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Paul Jaboulet Aîné

The Frey family is making a serious effort to revive the quality and reputation of this domain's top bottlings, which were the focus of my November tasting with Caroline Frey and co-winemaker Jacques Desvernois. Massive investments continue to be made in the estate's vineyards and facilities, including the hiring of 15 full-time employees to work in the vines. Grape selection has become "extremely severe," as Ms. Frey put it, and production has been slashed to ensure "that we are making the most advantage of our vineyards' potential. " No chemical herbicides are used in any of the estate's vineyards and 13 hectares are now farmed with completely organic methods. Frey told me she finds that "many of the 2006s are strict right now and will need more time to come around than the 2007s, a year when we had to wait patiently until the end of September for full ripeness of the red grapes. Because of that the wines show very good complexity and the tannins are smoothed out. " The syrah harvest began on September 29 and continued until October 10, ending with the high-altitude Domaine de Saint-Pierre vineyard in Cornas. "We do not want over-mature fruit or to make over-mature wines," Frey said. "What we are looking for is greater finesse, more energy and focus. Elegance and balance have more value for us than extreme power. "

From 2007 and 2006 Rhone Valley Wines (Jan 2009) by Josh Raynolds

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2007 Hermitage La Chapelle

Color: Red

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