Wine Advocate (100)

As heavenly and profound as it gets, the still youthful-colored 1978 Hermitage la Chapelle exhibits an insane bouquet of sweet cassis, truffle, smoked meats and licorice. Full-bodied, multidimensional, decadent and massive on the palate, with a stacked mid-palate and still present, sweet tannin, it tastes like a mix of the more fruit-loaded '90 and the more evolved, smoky and soy-laced '61. You could easily run out of adjectives describing this beauty, but it's a perfect wine any way you look at it. I see no reason to hold off, and it's drinking perfectly for my palate today, but it certainly won't fall off a cliff anytime soon.

Wine Spectator (98)

Fantastic quality makes your palate spin with joy. Warm July and August with timely rains were a recipe for greatness, and this is a vin de garde. Seamless and silky, but also with a firm backbone of mineral, wet earth, plum, blackberry and leather notes. An old-fashioned red with a long finish.--La Chapelle vertical. Drink now through 2020. -PM

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (93-96)

Deep, saturated ruby. Mute nose hints at cassis, violet and woodsmoke. Huge and primary in the mouth; the palate is inundated by a wave of almost confectionery fruit. But there also firm acidity and powerful underlying structure. Very fresh and unevolved for the vintage but harmonious from the start. Utterly seamless. Finishes with lush, melting tannins. An extraordinary showing for this wine, and as impressive as any '97 Hermitage I tasted in early December.

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (94)

Opaque purple. Captivating aromas of boysenberry, dark cherry, pepper, spices, cocoa powder and smoky minerality. Then intense and penetrating in the mouth, with brilliantly fresh dark berry and kirsch flavors lifted by notes of cinnamon and star anise. Finishes pungent and impressively long, with a palate-saturating whiplash of dark berry and spice flavors. This wine calls for at least decade of aging. Only 900 bottles were slated to be sent to the American importer.

James Suckling (97)

A gorgeous intensity of plum, spice and grilled meat on the nose. Cloves and hints of dried spices. This is a big, structured La Chappelle. Full and powerful with chewy tannins and a long, long finish. A bit austere and muscular but gorgeous. Tar, spice, dried meat and asphalt. Needs to be aged for at least another five or six years. This is another 1991 in the making.

Decanter (97)

Tasted at Château La Lagune, owner Caroline Frey's Bordeaux outpost. One of the legendary wines from Hermitage Hil, La Chapelle comes from pretty much the only spot on the Rhone's Left Bank where you find granite, along with the classic galet stones. The Jaboulet style is to blend their plots from across the hill, resulting in the stunning power of this wine. The complexity here is of the kind that reveals a truly great wine. There are so many things happening, graphite, slate, fleshy layers of blackberry fruits that collide immediately afterwards by a tightly controlled edge of tannins, then the whole thing finishes slowly, cleanly. Incredible.

Decanter (97)

Tasted at Château La Lagune, owner Caroline Frey's Bordeaux outpost. One of the legendary wines from Hermitage Hil, La Chapelle comes from pretty much the only spot on the Rhone's Left Bank where you find granite, along with the classic galet stones. The Jaboulet style is to blend their plots from across the hill, resulting in the stunning power of this wine. The complexity here is of the kind that reveals a truly great wine. There are so many things happening, graphite, slate, fleshy layers of blackberry fruits that collide immediately afterwards by a tightly controlled edge of tannins, then the whole thing finishes slowly, cleanly. Incredible.

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.

James Suckling (96)

Incredibly deep and complex nose for the 2021 vintage with masses of forest berry, licorice and autumn trumpet mushroom aromas, with an enormous tannin structure that's very refined. The classic power of Hermitage comes through at the extremely long finish. Although the tannins are anything but aggressive, the aromas will need considerable time to fully unfurl. From parcels on the western side of the Hermitage hill with predominantly granite soils, the largest parcel being in Le Meal. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.

James Suckling (96)

Incredibly deep and complex nose for the 2021 vintage with masses of forest berry, licorice and autumn trumpet mushroom aromas, with an enormous tannin structure that's very refined. The classic power of Hermitage comes through at the extremely long finish. Although the tannins are anything but aggressive, the aromas will need considerable time to fully unfurl. From parcels on the western side of the Hermitage hill with predominantly granite soils, the largest parcel being in Le Meal. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.

James Suckling (96)

Incredibly deep and complex nose for the 2021 vintage with masses of forest berry, licorice and autumn trumpet mushroom aromas, with an enormous tannin structure that's very refined. The classic power of Hermitage comes through at the extremely long finish. Although the tannins are anything but aggressive, the aromas will need considerable time to fully unfurl. From parcels on the western side of the Hermitage hill with predominantly granite soils, the largest parcel being in Le Meal. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98)

A wonderful glass of wine, juicy, controlled, restrained, fragrant, enticing. The tannins are cashmere smooth, waves of crushed raspberries and wild strawberries fill the mouth, and this is easy to fall in love with. Fine tannins, blackberry and cranberry fruits, softly sweet while retaining grip and power. 21ha of vines. Caroline Frey owner and winemaker. Gregory Joannes-Hurst director.

Decanter (96)

Fragrant and super expressive on the nose, smells incredibly aromatic with white flowers and stone fruit. Crisp and filling on the palate, a gorgeous combination of spicy, mouth watering, zesty citrus and mineral touches - wet stone, slate, liquorice, clove, toast and lemon. Not so expansive, more linear and direct, quite tense with the flavours sticking to one line in the middle surrounded by a tight frame but there's complexity and concentration. Juicy, clean, long and tongue scraping. Feels well made. 3.30pH. Fermentation takes place in natural concrete eggs and a few demi-muids. Grapes come from 4 hectares farmed organically since 2016 and biodynamically since 2018. The first time this wine by Caroline Frey joins the Place de Bordeaux.

Vinous (93)

Inky ruby. Powerful, mineral-driven aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, candied violet, olive and exotic spices. Densely packed and focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry and boysenberry flavors that unfold slowly with air and show sharp delineation. The blue fruit and floral notes drive a long, juicy finish given framework by dusty, slow-building tannins.

Vinous (94)

Opaque violet color. Displays potent, mineral-accented dark berry preserve and incense aromas that are complemented by floral, olive and musky spice nuances. Chewy, densely packed and focused on the palate, offering intense blackberry, blueberry, candied violet and smoky bacon flavors that become livelier with air. Finishes on lingering mineral and floral notes, with solid thrust, youthfully gripping tannins and excellent persistence.

Matthew Jukes (18)

Domaine de Saint Pierre usually sports a midnight black hue and impenetrable fruit in its youth, but in 2020, there is a purple colour and a more red-fruited feel throughout. Juicy and surprisingly fresh, this is a delicious, lip-smacking Cornas, and I cannot remember using either of these expressions about wine from this appellation before.

Vinous (94)

Vivid purple. Sexy, mineral-accented aromas of ripe dark berries, candied violet, olive and smoky Indian spices show excellent clarity and energetic lift. Sweet and focused on the palate, offering juicy, nicely concentrated black raspberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors and a hint of allspice. An intense mineral nuance drives a strikingly long, gently tannic finish.

Vinous (94)

Glass-staining ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes blue fruit preserves, potpourri and olive paste, and a hint of smoky bacon builds in the glass. A vibrant mineral nuance adds energetic lift to sappy boysenberry, blackberry spicecake and violet pastille flavors that deepen and spread out slowly on the back half. Shows wonderful energy for its heft and finishes on a gently tannic note, displaying sharp delineation and emphatic mineral thrust.

Vinous (94)

Glass-staining ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes blue fruit preserves, potpourri and olive paste, and a hint of smoky bacon builds in the glass. A vibrant mineral nuance adds energetic lift to sappy boysenberry, blackberry spicecake and violet pastille flavors that deepen and spread out slowly on the back half. Shows wonderful energy for its heft and finishes on a gently tannic note, displaying sharp delineation and emphatic mineral thrust.

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.