Northern Rhône 2020

Jaboulet’s Hermitage La Chapelle is a wine of legendary status, with a great legacy of past vintages. For many, it is the defining wine of the Hermitage hill. It comes from a blend of parcels, and takes its name from the small hermit’s chapel that sits at the western end of the hill, with a commanding view of the appellation and the town of Tain-l’Hermitage and the Rhône River below. It’s a pilgrimage spot for any wine lover visiting the region. The 2020 is, of course, a big, powerful, tannic, structured wine, as we have come to expect from this wine. Yet it is also restrained and layered on the palate, and displays a red-fruit detail and elegance that really mark it out as special. This should age for many years (decades) to come.

Les Reynards is a steep granitic site in Cornas, celebrated for its superb wines. 2020 is the first vintage Jaboulet has bottled this separately in recognition of the balance and quality of the Reynard site.

This was first bottled separately in 2009, which continues to prove a popular decision. The vines lie in the heart of the Saint-Joseph appellation just above Tournon and Mauves, on steep granitic slopes. Black-fruited and peppery, with a silky structure and full, energetic length.

This classic Hermitage blend of 70% Marsanne and 30% Roussanne comes from vines grown on a particularly steep part of the hillside. It is spiced and full-bodied. Gentle vinification in concrete eggs coaxes out the fruit.

In the time of Thomas Jefferson, Hermitage had been more celebrated for its whites than its reds. The Jaboulet family had proudly produced a Chapelle blanc from the hill of Hermitage up until 1961. But it wasn’t until the Frey family took over in 2006 that the cuvée returned, and even since then, has only been produced in a handful of vintages in tiny quantities. 2020 is a threshold moment for the cuvée; the start of a new chapter. It comes from two parcels: La Maison Blanche and l’Ermite. The vines in La Maison Blanche are a staggering 110 years old, and are given centre stage in this wine that gleams with energy and potential. The wine is vinified and aged exclusively in concrete, with no oak at all - relatively unusual for an Hermitage Blanc. It bursts with zingy lime and yuzu juice, white flowers, and delicate, refined bitterness, giving structure to the wine’s natural power.

This is an explosive, wild Hermitage, with youthful energy and tension. The nose and palate are drenched in blue and black fruits, liquorice, graphite and spice. The oak needs a little while to fully integrate, so don’t attack this too soon. Instead, tuck it away, and in a few years, the seamless, sinewy might of Hermitage will emerge. The name comes not from a parcel, but from the small stone house with blue shutters that sits in the vines at the eastern end of the Hermitage hill.

This comes from the vineyards of the Côte Blonde, and is built around a silky, sensuous black fruit character. Mineral, tight, and vibrant in character.

The granitic soils of the right bank of the river extend as far south as Cornas. And whilst the Syrah here is an integral part of the Northern Rhône’s identity, it has a hint of the south’s wilder, garrigue-scented style about it.

From granitic soils behind the hill of Hermitage, this is a powerful and intense yet perfectly balanced Crozes. There’s a mineral structure, with very fine tannins and quite a floral, herby character.

This is one of our favourite wines from Jaboulet, as it is for the Freys and it certainly was for the Jaboulets. It was the first vineyard the Jaboulet family bought in 1834, and although much of its 40 hectares has been replanted since the war, a high proportion of old vines remain here. Indeed, the vineyard manager thinks Thalabert may well be the largest planting of old Syrah vines in the world. Whilst it might not have the pedigree of La Chapelle, in terms of pure pleasure and great value, this is one of the most exciting wines in the Jaboulet stable. It has the sweet aroma of vanilla-sugared berries on the nose and a fragrant sappy freshness on the palate giving it a herbal depth and persistence. Juicy, savoury, and with the structure to age extremely well.