1990 La Chapelle, REALLY?

I’m not sure where this trend started, but IIRC the date was about mid-summer 2008. All of a sudden I saw TNs for 1990 La Chapelle everywhere. [stop.gif] And they continue. And people are opening bottles for me, very generous, knowing I’m a Hermitage fan.

But this is infanticide in a huge way. [suicide.gif] I love young wines, Dick Krueger can chime and it tell you so while teasing me (he’s able to multi-task that way) . And yes it has rich dense fruit, and the tannins don’t eat the enamel off your teeth. But it is very 1-D. No complexity to speak of yet, wait 20 years?. It is in balance, I agree, but I would never consider popping one of my own, and given that I do pop other 1990s with abandon, am just a bit surprised. This is “too young” even at 18+ years of age.

The 1983 is barely starting to come around (my note says try again in 2015). The 1959 isn’t even close based on the last bottle I had in 2004. 1982 is still waiting.

Being one of the defining La Chapelle’s, known to be dense, I’m just fascinated that people are popping these all over the place. :roll:

Will there be any left when the wine is finally showing great secondary components? [nea.gif]

Perhaps you will hold all available '90 La Chapelles when that time comes. Just think of your glorious fame when that day arrives!

Are you really that surprised? I routinely see notes on haveing some 'aged (WINE) from 2001" etc. To broadly generalize most American wine geeks don’t drink older wines. They view 5 years has getting there, ten as older.

yes, yes, I know… a lot aren’t that way. But a lot ARE. I noted that when reading eBob and always amused me. So when you get those folk confronted with a highly touted wine like the 90 La Chapelle, they’re going to open it. 20 years is OLD for them and leaving it another 20 would seem silly. Some of it, too, is simply checking in on the wine which isn’t unreasonable if you have enough.

Indeed checking on the wine is fine. But after a dozen notes I would think people would have an idea.

And yes most of the world drinks their wines within 90 minutes of purchase, and 3-5 years is OLD. But those wines also aren’t normally $300+ per bottle.

Anyways just a small rant, everyone should, of course, drink what they want, when they want.

The trouble is I WANT 1921 d’Yquem RIGHT NOW.

Jeff, If I were you I wouldn’t wait on the 83, Phil and I drank one last month and it was nothing special. I would say it’s going down fast.

Neither was the 90 La Chapelle on release. I know several people who bought a case early in its life when it was pretty reasonable. And, well, just because a lot of notes have been written on a wine doesn’t mean people won’t open theirs… in fact if you have enough bottles seeing a lot of notes that a wine is drinking beautifully might make it more likely you’d open one.

What is the production #'s on the La Chapelle? Has it risen over the years or remained constant?

I wouldn’t say a single bottle showing badly would equate to a wine being bad. I’ve had that wine several times and it has showed great every single time. Good bottles of '83’s top good bottles of 82’s, which you’ve had a good bottle of.

While I certainly think the '90 has a long, long life ahead of itself, I wouldn’t call it a complete waste to pop now. If you’re a fan of big fruit and immense size, and own a few of these, I wouldn’t hesitate to pop one now for a reference point.

It rose quite a bit, but apparently they have thinned back a bit and are starting be a bit more selective now.

Well Justin this wine was one of ones I bought from that guy in Tacoma and he bought it on release. The storage as you know was perfect, so based on that info I’m making the call that the vintage has peaked.

But who knows, I might be wrong…it won’t be the first time.

According to Spectator:

In 1998 - 7,765 cases made

In 2000 - 6,330 cases made

In 2001 - 4,425 cases made

In 2003 - 4,000 cases made

In 2006 - 2,250 cases made

I thought I remember seeing the numbers from the 70’s forward. Seems about right considering the huge quality dip in the 90’s on.

Jeff - I’m not La Chappelle expert (at all), but I had it two weeks ago and wanted to lick the glass for the remants of the glass - it was so good. Perhaps, it will get better as you say, but it is unfrigginbelievable right now.

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=192748" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My 1983s are not. I did not buy them on release, so I’m not sure why the difference but of the 6, only this one #3 is finally starting to show some interest and based on that tasting I’m confident this lot will last quite a bit longer. But I’ll definitely keep this comment in mind as no one likes drinking OTH wines. We all want to drink them on the upswing and not on the decline.

Well said, and more eloquent than I would have been able to express.

Now I know what to get you for Valentine’s day

Sounds good to me! And much better than chocolate!

Jeff; Our group did a syrah tasting last month which featured both the 1990 Chave and the La Chapelle. Although, on this night the Chave was more ready (and a strong contender for WOTN)…the La Chapelle also showed very well but in need of more time. Although, it was not at its peak, it was still a great bottle of wine and a joy to drink. IF you have a few, then I would certainly recommend opening one.


Cheers!
Marshall

It’s great to see you here my friend. I hope all is well down in SoCal.

Welcome, Marshall!!