Hermitage La Chapelle, Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aine 1978

As heavenly and profound as it gets, the still youthful-colored 1978 Hermitage la Chapelle exhibits an insane bouquet of sweet cassis, truffle, smoked meats and licorice. Full-bodied, multidimensional, decadent and massive on the palate, with a stacked mid-palate and still present, sweet tannin, it tastes like a mix of the more fruit-loaded '90 and the more evolved, smoky and soy-laced '61. You could easily run out of adjectives describing this beauty, but it's a perfect wine any way you look at it. I see no reason to hold off, and it's drinking perfectly for my palate today, but it certainly won't fall off a cliff anytime soon. 2015-2040

Opaque plum/garnet-colored, with a fabulously sweet, youthful bouquet of licorice, incense, smoked meats, pepper, and blackberry/cassis fruit, the full-bodied 1978 La Chapelle is extremely young with astonishing vigor, velvety tannin, and a full-bodied, multi-dimensional, layered personality. The finish lasts for over 60 seconds. Remarkably fresh and not yet fully mature, the super-concentrated 1978 should continue to age well for another three decades. Anticipated maturity: now-2030