A multi-continent cuvée appears to break every norm of winemaking and defy the logic of much that underscores the holy grail of terroir, which is, above all, focused on a wine’s link to a specific location. But the new Grange La Chapelle, arguably the most significant wine of this type to date, has now arrived, and it is a blend of a quality to mollify even the most ambivalent onlooker.
As the name suggests, the wine is the result of the marriage of two icons: La Chapelle from Hermitage in the Northern Rhône Valley and Penfolds Grange from prestigious vineyards across South Australia. Their synergy, in short, is postulated as one of the world’s definitive statements of the grape known as Syrah or Shiraz, depending on the hemisphere in question.
La Chapelle and Grange have always been the two perfect expressions of one variety
– Caroline Frey
If you stand on the shoulders of two such giants, you will either fall catastrophically or forge a masterpiece. In the hands of two hugely experienced and talented winemakers, Peter Gago from Penfolds and Caroline Frey from Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné, the new edifice not only proudly stands tall but it also challenges the status quo ante in terms of what can and should constitute a fine wine. And, make no mistake, this is a fine wine indeed, with vanishing rarity only adding to its intrigue for collectors.
Gago is whimsical about the project when quizzed: ‘This uber high-risk undertaking has highlighted the grandeur of this grape variety, despite, in this instance, the separation of time, terroir, culture, hemisphere and philosophy,’ he says. He is quick to emphasise the focus for Grange La Chapelle of seamlessly meshing the most coveted characteristics of two highly revered manifestations of a single variety. ‘The synergy afforded by the blending has interlocked and dovetailed the best of two very different styles; truly the sum of its parts.’
Frey is fascinated by the history of Syrah: ‘The Syrah, born from a cross between an Ardèche and a Savoyard grape variety, travelled to Australia to become Shiraz. It is in Australia, particularly in the vineyards of Grange, that one finds the oldest pre-phylloxera vineyards and therefore perhaps the definitive statement of the varietal.’
‘Words’ Gago says, ‘can be wordsmithed; wine cannot’. Your correspondent, suitably humbled, can only wonder at the quality of what has been produced. Grange La Chapelle is a blend that does not juxtapose new or special cuvées of either existing wine, instead simply marrying and ageing a 50/50 split of the two in oak for several months, before the result is bottled for a further period of integration. It sounds simple and yet the result is roundly reported as stupendous by most if not all of those critics fortunate enough to have tasted the wine thus far.
The first vintage, the 2021, came at the end of a long series of discussions and experiments between Gago and Frey. ‘La Chapelle and Grange have always been the two perfect expressions of one variety; the ying and the yang, opposite in style,’ says Frey, adding, however, that they are ‘united by their origins and perfectly harmonious in their blend’.
This is a cuvée that, in short, invites wine lovers to recalibrate our understanding of the concept of terroir itself
Gago, when questioned on the issue of terroir in its purest sense, is unabashed: ‘The soil does vary over the vineyards – more granitic in the Rhône, more limestone in Australia – but this variable only serves to contribute to complexity and the structural layering and dimensions of the blend.’ This is a cuvée that, in short, invites wine lovers to recalibrate our understanding of the concept of terroir itself. Frey is suitably aware of how high the stakes are in this context but is confident, with justification as it turns out, of the quality of her brainchild. It is, she maintains, all about ‘harmony and integration’. The sine qua non of the Syrah grape has been ‘reunited, reinterpreted and reassembled’.
It’s all the more impressive, one may speculate, given that the vintage in question, 2021, was hardly one of the greats in the south of France, with rain challenging at every turn. In Australia, there was more sunshine but there always is, and Peter is proud to report ‘near perfect vintage conditions’. He is proud, also, of the resulting wine, and cites it as a worthy, if not uncontroversial, development in the story of two iconic houses and their two most famous ambassadors, Max Schubert at Grange and Gérard Jaboulet at La Chapelle, legends both. Now we have a third legend in the offing; a wine that stands as an achievement of defiant celebration.
Grange La Chappelle 2021 is available in 750ml and 1.5l gift box formats.
For UK expressions of interest, please contact goedhuiswaddesdon.com. Outside the UK, please visit grangexlachapelle.com to register your interest.
