2022 La Chapelle / Grange – embargoed until 1pm on the 30th January 2026
An overview – Tectonic plates and stellar palates collided in the most exciting wine joint venture of my wine lifetime when winemaker Peter Gago’s Penfolds married his elite Shiraz from iconic Aussie red wine Grange with The Frey family’s legendary Syrah from the monumental Hermitage La Chapelle, in the northern Rhône. A 50/50 blend has been assembled, and it pleases me more than I can say to announce that it is a resounding success. Peter Gago and Caroline Frey are some of the world’s most inspirational and visionary wine folk. With Peter’s restless imagination and Caroline’s unceasing work ethic, perhaps these two extraordinary wine companies were destined to be joined one day, not least because they share an unquenchable passion for the Syrah/Shiraz variety. Yet, it would be too easy to pass this off as a foolish folly or an attention-seeking stunt. Far from it. This project has been plotted with forensic care and attention, and the results are astounding. Three wines have been made, and I have tasted the 2021 and 2022 several times.
What I find compelling about these two bottled wines is that the weld between the two vehicles is invisible. Neither wine seeks to dominate, and neither wine seeks to be a ‘starter’ or ‘finisher’ on the palate. Instead, these wines are woven from the finest silk, perfectly intertwined with precisely equal amounts of warp and weft, resulting in a gossamer-smooth creation. While Penfolds Grange sports a mighty 100% new oak and La Chapelle only 20% new carpentry it is remarkable how much synergy and harmony this wine shows on the nose and palate. Grange’s musculature is tempered by La Chapelle’s profound minerality and silkiness, and the finished wine is gloriously aromatic, plush and infinitely layered. None of the elements overlap, and none of the flavours compete, making the overall experience overwhelmingly civilised and genteel. This dream collaboration has made it seem as if this coming together of flavours was inevitable rather than frivolous, and the perfume and palate of this tremendous red wine bear this out. It is, in truth, a celebration of this noble grape variety like no other. As always, it is easier to find one accurate French word to describe a wine, where many English words would usually have to be deployed, and, on this occasion, I would plump for génial.
The inaugural vintage – 2021 La Chapelle / Grange exhibits a threateningly dark core of fruit that opens on command to reveal stunningly vibrant fruit tones, from purples, garnets, and carmines to deeper sanguineous notes that conspire to create a thrilling vortex of Syrah’s and Shiraz’s finest attributes. The tenderness of La Chapelle and the fruit focus of Grange seem heaven-sent, resulting in a surprisingly forward and graceful amalgam of grandeur and breeding. 19/20 (Drink 2030 – 2045)
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. 20/20+ (Drink 2030 – 2050)
Goedhuis Waddesdon will sell this wine in the UK from the global launch date, next Monday, the 2nd of February 2026. Both 75cl bottles and 1.5 litre magnums are available. The 75cl bottle RRP in Australia is AUD $3500; in France it is €2600; while in the UK it is £2160. Visit www.grangexlachapelle.com for further information.