Hermitage La Maison Bleue

Quail stuffed foie gras, duck breast with cherries, milk-fed lamb en croûte de foin.

In 1834, when Antoine Jaboulet set up his business in Tain l’Hermitage with the aim of producing great wines, he saw his future profession as cultivating the vineyards and maintaining the quality of the land. It was with this mindset that he quickly acquired his first vineyards on the Hermitage slopes and the Crozes Hermitage plains. In 2006, the Freys (owners of Chateau La Lagune in Bordeaux) took over Paul Jaboulet Aine, where winemaker Caroline now works with her teams in a single-minded quest for perfection; combining cutting-edge winemaking with the scrupulous care given to vines grown in exceptional terroirs. They have since also acquired vineyards in the appellations of Cote Rotie, Condrieu and Crozes Hermitage. All estates are now certified organic and the team broadly follow bio-dynamic principles. Jaboulet’s most celebrated wine is its famed Hermitage La Chapelle, named after the chapel that overlooks this most celebrated of vineyards. Jaboulet have owned the chapel since the end of the First World War – it’s an icon of this part of the Rhone Valley and marks where the best vines are grown.

La Maison Bleue’ is aged in oak in our cellar for 15 to 18 months. Oak barrels are French and are renewed at the level of 20% every year. The final blend is done after the end of the ageing.

At a perfect maturity, the Syrah grapes are picked by hand, carried in small crates to the winery, they are hand-sorted, destemmed and slightly crushed. The maceration on skin lasts for 3 to 4 weeks with daily pump over.