2016 - Hermitage La Chapelle Rouge, Paul Jaboulet Aine

The 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle opens with a complex bouquet of sesame, grilled oak and a subtle smoky note, with a more elegant and satiny enrobing than its predecessors, as the terroir begins to assert itself over the élevage. Medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and fresh, it has a satiny mid-palate of remarkable precision. This is a wine where the terroir finally speaks more loudly than the winemaking techniques.

Securely settled in for the long haul, brambled dark fruits, griotte cherry, olives, damson, crayon, red pepper, muscular with a curl of gunsmoke and crayon. There are gentle fragrant notes of freshly cut herbs, white pepper spice, rosemary, sage, and as it gathers strength you get orange peel acidities and a ton of personality. A lovely wine that is still young but you can feel the tightrope of the architecture beginning to stretch out. At this point new oak for ageing had been reduced to 20%. Caroline Frey owner and winemaker. Harvest September 26 to October 8.

Inky ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of black and blue fruit preserves, exotic spices, cured tobacco, olive and potpourri are given vivacity by a smoky mineral nuance. Fresh and expansive in the mouth, displaying deeply concentrated boysenberry and cherry liqueur flavors, along with suggestions of candied violet, star anise and bitter chocolate. The floral and mineral notes return on the strikingly long, penetrating finish, which features harmonious tannins and a sweet touch of candied licorice.