Finished 7th out of 8 in the Seattle Tasting Group's Northern Rhone tasting. Came across as very new world, so did not hold up against the other wines in the tasting.
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During Matter of Taste dinner, no detailed tasting notes. From MAG, consistent to my last encounter with this. Youthful still, dark fruit, underbrush, with good density and aromatics. Well balanced.
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Pulled this one the 4th of July brisket. My last bottle of three.
It's been hard keeping my hands off this know how much complexity and development is displayed at PNP to last drop. Shared with a friend whom introduced me to Chave years ago. He loved this Hermitage equally tonight.
Drink or hold.
95+ (Plenty of upside)
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La Chapelle was the follow up to 2014 VHR and it did not disappoint.
Once again a wine that showcases the terroir of Hermitage and a vintage that is in an early window. Youthful yet integrated, this can be enjoyed now or laid down for further development. Recent TN's are the same.
Drink or Hold
94+
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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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Decided to pull this wine for a book club dinner. Robert Caro's The Power Broker.
This bottle had a lot going on which pretty much sums up the life of Robert Moses. Very complex dark broadening fruits laced with tobacco, lavender, rosemary, pepper & fennel. Wines like this are the reason I absolutely love Rhone and more specifically Hermitage.
94
Drink or Hold.
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Opened earlier at lunch for dinner drinking. Decanted at dinner and this was beautiful from the beginning. Layered, very open and just so attractive with each mouthfill. Surprised how ready this vintage was at this stage.
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Big and brooding. Prunes and bramble fruit, medicinal notes, hints of better flavor in the background, some attractive sweetness in the midpalate, showing some warmth. For my palate needs a lot of air to be drinkable.
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Full body. Dark robe. Immediate complexity and fruit on the nose and palate. Very deep intriguing contemplative wine. Interestingly, over a 2 hour decant this lost some of its body - it was best right out of the bottle. With time I believe this will certainly improve and integrate a bit better but it is delightful now.
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Absolutely fantastic. One of my top wines of 2022. This bottle was showing perfectly. Enjoyed at a cabin in the middle of the woods in the Smokey Mountains. Paired with Prime steaks. The nose continued to evolve over the couple of hours we enjoyed it. Violets and strawberry on the nose with a bit of spice. On the palate, it was full flavored, but light on its feet. Black pepper, strawberry and a week later I'm writing this its the impression it left more than anything else. Enjoyed it so much I pulled the trigger on two more of this vintage. This bottle was in a great place. No hurry to drink, but can be fully enjoyed as well.
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30 min decant. Very dark ruby, long slow legs, on the 👃 tar, cigar box, ripe cherries, some licorice, wet forest floor, orange peel. Super dry, medium structure, grippy frontal tannins, highly acidic , ripe cherries & nectarines finish.
As wine opened up, fragrance changed a bit with walnuts, light peppercorn.
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Still deeply colored and already starting to drink well, the fresh, dark red berries are accompanied by aromatics of smoke, dried flowers, crushed stone, peppery spice, and a hint of espresso. Round, concentrated and vibrant, this is quite nice now, though it is only at the beginning of its drinking window. Drink from 2022-2042.
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Two hour decant. Sublime bouquet. Deep, rich, performed, seemingly mature. But awkward, hot and primary on the palate, at first unenjoyable but resolving partially with air. Hold or decant heavily.
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Part of a Syrah tasting at a NYC Steakhouse where we had, in order, 2012 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle, 2012 Shafer Relentless, 2015 Force Majeure Syrah Force Majeure Vineyard. All the wines were opened, but not decanted for at least 45 minutes before pouring. For much of the evening, we had all three Syrahs at the same time, giving us the ability to compare them, see how they went with food, and see how they progressed during the night.
The La Chapelle was described as Austere, it also had the lowest alcohol % of the three. With food, this was my 2nd favorite. Without food, I would drop it behind the Shafer and into 3rd place.
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Reading the reviews , I expected a very tight and structured wine. But this had plenty of old world fruit and was extremely smooth . The tannins were there, but they didn’t dominate the wine. Very balanced and lovely wine. And a finish that continued forever.
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Colour has hints of blue/purple but predominantly red now. Nose of cherries and a subtle hint of soft leather? Palate is more complex, powerful but smooth, fruit has integrated but secondary notes not coming to the fore yet. And a looong finish. Beautiful wine on the cusp of showing some age.
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Young it is and you can tell it is made just right. Everything there for greatness in the future. Fruit showing nicely and aromas though young are peeking through for something greater down the road.
First bottle of this vintage, pnp this one hour in advance, do not open much earlier and did not decant, I always like to known in which topical condition a wine is in, a really intense fruit fragrance is escaping this bottle, strong black cassis, brambleberry, red gooseberry, sandlewood, other earthy and herbal aromas, does not need more breathing, a very elegant flow on the midpalate, rich in fruit and with an energetic finish, some mineralic hints though, great showing but not overwhelming today, can be enjoyed from now on with a short decant or be kept in your cellar for a decade(+) for sure, 92,93(+) potential
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Nose is primary & big, with smoked meat, animal smokiness, dark ripe fruit, blue and black berries, cassis, young oak, oriental spices, violets, licorice and freshly ground white pepper. Palate is undeveloped, very dense, rich and big. Loads of power, fat dark fruit, ripe plums and black berries, oak spices and herbs. Popped approx. 4 hours before dinner and followed while it sat in the decanter. Opened up nicely, and was quite enjoyable, if of course young, when served. Loads of big fruit and concentration, good and grippy tannins, still with a silky structure, long and big finish. Will need time to develop secondary nuances, but has a good potential to become a very fine vintage of this wine. One of the better recent vintages of this bottling I have enjoyed. (93 – 95+)
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Good purity and class here, matched with some of the power and structure I want from this wine. Ripe and unctuous, with lingering grippy tannins, but it retains its freshness and has no overripe notes.
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Halpern Enterprises Portfolio Tasting (Toronto, ON): I really find this quite modern and have a hard time believing it will ever become anything like the La Chapelles of the 80's. Pours inky dark with a nose of blackberry, blueberry, almond paste, toast, a hint of pepper and mixed berry pie filling. The palate is plush and modern with abundant fruit. Not really my style these days, so not rated.
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Per at least one other note, this is approachable now with a little bit of air. As expected the nose is primary, and right now the palate is a wall of dense fruit, a little bit of olive brine, and very fine tannin. The material here is nice, and I think that there is good balance. I bought this bottle at a discount to see if I should buy more, as I am on the fence with regard to '12 in the Northern Rhone. I like this, and might have bought a few more bottles, but I moved too slow and now the discount is gone :( As such, I think I will stick to my original plan of treating '12 as a good vintage to look for on restaurant lists but not one I will go deep on in the cellar.
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P. Jaboulet Aine - Hermitage la Chapelle 1995-2015: One of the the classic names of Hermitage (next to Chave and Chapoutier) which had a quality struggle for a good 15 years until it was bought up by the Frey family in 2006 (Champagne Bilcart Salmon, Chateau La Lagune). Tasting note: PnP, dark purple, wow, this 2012 really rocks. Distinctive Rhone North nose with black pepper, smoke, bbq meat, oak and very ripe dark fruit, deep and complex. On the palate the tannins are present but very soft. No doubt that they found the optimal point of concentration, freshness, structure and fruit in this vintage. Powerful but not heavy, really a great success - a bit lighter and not far off from the 2010. The later will be a monument, (an iconic vintage in Europe, be it CdP, Rhone North, Barolo, Brunello, Bordeaux) even more compact and precise meriting 2-3 points more. However, the smart money goes to the 2012, an unpretentious, cheaper vintage. Kudos to the Frey family for saving this estate from the abyss. Btw, the tannins are so soft you can actually try a bottle now to satisfy your curiosity. 96+
Very young, indeed; juicy, marked by wood, some extraction. Lots of ,matter here in a modern sort of way, but it is clean and well made and might very well rise as a more local wine in ten years or so.
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Ripe, fat, dense, concentrated, full bodied and concentrated, with a mouthful of rich, fleshy berries, earth, tannin, oak and freshness. Dense, long and deep, for patient consumers willing to wait more than a decade, and probably longer, this has all the right stuff.
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Dark purple in color. Aromas of black pepper predominates, also grape juice, green vegetables, and a hint of tar. This drinks spicy in the mouth and warm on the soft palate. Tastes very young, somewhat disjointed, yet also balanced at the same time, with copious fruit. The tannins are ripe, smooth, and well integrated. Fresh acidity with good length. After three hours the wine became perfectly spherical, completely balanced, smooth. Quite remarkable. 94-96+ points. (Coravin)
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3/28/2024 - skifree wrote: 92 Points
I liked this much more as a wine to pair with food . It is a big, bold, lush take on Syrah for sure.
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3/18/2024 - skifree wrote: 89 Points
Finished 7th out of 8 in the Seattle Tasting Group's Northern Rhone tasting. Came across as very new world, so did not hold up against the other wines in the tasting.
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3/3/2024 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
During Matter of Taste dinner, no detailed tasting notes. From MAG, consistent to my last encounter with this. Youthful still, dark fruit, underbrush, with good density and aromatics. Well balanced.
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1/26/2024 - Kristian Balle wrote: 94 Points
Complex and deep fruit smell. Smooth tannins and a long aftertaste.
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12/12/2023 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
Salon Ficofi Paris walkabout tasting and dinner, no detailed tasting notes. Expressive and complex nose here with leather, meat, pepper. Good showing.
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10/27/2023 - Grappa Cellar Likes this wine: 93 Points
black
lucious
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7/4/2023 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 95 Points
Pulled this one the 4th of July brisket. My last bottle of three.
It's been hard keeping my hands off this know how much complexity and development is displayed at PNP to last drop. Shared with a friend whom introduced me to Chave years ago. He loved this Hermitage equally tonight.
Drink or hold.
95+ (Plenty of upside)
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5/5/2023 - MJP Hou TX wrote: 94 Points
La Chapelle was the follow up to 2014 VHR and it did not disappoint.
Once again a wine that showcases the terroir of Hermitage and a vintage that is in an early window. Youthful yet integrated, this can be enjoyed now or laid down for further development. Recent TN's are the same.
Drink or Hold
94+
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5/2/2023 - stockett Likes this wine: 94 Points
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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4/11/2023 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decided to pull this wine for a book club dinner. Robert Caro's The Power Broker.
This bottle had a lot going on which pretty much sums up the life of Robert Moses. Very complex dark broadening fruits laced with tobacco, lavender, rosemary, pepper & fennel. Wines like this are the reason I absolutely love Rhone and more specifically Hermitage.
94
Drink or Hold.
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4/5/2023 - LB88 wrote: 94 Points
Opened earlier at lunch for dinner drinking. Decanted at dinner and this was beautiful from the beginning. Layered, very open and just so attractive with each mouthfill. Surprised how ready this vintage was at this stage.
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2/17/2023 - The Guzz wrote: 90 Points
Big and brooding. Prunes and bramble fruit, medicinal notes, hints of better flavor in the background, some attractive sweetness in the midpalate, showing some warmth. For my palate needs a lot of air to be drinkable.
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2/4/2023 - bbq_grandcru Likes this wine: 92 Points
Full body. Dark robe. Immediate complexity and fruit on the nose and palate. Very deep intriguing contemplative wine. Interestingly, over a 2 hour decant this lost some of its body - it was best right out of the bottle. With time I believe this will certainly improve and integrate a bit better but it is delightful now.
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1/5/2023 - MTwine66 wrote: 90 Points
More dark fruited, pepper.
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12/9/2022 - snipes Likes this wine:
Absolutely fantastic. One of my top wines of 2022. This bottle was showing perfectly. Enjoyed at a cabin in the middle of the woods in the Smokey Mountains. Paired with Prime steaks. The nose continued to evolve over the couple of hours we enjoyed it. Violets and strawberry on the nose with a bit of spice. On the palate, it was full flavored, but light on its feet. Black pepper, strawberry and a week later I'm writing this its the impression it left more than anything else. Enjoyed it so much I pulled the trigger on two more of this vintage. This bottle was in a great place. No hurry to drink, but can be fully enjoyed as well.
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10/31/2022 - bucktooth22 Likes this wine: 93 Points
30 min decant. Very dark ruby, long slow legs, on the 👃 tar, cigar box, ripe cherries, some licorice, wet forest floor, orange peel. Super dry, medium structure, grippy frontal tannins, highly acidic , ripe cherries & nectarines finish.
As wine opened up, fragrance changed a bit with walnuts, light peppercorn.
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10/4/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Still deeply colored and already starting to drink well, the fresh, dark red berries are accompanied by aromatics of smoke, dried flowers, crushed stone, peppery spice, and a hint of espresso. Round, concentrated and vibrant, this is quite nice now, though it is only at the beginning of its drinking window. Drink from 2022-2042.
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9/22/2022 - Wadham Cellar wrote: 90 Points
Two hour decant. Sublime bouquet. Deep, rich, performed, seemingly mature. But awkward, hot and primary on the palate, at first unenjoyable but resolving partially with air. Hold or decant heavily.
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9/15/2022 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 94 Points
Part of a Syrah tasting at a NYC Steakhouse where we had, in order, 2012 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle, 2012 Shafer Relentless, 2015 Force Majeure Syrah Force Majeure Vineyard. All the wines were opened, but not decanted for at least 45 minutes before pouring. For much of the evening, we had all three Syrahs at the same time, giving us the ability to compare them, see how they went with food, and see how they progressed during the night.
The La Chapelle was described as Austere, it also had the lowest alcohol % of the three. With food, this was my 2nd favorite. Without food, I would drop it behind the Shafer and into 3rd place.
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3/5/2022 - cdchapma Likes this wine: 95 Points
Reading the reviews , I expected a very tight and structured wine. But this had plenty of old world fruit and was extremely smooth . The tannins were there, but they didn’t dominate the wine. Very balanced and lovely wine. And a finish that continued forever.
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12/10/2021 - Wrighty Likes this wine: 91 Points
Colour has hints of blue/purple but predominantly red now. Nose of cherries and a subtle hint of soft leather? Palate is more complex, powerful but smooth, fruit has integrated but secondary notes not coming to the fore yet. And a looong finish. Beautiful wine on the cusp of showing some age.
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3/22/2021 - 559Cheers Likes this wine: 92 Points
Young it is and you can tell it is made just right. Everything there for greatness in the future. Fruit showing nicely and aromas though young are peeking through for something greater down the road.
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11/28/2020 - Dnordh wrote: 90 Points
A bit too young, will be better ina few years
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11/12/2020 - hoya_saxa Likes this wine: 97 Points
Boundless energy in the glass; probably just entering a drinking window, but absolutely no rush with this one -- 97+
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4/29/2020 - GFischmann Likes this wine: 94 Points
Full of berries with great balance of acidity and tannins with residual vanilla and early leather and earth notes. Great balance
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7/6/2019 - fc1910 wrote: 92 Points
First bottle of this vintage, pnp this one hour in advance, do not open much earlier and did not decant, I always like to known in which topical condition a wine is in, a really intense fruit fragrance is escaping this bottle, strong black cassis, brambleberry, red gooseberry, sandlewood, other earthy and herbal aromas, does not need more breathing, a very elegant flow on the midpalate, rich in fruit and with an energetic finish, some mineralic hints though, great showing but not overwhelming today, can be enjoyed from now on with a short decant or be kept in your cellar for a decade(+) for sure, 92,93(+) potential
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9/10/2016 - Ramberg wrote: 94 Points
Nose is primary & big, with smoked meat, animal smokiness, dark ripe fruit, blue and black berries, cassis, young oak, oriental spices, violets, licorice and freshly ground white pepper.
Palate is undeveloped, very dense, rich and big.
Loads of power, fat dark fruit, ripe plums and black berries, oak spices and herbs.
Popped approx. 4 hours before dinner and followed while it sat in the decanter.
Opened up nicely, and was quite enjoyable, if of course young, when served.
Loads of big fruit and concentration, good and grippy tannins, still with a silky structure, long and big finish.
Will need time to develop secondary nuances, but has a good potential to become a very fine vintage of this wine.
One of the better recent vintages of this bottling I have enjoyed.
(93 – 95+)
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2/28/2016 - yofog wrote:
Good purity and class here, matched with some of the power and structure I want from this wine. Ripe and unctuous, with lingering grippy tannins, but it retains its freshness and has no overripe notes.
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10/29/2015 - Wine Canuck wrote:
Halpern Enterprises Portfolio Tasting (Toronto, ON): I really find this quite modern and have a hard time believing it will ever become anything like the La Chapelles of the 80's. Pours inky dark with a nose of blackberry, blueberry, almond paste, toast, a hint of pepper and mixed berry pie filling. The palate is plush and modern with abundant fruit. Not really my style these days, so not rated.
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10/10/2015 - alr6767 wrote:
Per at least one other note, this is approachable now with a little bit of air. As expected the nose is primary, and right now the palate is a wall of dense fruit, a little bit of olive brine, and very fine tannin. The material here is nice, and I think that there is good balance. I bought this bottle at a discount to see if I should buy more, as I am on the fence with regard to '12 in the Northern Rhone. I like this, and might have bought a few more bottles, but I moved too slow and now the discount is gone :( As such, I think I will stick to my original plan of treating '12 as a good vintage to look for on restaurant lists but not one I will go deep on in the cellar.
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9/17/2015 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
P. Jaboulet Aine - Hermitage la Chapelle 1995-2015: One of the the classic names of Hermitage (next to Chave and Chapoutier) which had a quality struggle for a good 15 years until it was bought up by the Frey family in 2006 (Champagne Bilcart Salmon, Chateau La Lagune). Tasting note: PnP, dark purple, wow, this 2012 really rocks. Distinctive Rhone North nose with black pepper, smoke, bbq meat, oak and very ripe dark fruit, deep and complex. On the palate the tannins are present but very soft. No doubt that they found the optimal point of concentration, freshness, structure and fruit in this vintage. Powerful but not heavy, really a great success - a bit lighter and not far off from the 2010. The later will be a monument, (an iconic vintage in Europe, be it CdP, Rhone North, Barolo, Brunello, Bordeaux) even more compact and precise meriting 2-3 points more. However, the smart money goes to the 2012, an unpretentious, cheaper vintage. Kudos to the Frey family for saving this estate from the abyss. Btw, the tannins are so soft you can actually try a bottle now to satisfy your curiosity. 96+
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9/15/2015 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
Very young, indeed; juicy, marked by wood, some extraction. Lots of ,matter here in a modern sort of way, but it is clean and well made and might very well rise as a more local wine in ten years or so.
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5/13/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Ripe, fat, dense, concentrated, full bodied and concentrated, with a mouthful of rich, fleshy berries, earth, tannin, oak and freshness. Dense, long and deep, for patient consumers willing to wait more than a decade, and probably longer, this has all the right stuff.
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5/8/2015 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
dark and primary, ripe fruit, a lot of promise - stylish
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4/5/2015 - Lipsman wrote: 94 Points
Dark purple in color. Aromas of black pepper predominates, also grape juice, green vegetables, and a hint of tar. This drinks spicy in the mouth and warm on the soft palate. Tastes very young, somewhat disjointed, yet also balanced at the same time, with copious fruit. The tannins are ripe, smooth, and well integrated. Fresh acidity with good length. After three hours the wine became perfectly spherical, completely balanced, smooth. Quite remarkable. 94-96+ points. (Coravin)
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