Chave, Jaboulet, Rene Rostaing, Guigal, all of the heavy hitters of Northern Rhone were opened in our Boardroom last Friday night for another spectacular round of You Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine… Old Northern Rhone Edition. While it was a stunning lineup and there was much love for each and every bottle, only one bottle stood out above the rest in this epic blind tasting… and the wine of the night was, 1997 JL Chave Hermitage!! This bottle blew me away right upon opening with lively aromatics of crushed dried raspberries and twizzlers! The palate was absolutely insane! Rich spices black and red, duck fat, dried rose, savory herbs, black pepper, leaves of a juniper tree and gorgeous deep minerality! Even though the wine kept getting better and better as the night went on, the impact of the first sip still haunts me today.
The ’88 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle was also a beauty!! It took some time for it to open up, but had I personally blinded the ’88 Jaboulet La Chapelle next to the ’97 Chave at the end of the night instead of uppon opening, the ’88 Jaboulet could have taken first place for me. I can’t keep count on how many dimensions the ’88 La Chapelle showed and it just evolved into a better expression with each passing hour. The best expression of 1998 in Cote Rotie went to Tardieu Laurent! The bacon was sizzling in the Tardieu Laurent followed by rich red and black cassis, smoke, licorice, deep peppercorn spice and chunks of granite all pureed into a magnificent glass of Cote Rotie. The finish was not quite as lengthy as JL Chave’s but wow, the Tardieu Laurent gave a really really good fight. Each of these bottles rode the fine line between red Burgundy and Rhone and this epic Rhone blinder really opened my palate, my mind and my heart for old Northern Rhone with their elegance, their resilience and the beautiful, profound flavors and textures these perfectly matured wines deliver. If you’ve yet to discover old Rhone, I cannot recommend it more highly for a mind blowing wine experience. We have a good amount of old Rhone in our cellar so don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to try a new wine experience. These amazing wines are not to be missed!! You can contact me directly- kim@graileys.com.
Other Incredible Bottles of the Show Me Tasting
1988 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
1998 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
1998 Tardieu Laurent Cote Rotie
1998 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie
1999 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie
1999 Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis
2005 Michel & Stephane Ogier Cote Rotie