2012 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle
Community Tasting Note
stockett Likes this wine:
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 - Recommend hold, but certainly drinkable now. Potential for 95 or 96 points in several years.
5+ hour bottle decant. Hesitant to decant it via decanter. Previously Coravin’d a glass and it developed vinegar qualities in the glass before it even softened and matured. Recommend slow and controlled oxygen exposure, if possible.
Check marks for classic Hermitage notes - plum, black pepper, etc. What sets this wine apart is the intensity on the nose and how it simultaneously elicits ripe, youthful, juiciness with the secondary notes of a decade-old wine. Accomplishing one perfectly is hard, both at once is the hallmark of a great wine. The oak is present but reserved - just enough to compliment an outstanding wine.
On the palate, everything is in balance. Mature, smooth tannins - medium+ intensity. Great acidic structure. My only concern is the touch of sourness on the mid-palate. I think that will be worked out with another 5-10 years of cellaring my remaining 3 bottles.
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