Anson & Walls: La Lagune and Jaboulet La Chapelle masterclass

This special tasting was hosted by Decanter‘s Bordeaux correspondent Jane Anson and Rhône correspondent Matt Walls, who have each written an overview of the masterclass. We asked both to score the four wines from their respective regions as well as the three wines which comprise a blend of Bordeaux and Rhône grapes.

In total the wines tasted were:

Château La Lagune: 2016, 2010, 2009, and 2000

Hermitage La Chapelle rouge: 2016, 2010, and 1991 

Hermitage La Chapelle blanc: 2014 (magnum)

Evidence par Caroline Frey: 2011

Duo par Caroline: 2016 and 2010

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores on each of the La Lagune and Jaboulet wines

Introduction by Jane Anson

Can the signature of an owner, and the imprint of organic farming, translate across regions? That was one of the questions asked at Decanter’s masterclass this week, that saw owner Caroline Frey share wines from both her Haut-Médoc third-growth estate Château La Lagune as well as Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné’s iconic Hermitage La Chapelle in the northern Rhône.

The tasting was completed by the rare opportunity to taste her tiny-production wines that combine Syrah from the Rhône with Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux, in a nod to the history of the regions.

The Frey family arrived at La Lagune in 1999, with Frey taking over in 2004.

The oldest vintage presented at the virtual tasting was the excellent 2000, when the Freys had just taken over from previous owner René Chayou, owner of Ayala Champagne. At the time, much of La Lagune’s gravel terraces were planted to Merlot as well as Cabernet Sauvignon – a key part of extensive vineyard reworking that has been undertaken since.

Masterclass attendees discovered the impact of this replanting programme, as well as the conversion to organic and now biodynamic farming, across three other vintages: the 2009, 2010 and the more recent 2016, which was also the first year of official organic certification (in both La Chapelle and La Lagune).

Frey talked through the choices that led her to focus on organic farming, but also how she is able to work across so many estates. Besides Bordeaux and Rhône, she also makes wine in Burgundy (in 2014 the family acquired vines in the village of Aloxe-Corton) and in Valais, Switzerland.

Watch the full Decanter Virtual Masterclass: Château La Lagune and Paul Jaboulet Aîné: going beyond biodynamics

‘I am in my car a lot, for sure,’ said Frey, ‘and I put all my focus on the vineyards. I never travel anymore to do any promotion of the estates overseas, and instead try to spend a few days a week at every property. I also have a brilliant team in place at each one.’

The interplay between the different estates also led to her creating Continuum, an association that works across Bordeaux, Rhône, Burgundy and Valais helping to promote biodiversity and sustainability.

Her first biodiversity refuge, Clos Gounon, was a partnership between Paul Jaboulet Ainé and the French League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), to protect local flora and fauna and also encourage wildlife that can help with natural defences against vine disease, predators and pests. Other LPO partnerships have led to wildlife refuges in Haut-Médoc and Burgundy, and the estates share best-practice and learnings around organic and biodynamic viticulture.

Similarly creative was the idea of making wines that draw on the history (dating right back to the 16th century) of ‘Hermitaging’ the wines of Bordeaux in certain vintages – a practice which was outlawed by the Bordeaux parliament in 1755, but did not entirely end until the introduction of the appellation system in the early 20th century.

The idea of developing Duo and Evidence came, she said, while thinking about the shared history of these two regions. ‘When I first arrived in the Rhône, many people would talk to me about the fact that Hermitage Syrah was used in Bordeaux blends in past centuries, and I wanted to see for myself what the combination would give.’

Duo is made in tiny quantities, just a single barrel per year, made with 50% of the final wine of Château La Lagune (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petit Verdot) and 50% of the final wine La Chapelle (100% Syrah). Its first vintage came in 2006.

Evidence arrived a few years later, in 2010, as a mix from plots for the second wine, with 50% coming from Moulin de La Lagune and 50% using younger Syrah from Domaine de Thalabert owned by Jaboulet in Hermitage. This is made in slightly larger quantities, with about 20,000 bottles a year.

On the results from the masterclass, these are delicious, unusual wines that have a real place in the history and modern story of these estates. However for now, at least, there are no plans to extend the same practice into other areas.

‘I heard in the past some blends were done between Grenache and Pinot Noir,’ Frey said in answer to a question from the audience. ‘But I have no plans for other blends. I think the Cabernet and Syrah is really something that works very well, especially when the Syrah comes from the Northern Rhône Valley and the Cabernet comes from Bordeaux, the results can be great.’

See Jane’s Château La Lagune tasting notes below.

Introduction by Matt Walls

Spying a bottle of Australian Cabernet-Shiraz in your local wine shop is not in the least bit shocking. But there is something about a blend of Hermitage and classed-growth Bordeaux that raises eyebrows. When origin is so highly valued by wine lovers, it seems almost profane to blend two such revered regions.

It gave the run-up to the virtual masterclass an almost illicit frisson of excitement. And it was all the more exhilarating that the Bordeaux and Hermitage in question are both so often excellent in their own right.

The unifying force between the two is, as Jane Anson mentioned, Caroline Frey – owner of Château La Lagune and Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné – not to mention her other properties in Burgundy and Switzerland’s Valais. That she was the winemaker behind both the Bordeaux and the Hermitage makes the idea of the blend somehow easier to countenance.

Not that the practice is without precedent. In the 19th century, when selling wine to consumers was dominated by négociants rather than individual domaines, adding a slug of Hermitage to your Bordeaux was seen as a positive. This wasn’t fraudulent or secretive; ‘Bordeaux Hermitagé’ would sometimes be proclaimed on the label, and they could even cost more than an unalloyed claret.

But we weren’t just getting together to taste Frey’s Bordeaux-Rhône cross-blends; we also tasted a four-wine vertical of La Lagune (2016, 2010, 2009, 2000) and four La Chapelles – a sumptuous white (2014) and three reds (2016, 2010, 1991).

The 2016 and the 2010 are my favourite vintages of La Chapelle since the Frey’s ownership. The 1991 was made by the Jaboulet family and is an often-underrated vintage that I’ve enjoyed greatly in the past.

Both the Rhône and Bordeaux 2016s shared the vibrancy of the vintage, which happened to be the year that both properties received organic certification. They are now both farmed biodynamically, with La Lagune securing certification this year. The 2010s, by contrast, had the structure and brooding power you’d expect from this exceptional vintage.

Tasting these two verticals in close succession highlighted the difference in structure between the two styles. In the mature wines, the tannins of the La Lagune were beautifully velvety and luxurious. In La Chapelle, however, they had the intense tannic drive and verticality of Hermitage plus the granite-built spine and salinity.

I admit I had reservations before tasting the two cross-regional blends, Evidence par Caroline and Duo. Would the components harmoniously or would these two assertive terroirs fight for supremacy?

The results proved the experiment a success. Though the 2016 Duo still needs some time to knit together, the 2010 was harmonious and complete – a delicious and complex wine that will continue to improve for another two decades at least. Turns out those 19th-century négociants knew what they were doing.

See Matt’s Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné tasting notes below.

Tasting the Bordeaux/Rhône blends

Evidence par Caroline, Vin de France 2011

Jane Ready to drink, and seems to have taken the floral aspect of both the Syrah and the Cabernet and combined it to a more supercharged violet and rose floral aromatics. A spicy, gamey current goes underneath, and this is delicate and ready to drink. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from Moulin de La Lagune and 50% Syrah from Domaine de Thalabert in Crozes-Hermitage. The wines are aged separately in 15% new oak for 18 months in their respective regions before being blended in the cellars of merchant Jaboulet in the Rhône. 91 points. Drink 2021-2030

Matt Beautifully floral on the nose, then takes on some crispy bacon after time in the glass. Medium- to full-bodied, has the velvet tannins of Cabernet but some inner tannic force from the Syrah. Works really well, and at a good point to drink now. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from Moulin de La Lagune in Bordeaux’s Haut-Médoc and 50% Syrah from Domaine de Thalabert in Crozes-Hermitage. The grapes are all destemmed, and each region fermented and aged for a year separately. After blending, the wine spends few months in barrel before bottling.92 points. Drink 2021-2030

Duo par Caroline Frey, Vin de France 2016

Jane Still young, and where the 2010 showcases the softened, aromatic side of Cabernet and Syrah together, here the two grapes still need a few more years to settle in. Insanely good already though, liquorice, powerful, meaty, with the animal kick and smoke of Syrah kicking things up a notch. A single barrel that is 50% of the final wine of Château La Lagune (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petit Verdot) and 50% of the final wine La Chapelle (100% Syrah). Bottled only in magnums and jeroboams.94 points. Drink 2022-2034.

Matt Deeper and more luxurious than the Evidence, the alcohol is a little higher. There’s a touch of bourbon vanilla, a certain torrefaction. Needs more time to come together, but has good freshness and lush tannins. Graphite and steel, great grip. Duo is 50% of the final wine of Château La Lagune (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petit Verdot) and 50% of the final wine La Chapelle (100% Syrah). Vinified and aged separately for one year, the final blend is done at Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné. 94 points. Drink 2025-2036

Duo par Caroline Frey, Vin de France 2010

Jane One of the wines of the night during the masterclass, perfectly ready to drink now but still with plenty of life ahead of it. The Syrah has softed the tannins of the Cabernet, and oveall there is a juicy, saline feel to the spiced plum fruits, together with gentle floral aromatics, that is totally moreish. Duo is 50% of the final wine of Château La Lagune (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petit Verdot) and 50% of the final wine La Chapelle (100% Syrah). Bottled only in magnums and jeroboams, this gives a good clue as to why people thought to blend these two grapes together (often surreptiously) in the 18th century cellars of Bordeaux. 94 points. Drink 2021-2032

Matt This is coming together now, taking on some developed notes, but still dense in fruit. Plentiful graphite and a touch of freshening greenness. More Bordeaux dominant on the nose, Syrah structured on the palate. Great energy and drive. Highly expressive and dynamic wine. Impressive, a worthwhile experiment. Duo is 50% of the final wine of Château La Lagune (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petit Verdot) and 50% of the final wine La Chapelle (100% Syrah). Vinified and aged separately for one year, the final blend is done at Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné. 95 points. Drink 2021-2035

See tasting notes and scores on each of the La Lagune and Jaboulet wines:

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