The first year where winemaker Caroline Frey really feels her organic farming drive paid off, the 2012 Hermitage la Chapelle is a gorgeous effort that shows the purity and texture of the vintage, as well as the class of the le Meal lieu-dit. Offering up classic black raspberry and sweet dark fruit, Asian spice, toasted bread, licorice and savory herbs, this beauty is full-bodied, beautifully concentrated and has enough tannic grip to demand 4-5 years of bottle age. It will have 3+ decades of longevity..
-Jeb Dunnuck

The flagship 2012 Hermitage La Chapelle is a gorgeous effort that should be one of the top handful of wines in the vintage. Coming mostly from the domaine’s 17 acres in the warmer Le Meal lieu-dit and aged 15-18 months in 20% new French oak, it exhibits a tight, structured feel, with ample graphite, blackberry, roasted meats, espresso and licorice aromas and flavors all flowing from the glass. Full-bodied, incredibly pure and with masses of fine tannin, it’s blockbuster stuff that will require short-term cellaring to become approachable and have 2-3 decades of overall evolution.
-Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate #210 Dec 2013

Saturated ruby. Seductively perfumed bouquet displays suave black and blue fruit liqueur, potpourri and incense aromas underscored by a smoky mineral quality. Gains power and spiciness with air, picking up a sexy floral pastille quality that builds in the glass. Sweet, palate-coating blueberry and cherry-cola flavors are superbly concentrated yet lively thanks to juicy acidity and a zesty peppery nuance. Strikingly vibrant, linear and long on the finish, with the mineral and floral notes emphatically repeating.

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