Very spicy and peppery with blue-granite aromas plus hints of grilled and smoked meat. Cloves and nutmeg. Full body, round and juicy tannins and a super spicy finish that almost burns with so much character yet turns fine and focused at the end. A beauty.

A little closed to begin with, it is very young after all, but then with time started to exude some just-ripe blackberry and smoky spice. On the palate this has great freshness and poise, there's nothing excessive or forced, it's well balanced with seamless fine tannin and good acidity. This makes for a Hermitage that you could open early if you wanted, but I would hold on to this until at least 2028 ideally to see it gain further complexity. From 45 to 90-year-old vines across lieux-dits Les Roucoules, Le Méal, Les Greffieux, Les Bessards and Varogne. Aged in French oak barrels, 20% new. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2045
Tasted by: Matt Walls (at England, 24 Apr 2021)
Part of Anson & Walls: La Lagune and Jaboulet La Chapelle masterclass

The 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle is also brilliant, and certainly up with the crème de la crème in the vintage. Textbook notes of mulled dark fruits, currants, peppery herbs, smoked meat, licorice, and soy give way to a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, ripe, seamless wine that doesn't have the density of the 2015, but certainly isn't far off. It's still a baby, yet offers pleasure, and it's going to shine for 30 years or more.

(raised in 20% new oak) Dark purple. A highly expressive, mineral-accented bouquet evokes fresh blackberry and blueberry, candied flowers, incense and exotic spices. Sweet, palate-staining black and blue fruit liqueur and violet pastille flavors are complicated by suggestions of cracked pepper and bitter chocolate; a spicecake nuance gains strength with aeration. Steadily building tannins add shape and grip to the extremely long, incisive finish, which emphatically repeats the floral and mineral notes. I wouldn't be surprised to see this wine turn out as well as the amazing 2015 version.

Tune in! The new Jane Anson Wine Podcast is live. Check out episode 13: Freedom, Family & Mountain Wines: Redefining Argentina

Sourced from the granitic western portion of the appellation, the 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle features mouthwatering aromas of black olives and charred beef. It's full-bodied and creamy-velvety in texture, incredibly lush without being overtly fruity. In fact, it's largely savory, with elegant shadings of leather and spice on the long, silky finish. Yet despite being delicious now, this still has the granite backbone to age through 2040.

Inky ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of black and blue fruit preserves, exotic spices, cured tobacco, olive and potpourri are given vivacity by a smoky mineral nuance. Fresh and expansive in the mouth, displaying deeply concentrated boysenberry and cherry liqueur flavors, along with suggestions of candied violet, star anise and bitter chocolate. The floral and mineral notes return on the strikingly long, penetrating finish, which features harmonious tannins and a sweet touch of candied licorice. JR

Winemaker Jacques Devernois likens the 2016 Hermitage La Chapelle to a woman’s red dress, calling it charming and flashy. It looks like it will appeal young, as this prospective sample had ample concentration but was also supple in feel. Hints of smoke, crushed stone and pencil shavings frame cassis fruit in this full-bodied and creamy-textured wine. It finishes long, with hints of vanilla and great freshness.