Maison Paul Jaboulet - Aîné Hermitage Maison Bleue 2016

The Freys, a long-standing Champagne family and proprietors of Château La Lagune in Bordeaux, bought up Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné in 2006. Caroline, the family's eldest daughter, holds a degree in oenology from Bordeaux and works with her teams in a single-minded pursuit of perfection. «The grape must be a natural product, not the result of manufactured chemistry.» Caroline's philosophy has guided her vineyard towards biodynamic gardening over the past decade, culminating in organic certification in 2016.

94-96 points Jeb Dunnuck "Replacing the Petit Chapelle cuvée and first made in 2015, the 2016 Hermitage La Maison Bleue is smoking good. Black fruits, charcoal, powdered rock, currants and chocolate notes all give way to a big, concentrated, impressively structured barrel sample that has tons of potential. I expect the tannin will have integrated by the time this is released, but a few years of bottle age are still recommended."