Had a most frustrating look at some Very Important 2001s the other night: Penfolds Grange, Hermitage la Chapelle, Chapoutier Le Pavillon Ermitage, Delas’s Marquise de Tourette and their single vineyard Bessards bottlings of Hermitage, Guigal’s Chateau d’Ampuis Côte Rôtie and Sassicaia. Long names but actually only seven famous wines – so it was pretty shocking that two of them were out of condition.
Jaboulet’s La Chapelle was famously going through a difficult period in the early years of this century, which may explain how thoroughly musty-fusty the nose of this 2001 was with fruit difficult to discern. On first...