1961 Paul Jaboulet Aine, Hermitage, La Chapelle Rouge, Bottle (750ml)

RP100 "Of the three benchmark la Chapelles ('90, '78 and '61), the 1961 Hermitage la Chapelle is the largest, most massive and over-the-top of the trio. Offering a stunning - literally off the charts - bouquet of truffles, soy sauce, smoked meats, coffee bean and wood smoke, it is the absolute essence of this cuvee and of the magical, south-facing Hermitage Hill from where it comes. Thick, unctuous and massive on the palate, I can only imagine what this beast of a wine must have tasted like in its youth. I also wish every winemaker/person who comments about a wine being too big, too rich, or too over-the-top could have a glass of this elixir. It's certainly fully mature, yet it still amazingly has sweet tannin and no shortage of fruit or texture. Given its mid-palate density, it will most likely be a 100-year wine. Still, why wait?" JD for WA Sep 2015
RP100 "This is unquestionably one of the greatest wines made in the twentieth century. In the two dozen tastings where I have had the 1961 La Chapelle, I rated it 100 points twenty times. The opaque purple/garnet color is accompanied by spectacular aromatics representing the essence of old vine Syrah (smoked meat, pepper, hoisin sauce, and soy).
As the wine sits in the glass, notions of pepper, new saddle leather, grilled meat, and awesome levels of blackberry, plum, and black currant liqueur-like notes emerge. Extremely unctuous, with compelling concentration and purity, this full-bodied, seamless, mouthfilling 1961 is truly immortal. It still possesses a freshness and vigor that defy its nearly forty years of age. It should continue to drink well for two more decades. Prodigious stuff!" RP Jun 2000