Last year, I giddily speculated whether the 2019 Hermitage La Chapelle would warrant a 100-point score. While close—and I wouldn't completely discount it reaching that pinnacle in another decade or two—I'm not sure this wine is as good as I thought. It boasts exciting aromas of roasted meat, mocha, crushed stone, plum and cassis on the nose. It's full-bodied, concentrated, richly tannic and velvety in texture. It's long and complex on the finish, adding hints of cracked pepper and salted licorice. And yet, as much as I enjoyed tasting it and as undeniably great it is, angels didn't sing from the heavens. Maybe next bottle. JC

Deeply colored, the wine is equally rich on the palate. With a smoke, licorice, blackberry, dark cherry, wet earth, and spicy nose to start things off, the palate is richly-textured with layers of dark, black, earthy, mildly, salty-tinged fruit. Powerful, yet elegant, refined, long, and deep. This graceful wine will age for decades. Another point, the wine shows no influence of oak as they have completely changed their approach to new oak for the aging process. Now, the wine is aged in a combination of 15% new French oak barrels, used barrels, and a small portion of concrete egg-shaped vats. Drink from 2030-2060. Tasted Oct 2022

Showing even better than when I tasted it last year, the 2019 Hermitage La Chapelle is another ripe, powerful, sexy, and full-bodied example of this cuvée that brings classic La Chapelle gamey darker fruits as well as smoked meats, chocolate, sandalwood, and peppery spice. Full-bodied on the palate, it has good concentration, lots of ripeness, polished tannins, and a great, great finish. As with the 2018, it's opened up beautifully on the palate since I tasted it at the domaine and is a ripe, expansive, pure, beautiful Hermitage.

Dark, vivid purple. Highly perfumed, mineral- and spice-accented aromas of blackberry, cherry preserves, incense, olive and pungent flowers show superb clarity. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, offering deeply concentrated and sharply defined black and blue fruit preserve, candied violet, bitter chocolate and fruitcake flavors that become livelier as the wine opens up. Finishes wonderfully long with an emphatic, mineral cut, a repeating floral note and youthfully gripping tannins. JR

A big, rich wine with intense fruit, showing blackberry, black olive and black truffle character. Full-bodied and layered with chewy tannins that are soft and juicy. It’s a little warm on the finish. Yet, the decadence is so attractive and the phenolics keep it in line. This is very solid. Try after 2024.