Wine Tasting Notes, Ratings

1988 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle

1. Wet earth, rocks, cherry griotte, spice, charcoal, licorice, raspberry jam and fresh Provencal herbs create the aromatics. Soft, fleshy, mineral driven and filled with sweet cherries and iron in the finish. There is a touch of austerity, but that does not detract from the pleasure. This is mature and while there is no hurry to drink it, it might not have a lot of room for improvement.

   93 points - Tasted May 3, 2012

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2. Popped and poured into a decanter and served, the complex perfume offered black cherry, licorice, earth. bacon fat, iron, underbrush, spearmint and warm spices. Full bodied and concentrated with ample levels of dark fruit, the texture is soft, chewy and mouth filling. The finish ends with baked black berry flavors paired with minerals and spice. The only thing stopping the score from hitting a few points higher was the finish could have been longer. The wine improved in the glass over 2 hours spent at dinner. This will get better. I'd buy this over the 89 today.

   94 points - Tasted Jun 7, 2010

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3. Light ruby color. The nose offers an intoxicating perfume of earth, jammy black fruits, spice, brown sugar and black pepper. The 88 La Chapelle sports a great syrupy texture. It's a very full bodied, rich, mouth filling wine with some tannins remaining to resolve. The palate is caressed by soft, elegant, velvety, thick streams of cherry, blackberry & plum flavors which fill the mouth.

   94 points - Tasted Apr 15, 2007

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