary 1990. However, this is not to say that this vintage can be directly compared to either year. There is a latent power about this wine that is as elusive as it is impressive. This solaire vintage has certainly given La Chapelle a sense of foreboding power and yet there is so much grace here, too. You could be sniffing a handful of granite and gravel, a bouquet of freshly picked herbs, a mortar of freshly ground pepper or a punnet of juicy black fruit and yet there is so much more to discover here. What I find so remarkable about this wine is that it does not show any trace of over-ripeness nor does it have any unwanted oiliness or excessive alcohol. In spite of its richness and depth, this is a pristinely refreshing wine with crunch and crackle of filigree tannin which enlivens every sip. In this regard, it is a far less obvious superstar than the preening 1990 and it is a more erudite and statuesque model than the esoteric 2016. In short, this is one of only a handful of vintages of La Chapelle to which I have awarded a perfect score and who is to say that this will not happen again before too long? The care and attention in this entire portfolio of wines are evident and the hard work and holistic approach are not only paying off in the vineyards but also in the glass, too, and this makes 2019 another phenomenally successful vintage for Jaboulet.