2022 Grange La Chapelle Syrah - Penfolds x Chapelle

“The remarkable offspring of two legendary parent wines from opposite sides of the world. Caroline Frey and Peter Gago on the Hill of Hermitage with their new wine”
– World of Fine Wine

See more information on the (2021) first release here.

2022 Grange x La Chapelle (Second Release)  
Matthew Jukes awarded the wine a rare 20+/20 points, describing it as one of the most extraordinary wines he has tasted in four decades, noting its graphite-laced depth, refinement and elemental energy.

This second release again brings together 50% La Chapelle from the Hill of Hermitage and 50% Grange from select Penfolds vineyards across the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. The result is a wine of remarkable cohesion and quiet authority. Both Decanter and The Wine Companion have awarded the wine 99 points, praising its gravitas, seamless length and long-term ageing potential.

20+/20 Points, Matthew Jukes, mathewjukes.com
Today’s release – I first tasted this wine in October 2024, and I tasted it again last June.  There is no doubt this is one of the most extraordinary wines I have tasted in my four decades in wine.  2022 La Chapelle / Grange is a darker, more vampiric and sootier beauty than the red-fruit-drenched 2021 vintage.  This time, the partnership dives deeper into the earth, bringing a hint more density, palate weight and back-end power.  

This panoply of black fruit notes is delivered with monastic calm, and while this is a more sonorous, basso profundo vintage, there is extraordinary refinement and composure throughout.  This is a graphite-soaked wine with immense charm and deeply rewarding fruit.  I find its charms mesmerising, pulsing with elemental energy and ultimately unlike any other wine I have tasted. 

 After the incredible debut 2021 vintage and this astoundingly beautiful 2022, I would be happy if these two sets of perfumes and flavours bookended every subsequent wine under this game-changing label.  If this can be achieved, and I have no reason to think that it cannot, this might become one of the most famous wines in the world in the blink of an eye.
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99 Points, David Sly, Decanter
There is greatness in the pedigree of the two producers, each providing 50% to this two-hemisphere Shiraz blend. But there is also justified excitement surrounding the 2022 vintage fruit from both the northern Rhône and Penfolds’ Australian vineyards. 

It’s the sum of many great parts, but even if you are familiar with both wines, this blend changes the shape of the palate line and flavour profile. This dark-coloured wine exhibits a delicious savouriness in the mid-palate, which has serious gravitas but also length and a seamless cohesion that is unexpected. 

The skeleton is strong and proud, yet its unfussy generosity provides supple pleasure. For a carefully designed super-blend, it doesn’t attempt to amplify its assets. All the elements are allowed to speak convincingly in an assured, confident voice. It has no need to shout its greatness. It is simply magnificent.
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99 Points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
The second release for this monumental collaboration from Caroline Frey, chief winemaker and vigneron at La Chapelle, and Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds. A 50/50 blend of 2022 La Chapelle, from the Hill of Hermitage in the Rhône Valley, and 2022 Grange from select vineyard sites in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. 

Deep magenta/crimson in the glass with resonant and beautifully detailed blackberry, doris plum, blueberry and black cherry fruits of considerable purity and pedigree. That gorgeous fruit is cut with hints of graphite, crushed granite, pan juices, brown spice, violets, licorice, cold tea, roasting meats, panforte, black pepper, dreamy, wonderfully judged oak nuance and earth. 

Deep, and captivating on the palate, with a solid plinth of plum and black fruits etched with spice and rocky nuance. It's a beautiful wine and one that will age for 25-plus years without any problem.
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