Paul Jaboulet-Aîné : Domaine de Thalabert 2010

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

This direct red displays flavors of currant paste and black cherry preserves, joined by roasted but integrated notes of cedar and apple wood. A touch stolid in the end, with a Cabernet-like feel, but solid overall. Drink now through 2015. 600 cases imported.

Liquorice, blackberry, and pepper on a broad nose, with some of its depth supported by oak. The palate has a feminine charm, with a soft texture and a good weight of clean fruit. A softly spoken charmer for the mid-term.

This delicious Crozes Hermitage is filled with toasty oak, spice box, fresh blackberries and rocky notes. It's concentrated, full-bodied and deep, finishing with a fresh, juicy mouthful of ripe blackberries.

I've been lucky enough to have consumed over a case of the 2010 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine De Thalabert, and it's a brilliant Crozes that's drinking beautifully today. Every bit as good as the 2009 (but a notch behind the 2015), this beauty offers a classic, meaty, gamey, powerful style as well as full-bodied richness, lots of darker currant and smoked black fruits, some truffly earth, and peppery bouquet garni-like nuances. It has another decade of longevity.