FEATURES
🏰 The 2014 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Maison Bleue (formerly known as La Petite Chapelle until 2014) is an elegant and balanced Syrah from a challenging Rhône vintage. Despite a cool and wet summer, meticulous vineyard management ensured optimal ripeness. This wine offers a majestic, dark stony nose with hints of orange rind, dark chocolate, and toasty eastern spices, alongside wild red plum and cherry fruits. The palate reveals roundness, fleshiness, and flavors of licorice, dark plum, and dark cherry, with impressive composure. Expect an explosively perfumed bouquet evoking ripe dark berries, cola, incense, and smoky minerals, with a suave floral topnote. It stains the palate with deeply concentrated black and blue fruit, violet pastille, and spicecake flavors, supported by juicy acidity and supple, building tannins that lead to an impressively long, expansive finish. This is a softer, more approachable Hermitage compared to the immense regality of La Chapelle. 【An elegant and balanced Hermitage Syrah from a challenging vintage, showcasing impressive composure and a complex bouquet of dark fruits, spices, and floral notes.】
🍴 This Hermitage pairs beautifully with lamb, quail stuffed with foie gras, or duck breast with cherries. For a more robust pairing, consider a high-quality steak in a black pepper sauce. A vegetarian option could be stuffed portobello mushrooms. Coq au Vin is also a classic match.
🥂 This wine is drinking well now but has significant aging potential, capable of keeping for two decades or more. It can be enjoyed now with food, but will undoubtedly benefit from further bottle age to fully integrate its complexities. Decanting for 2-3 hours is recommended when young to allow it to soften and open its perfume.
BACKGROUND
Paul Jaboulet has been a part of the Rhône Valley wine industry for almost two centuries, beginning with a small plot of land on the hills of Hermitage, before expanding throughout the region. Today, it encompasses more than 100 hectares (250 acres) of vineyards making wines from the northern and southern Rhône, including Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Condrieu and Cornas.The Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle is the estate's flagship wine and is one of the most sought-after wines from the Rhône, reaching high prices at auction. It is named for a 13th Century church built atop Hermitage, which became the property of the Maison in 1919. This is made of 100 percent Syrah and the grapes come from the best terroirs the Maison has access to, including famed vineyards Les Bessards, Le Meal and Les Rocoules. There is also a white La Chapelle made from a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne, exclusively from the Les Rocoules estate.
