2010 Crozes Hermitage Thalabert

Inky ruby. Intense blackberry and anise aromas are complemented by notes of candied flowers and smoky minerals. Silky and seamless on the palate, offering sweet dark berry and violet pastille flavors and a hint of cracked pepper. Closes energetic and very long, with slow-building tannins adding grip.

The 2010 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert, which I raved about last year, is slightly better than their brilliant 2009. It boasts a dense purple color along with a beautiful perfume of camphor, licorice, forest floor, black currants and Christmas fruitcake. With tremendous intensity, full body and supple tannins, it should drink well for 10-15 years, perhaps longer where well-stored. This cuvee is always one of the best buys in the Northern Rhone. Readers should not forget the southern Rhone offerings from Paul Jaboulet-Aine that I reviewed in Issue #203 (October, 2012), especially such terrific values as the 2010 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Plan de Dieu Domaine Pere et Fille and the resurrected Chateauneuf du Papes, the 2010 Domaine de Terre Ferme. The Northern Rhone wines reviewed herein reflect the emphasis on building domaine names while not forsaking the negociant wines. The wines reviewed in this report are only the domaine wines where the Paul Jaboulet firm owns the vineyards and harvests the grapes. In Cornas, the Jaboulets own the highly regarded Domaine de St.-Pierre. A second wine, the Hermitage La Petite Chapelle, is now made in order to increase the quality of Jaboulet’s flagship offering, the Hermitage La Chapelle. As for the Hermitage La Chapelle, recent vintages (starting with 2009) have been the greatest wines made at this estate since one of the all-time classics, the 1990. There was no 2011 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Roure declared. The white wines from Paul Jaboulet-Aine have also jumped in quality. Keep in mind that the proprietors, the Frey family, not only own Chateau La Lagune in Bordeaux, but are also major stockholders in the impressive Champagne firm of Billecart-Salmon. The 2010 whites all performed well. They are slightly less evolved and precocious than the 2011s, and possess a slightly greater degree of the crushed rock minerality than one finds in the more fruit-driven 2011s. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700