Heady trove from the Rhone Valley

THE current thirst for Burgundy seems to have reached the point where one is likely to ask, "What, another burg?". Of late, while picking out wines for the table, I make a conscious effort to look at the regions that I have neglected in recent times, notably the Rhone Valley.

We used to have Rhone bottles on the table more often when Gerard Jaboulet of Paul Jaboulet Aine of T'Ain l'Hermitage used to visit us every year. Sadly, an untimely illness took him away in September 1997 in his prime at just 55, a huge loss to the wine world.

The Frey family (owners also of Chateau La Lagune, and with interests in Champagne Billecart Salmon) acquired the company in 2005, and the wine press reported in 2010 that the La Chapelle is at last beginning to look like its old self.