Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle Hermitage 2020 Nebuchadnezzar 15L

Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle Hermitage 2020 Nebuchadnezzar 15L is a Syrah from Rhône with granite depth and violet-scented power in magisterial scale. This is La Chapelle in party-size solemnity, with fifteen litres of dark Hermitage Syrah under one cork. Expect black currant, cherry, smoke and coffee wrapped around the stern mineral line of the hill.

About the Wine
La Chapelle comes from Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné holdings on the Hermitage hill, the steep granite rise above the Rhône at Tain-l’Hermitage. The 2020 wine is pure Syrah, farmed under the domaine’s sustainable approach, and the granite soil is central to its shape in the glass. It is a dry red at 13.5% alcohol, with concentration shown through colour rather than heat. The Nebuchadnezzar format matters here. Fifteen litres of Hermitage 2020 creates a slow-moving reserve of fruit, tannin and mineral tension for a large table. In the cellar, La Chapelle 2020 spent 18 months in French oak barrels, with a mix of new and used wood. The oak reads as espresso, smoke and a little mocha beside the cassis and cherry rather than as a separate layer. This is Syrah built for patience, with tannins that grip the tongue and then stretch into a long stony finish. The finished wine is bottled here in a 15-litre Nebuchadnezzar, a rare scale for Jaboulet’s flagship Hermitage.

Tasting Notes
The colour is deep purple and stains the glass, which feels right for a 2020 La Chapelle in this huge 15L bottle. The nose opens with black currant, cherry liqueur and violet, then brings in coffee, smoke, olive and a savoury note close to bacon fat. On the palate it is dense and chewy, with black fruit preserve, blue fruit, liquorice and mocha moving through a firm granite line. The tannins are substantial and well shaped, and the finish keeps returning to violet, mineral dust and dark fruit rather than fading into oak sweetness. Drink 2025-2040.

Food Pairing
Pour this Nebuchadnezzar when the food has real depth and the table has enough people to meet the bottle. Côte de boeuf with a hard sear is an obvious match, especially with the wine’s cassis fruit and smoky edge echoing the crust of the meat. Venison haunch, wild boar ragù or roast pigeon will meet the darker side of the Syrah and its olive-toned savoury notes. For a regional Rhône idea, serve caillette ardéchoise with lentils, herbs and a little pork fat. Aged Comté, Saint-Nectaire or a board of saucisson and jambon cru will take the tannin seriously and keep the mood relaxed.

Producer
Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné is anchored in Tain-l’Hermitage, and La Chapelle is its most famous label, named for the small Saint-Christophe chapel that sits above the Hermitage slopes. The Frey family bought the domaine in 2006, with Caroline Frey guiding vineyard work and cellar decisions after a period when the house had traded heavily on its historic reputation. For La Chapelle, the domaine blends Syrah from its Hermitage holdings rather than presenting a single lieu-dit label; the 2020 Nebuchadnezzar carries that idea on a banquet scale. Collectors still talk about the 1961 La Chapelle as one of the landmark bottles of the Rhône, which gives every new release a long shadow and a very specific family name to live beside. The current house style puts polish around the power, with clean fruit, careful oak and a clear sense of the granite hill under the wine. A 15-litre bottle of Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle Hermitage 2020 places the estate’s grand cuvée in a format usually reserved for a very large table.

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