This lot is comprised of 2 bottle(s) of 1997 Paul Jaboulet Aine La Chapelle Hermitage - 750ml.  Estimate for this lot is between $420 - $600 with a reserve of $320. The bottles in this lot come from collection 11220/11312.         
        
        
        
        
    
                
             
                Merged lot. First provenance- A vintage wine enthusaist who, in his working years, travelled frquently to Central and Eastern Europe. He would stop from time to time at the Fonte de Medici, a B&B on the Antinori Estate that is nestled beside the Solaia and Tignanello vineyards. All three bottles of 2000 Solaia and some of the Tignanello bottles were purchased at Osteria Passignano, a wine bar and restaurant in Badia a Passignano where he used to meet up with one of the winemakers for a portfolio tasting. The Tignanello and the Don Melchor wines were purchased from the LCBO on release. All the wines were stored in a climate-controlled wine cellar in the collector's home. Second Provenance - A Vancouver-based cellar who purchased all wines on release from trusted importers/agents. Wines were stored professionally from the time of purchase. Looking to pair down his cellar, Iron Gate is delighted to bring these wines to auction.        
                        
                                            
                             The score for 1997 Paul Jaboulet Aine La Chapelle Hermitage is 93 from Robert Parker and the tasting note -  The 1997 Hermitage La Chapelle has begun to completely close down, which is surprising in view of how sweet, seductive, and precocious this vintage can be. However, the color seems to get deeper with exposure to air (the wine was far more drinkable after 24 hours of aeration than it was upon opening). The moderately intense bouquet exhibits plenty of ripe blackberry and cherry fruit, in addition to spicy, mineral characteristics. There is considerable weight and volume, but the wine is tight, and nearly impenetrable, leaving an impression of a large, deep, four-square monolith in need of 7-10 years of cellaring - at the minimum. This is an outstanding Hermitage La Chapelle that will have at least three decades of positive evolution. For readers intent on committing infanticide, open and decant it 12-24 hours in advance. The improvement is dramatic. Perhaps it is Jacques Jaboulet's preference to bottle with very high levels of CO2 (1200 ppm) that makes this wine so difficult to taste in its youth.