We tasted six Rhone Valley wines by Paul Jaboulet Âiné and one by Marc Kreydenweiss at our Thursday night tasting. Paul Jaboulet Âiné has been around since at least the early 1800s. However, in 2005 for various reasons the Jaboulet family sold the entire business, vineyards and all wine stocks to the Frey family. The vineyards are spread throughout the Rhone Valley and the wines range from “vin de table” to premier wines from Hermitage. Both whites and reds are produced and they see varying amounts of oak. Very little new oak is used, a lot of the newer barrels are used the first year in Bordeaux at the Frey family’s Chateau Lagune and then moved to the Rhone facilities.
The first wine we tasted was a white wine, the 2007 Jaboulet Crose-Hermitage Les Jalet Blanc. The deep yellow colored wine is 100% Marsanne. The nose was a bit closed but was slightly floral. The flavors tasted of apples with good acid.
Next we tasted the 2010 Parrallèle 45 Cotes du Rhone, a Rose that is lightly salmon colored, more orange than pink. The nose was like strawberries. The flavors tasted like berries also with a light mouth feel and clean acidic finish.
The 2009 Parrallèle 45 Cotes du Rhone red, 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah was ruby in color with a bit of violet at the edges. The nose smelled of ripe fruit then became slightly stinky. The flavor tasted of ripe fruit with heavy tannins and a slightly bitter finish from the tannins. This wine was not overly complex
We moved to the area of Vacqueyras for the 2007 Les Cyprès. At 70% and 15% Syrah the wine had been aged for some time in new oak. The color was ruby-garnet. The nose was stinky initially, but blew off to leave dark fruit. The flavors were complex with ripe rich dark fruit and smoke. The tannins were significant, but in balance with all of the complex flavors. Excellent!
We switched from Jaboulet to the 2005 Ansata by Marc Kreydenweiss now. This is basically a red table wine designated Vallée du Rhône. It is a blend of 80% Syrah, 10% Merlot and 10% Grenache. The color was ruby-garnet. The nose was floral (lilies). Flavors followed with floral and dark fruit flavors. There were big tannins in this wine which dominated the finish that was drying and tea flavored. Another nice wine.
Update: We re-tasted this wine in December 2012. The syrah in this wine now dominates the nose and flavor. The color has become garnet. The nose is predominantly smoke which is present in the flavors as well. Tart fruit and bacon fat round out the complex flavors along with chalky, well integrated tannins. The finish is long and smoky. It tastes good by itself and is an excellent food wine.
Back to a Jaboulet. The 2007 Gigondas Pierre Aquille. The color was very dark ruby-garnet. The nose was very ripe, almost prune like or medicinal. The flavors were very ripe with significant tannins. Overall too ripe for my taste, I thought it unpleasant.
Moving a little higher on the scale we finished with the 2007 Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalet Rouge, a 100% Syrah wine. The color was ruby-garnet. The nose was smoky with complex dark fruit and spice. The body of this wine was lighter and the flavor had interesting floral notes. A very good Syrah from the Rhone Valley.
