2015, 2017, 2019 Rhone Tasting Lot

“The 2015 Hermitage Cuvée Emilie comes from the Les Grandes Vignes region of Hermitage (a small part is from Les Rocoules) and was brought up in 100% new French oak. Its inky purple color is followed by sensational notes of charcoal, burning embers, blackberry liqueur and graphite. A huge, rich, and enormously concentrated wine, it has sensational mid-palate depth and stays fresh and lively on the palate, with a firm, concentrated, age-worthy style. It's certainly not for instant gratification and is going to need time.” (01/2018)

“Black cassis and dark chocolate meld harmoniously in this powerful, sultry wine. It's massive on the palate, densely packed with black-fruit flavors and piquant hits of licorice, bramble and earth. Brisk acidity and ripe but persistent tannins lend structure. This hedonistic sip is ready now but should continue to improve through 2030 and hold further. *Editors' Choice* (AI)” (09/2019)

“Roasted beef, savory herbs and espresso notes mark the nose of the 2015 Hermitage Cuvee Emilie. This full-bodied, massively endowed wine is rich and velvety, pushing the limits of ripeness toward fruitcake and dried fruit but staying just this side of my tolerance for that sort of thing. It’s already remarkably approachable. (JC)” (12/2017)

“Southern concentration and a musky floral air. Supremely elegant attack – a knockout wine with real depth. (JLL)” (10/2017)

“Dark purple. Heady, smoke-tinged blueberry, cherry, vanilla and violet aromas show excellent clarity and a touch of olive. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated black and blue fruit and floral pastille flavors along with a suggestion of fruitcake. The impressively long, supple finish features bright minerally cut, an echo of sweet blue fruit and velvety tannins that come in late. (JR)” (07/2017)

“Intense, with inviting blackberry puree, plum reduction and cassis notes coursing through, with a buried graphite edge providing spine. Licorice snap, roasted juniper and warm fruitcake details fill in on the finish, while the fruit drives through. (JM)” (02/2018)

“The finest vintage to date, better even than the stellar 2010, the 2015 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert is a gorgeous, deep, layered, and incredibly satisfying Crozes. Blackcurrants, olive tapenade, truffles and earthy notes all emerge from this full-bodied, gorgeously textured and seamless 2015.” (01/2018)

“Inky ruby. Suave, mineral-accented scents of ripe blueberry, black currant and Indian spices, along with a slowly emerging floral component. Plush, broad and deeply concentrated, displaying black and blue fruit, licorice and mocha flavors that are energized by an intense, peppery overtone. Finishes extremely long, fleshy and sweet, delivering intense mineral thrust, a subtle cracked pepper nuance and youthful, building tannins. (JR)” (04/2018)

“This is a real treat. Not only does this northern Rhône Syrah have nearly a decade's ageing under its belt, it's also from the incredible 2015 vintage, declared at the time by one leading producer in the region as 'surely the vintage of a lifetime'. Fruit-packed still and tannin-structured, this is serious stuff, dark and earthy with fresh black berry fruit, medicinal, iodine notes, black olive, and tertiary complexity. Gutsy wine, perfect for a winter's evening – snap it up while you can. (AW)” (10/2023)

“Smooth, impressive flesh and weight. Graphite-like stony minerally aromas with dark cherries and darker plums, the oak adding cedary woody notes. The palate has an impressive plushness as well as assertive tannins below. Extremely defined, pure and attractive. A great vintage.” (09/2017)

“The 2015 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert is a super effort, packed with savory notes of black olives and crushed stones. It's full-bodied and rich, with a hint of cedary oak, but there's plenty of fruit and ripe tannins on the lingering finish. Like some of those fine Thalabert vintages of the past, it should drink well for a couple of decades. (JC) 93+” (12/2017)

“The 2015 Crozes-Hermitage “Domaine de Thalabert” bottling from Paul Jaboulet Âiné is a touch riper than their les Jalets bottling, coming in at 13.5 percent on the label (versus thirteen), but is nicely precise in its fruit expression and has nice mineral undertow. The cuvée is made entirely from sixty to eighty year-old vines these days and aged in twenty percent new oak. The 2015 version is excellent, offering up a nascently complex bouquet of cassis, black raspberries, roasted meats, pepper, bonfire, a nice touch of cedar, new leather and a fine base of dark soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and youthful, with a profile that shows a touch of sur maturité in its flavors, but no backend heat on the long, ripely tannic and nicely focused finish. This is a young and promising wine that has plenty of mid-palate stuffing and the backend mineral drive to be outstanding in the fullness of time, but it is a young wine that emphatically deserves some time in the cellar to blossom.” (02/2018)

“Jaboulet's 2017 Hermitage La Maison Bleue is flat-out sexy stuff, full-bodied, plush and generous without being overripe or unstructured. Licorice, cassis and Asian five-spice powder burst from the glass in a complex whirl of scents and flavors. Sourced from the eastern end of the appellation, it offers immediate gratification and admirable quality at a fraction of the price of the La Chapelle. (JC)” (12/2019)

“There are 2,000 cases of the 2017 Hermitage La Maison Bleue, which is all from the more limestone and loamy soils on the eastern side of the appellation. Aged in 15% new barrels and demi-muids, it has a youthful, fruit-forward, even sexy profile as well as terrific notes of black raspberries, melted licorice, truffles, violets, and bloody meat. It’s young and unevolved, with beautiful depth of fruit, and it’s undeniably better than many vintages of La Chapelle from the 1990s and 2000s.” (12/2019)

“This is utterly delicious and has a very plush and sweetly fruited core of flavor with a sweepingly fleshy, rich and quite plush feel. The tannins are very fine here; sleek and assertive, they seem to suggest early drinking. It’s so balanced, too. However, this deserves to be reserved for later, as there’s a lot more to come. Try from 2024.” (07/2019)

“Glass-staining magenta. A complex, expansive bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, potpourri and incense. Exotic spice and mineral notes build with air. Sweet, focused and penetrating in the mouth, offering spice-tinged boysenberry, cherry preserve and violet pastille flavors that are braced by a core of juicy acidity. Blends concentration and energy smoothly and finishes with strong, gently tannic persistence. (JR)” (04/2020)

“A superb Maison Bleue, the 2019 Hermitage La Maison Bleue seamlessly blends cherries and cassis into a purple mashup of fruit carried on rich, velvety waves of texture. Full-bodied and intense, it finishes complex and savory, adding notes of olive, clove and cedar on the long, luxurious finish. (JC)” (01/2022)

“Inky violet color. Heady, smoke- and spice-tinged cherry, blueberry, peony and incense aromas show excellent clarity; mineral and cured meat notes build with aeration. Juicy and energetic, especially in the context of the year, offering sweet red and blue fruit preserves, exotic spice flavors and a suave floral top note. Shows real energy on the seamless, strikingly long and floral-accented finish, which is firmed by well-integrated tannins. (JR)” (12/2022)

“The 2019 Hermitage La Maison Bleue showed well, with impressive notes of ripe black fruits, iron, leather, and hints of camphor in a medium to full-bodied, fine, elegant profile.” (02/2022)

“The 2019 Hermitage “La Maison Bleue” from Caroline Frey at Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné is a beautiful young wine. This is plenty ripe in this vintage, coming in at 15.5 percent octane, but not lacking in either precision or freshness. The fruit for the La Maison Bleue hail primarily from the lieux à dits of les Murets, les Signaux and Diognières, all of which lie on the eastern side of the hill of Hermitage. The wine is raised in entirely the same manner as La Chapelle, with the bunches destemmed and then elevage done in a combination of barriques and demi-muids for eighteen months, with no more than fifteen percent of the oak new in any vintage. The bouquet of the 2019 La Maison Bleue offers up a deep, complex and black fruity bouquet of cassis, black raspberries, pepper, smoked meats, a very complex base of soil tones, bonfire, an exotic touch of black tea, a discreet framing of cedary oak and a topnote of lovely spice elements. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with firm, buried tannins, excellent focus and grip, impeccable balance and a long, youthful and very, very promising finish. This reminds me very much of the excellent example 1990 La Chapelle out of the blocks, but with a more buried structural chassis.” (09/2021)

“Plenty of cloves and dried flowers with dark fruit, such as raspberries and blackberries. Some black truffle, too. Full-bodied with baked chocolate-pie and dark-fruit flavors. Full and warm at the end. Big, juicy wine.” (05/2021)

“Liquorice, tar, dark berries. Such sweet fruit! Forceful, youthful, potent. The nose has headiness and fumes. There is complexity too, and it's very open for such a young Hermitage. Finishes with violet perfume. 16.5/20 points (RH)” (03/2022)