The Producer
A historical Rhône estate since 1834 when Antoine Jaboulet began buying and farming the land around the town of Tain l’Hermitage, Paul Jaboulet Aîné has grown into one of the best known and most admired names in the Rhône Valley, synonymous with a broad range of top quality Rhône Cru and benchmark generic appellations. Six generations of the Jaboulet family carried on this family tradition, purchasing some of what would become the most prized vineyard locations in the region. Following nearly two centuries of family ownership, Maison Paul Jaboulet was bought in 2006 by the Frey family, owners of Château La Lagune in Bordeaux.
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The Winemaker
Eldest daughter Caroline Frey heads up the winemaking team and it is her Bordeaux experience and meticulous attention to detail, combined with huge investment in both vineyard and winery, which has put Jaboulet firmly back on the world wine stage. Caroline spends the majority of her time in the Rhône, with frequent trips back to Bordeaux and this prompted the desire to unite the two estates into one wine by blending their grape varieties as an ‘evidence’ of her divided loyalty – the result is the Evidence par Caroline. 2010 saw a brand new state-of-the-art gravity fed winery in action where the top quality grapes are treated as though they were on a spa-day, gently pummelled and pampered until they give up their wonderful nectar for the next stage of the process.
The Region
Jaboulet's jewel has to be the magnificent vineyards of the Hermitage hill but they now own vineyard locations the length and breadth of the Rhône valley. More recent acquisitions in the Southern Rhone valley, including Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône, have earned Jaboulet another raft of great reviews.
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