Paul Jaboulet Aîné

Paul Jaboulet Aîné was founded in 1834 by Antoine Jaboulet (1807-1864) on the hill of l'Hermitage in Tain l'Hermitage. The house grew under the management of his sons, Paul and Henry, and their descendants. In 1919 the house acquired the Saint Christophe chapel at the top of the Hermitage hillside. Louis Jaboulet (1912-2012) took over the family business in 1940 and, in the house's own words, made 42 harvests, including several legendary vintages; the house's own history timeline singles out the 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle as 'one of the iconic wines of the 20th century.' Gérard Jaboulet took over in 1977 and developed Paul Jaboulet Aîné's reputation worldwide until his death in 1997. On January 1, 2006, the Jaboulet family sold the company to Jean-Jacques Frey, owner of Château La Lagune in Bordeaux's Haut-Médoc appellation and part-owner of Champagne house Billecart-Salmon; his daughter, Caroline Frey, took over management and initiated the estate's transition to organic and biodynamic farming.

• 1834: founded by Antoine Jaboulet (1807-1864) in Tain l'Hermitage; passed to sons Paul and Henry and their descendants
• 1919: acquisition of the Saint Christophe chapel atop the Hermitage hillside
• 1940-1977: Louis Jaboulet (1912-2012) ran the house, making 42 harvests including 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle, which the house's own history calls 'one of the iconic wines of the 20th century'
• 1977-1997: Gérard Jaboulet developed the house's reputation worldwide until his death in 1997
• January 1, 2006: the Jaboulet family sold the house to Jean-Jacques Frey's Compagnie Financière Frey; daughter Caroline Frey took over management

Since January 1, 2006, Paul Jaboulet Aîné has belonged to Jean-Jacques Frey's Compagnie Financière Frey, which also owns Château La Lagune in Bordeaux and holds a stake in Champagne house Billecart-Salmon. Caroline Frey took over management of the house in 2006 and, over the following two decades, led its transition to organic and biodynamic viticulture; she was named Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 2017 for her commitment to organic viticulture and environmental protection, received the Amorim Biodiversity Award at the Drinks Business Green Awards in 2021, and was named Officier du Mérite Agricole in 2023, the same year she created Domaine de la Chapelle. In July 2025, Caroline Frey announced she was stepping back, with immediate effect, from her roles as director and head winemaker of Domaine de la Chapelle, Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Château La Lagune and Château Corton C., to refocus on her Swiss vineyard holdings. Her sister, Delphine Frey, who had for some time been involved in the estates' strategic direction and image, took on greater management responsibilities; their father, Jean-Jacques Frey, founder of the family group, remains involved. A new head winemaker was expected to be named by Delphine Frey in the weeks following the announcement.

• Owned since January 1, 2006 by Jean-Jacques Frey's Compagnie Financière Frey (also owner of Château La Lagune in Bordeaux, part-owner of Champagne house Billecart-Salmon)
• Caroline Frey managed the house from 2006, leading its organic and biodynamic conversion; named Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (2017), awarded the Amorim Biodiversity Award (2021), and named Officier du Mérite Agricole (2023)
• July 2025: Caroline Frey stepped back from her director and head-winemaker roles across the family's estates, effective immediately
• Sister Delphine Frey, previously focused on the estates' strategic direction and image, took on greater management responsibilities; father Jean-Jacques Frey, founder of the family group, remains involved

Paul Jaboulet Aîné farms over a hundred hectares spread across the major appellations of the northern Rhône Valley. Harvest is carried out entirely by hand, with grapes sorted parcel by parcel using small 12-kilogram crates, followed by further manual and optical sorting in the cellar. The house has tracked climatic conditions, grape quality and growing-season data for its vintage reports since 1972. Domaine de Thalabert, in Crozes-Hermitage, is described by the house as the oldest vineyard in the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, owned by Paul Jaboulet Aîné since 1834, with vines planted between 1934 and 1975 on low, stony terraces of glacial origin, formed of small rounded pebbles. In Hermitage, the Le Taurobole cuvée is drawn from the hill's easternmost, deeper-soil terroirs linked to the Rhône's fluvial terraces, over limestone and colluvial deposits, while La Maison Bleue, also Hermitage, comes from vines planted between 1955 and 1994 in the same eastern sector, centered on a stone house with blue shutters still used to dry plants for biodynamic preparations and for the house's Hermitage straw wine. Les Pierrelles, in Côte-Rôtie, comes from vines on the Côte Blonde planted between 1974 and 1992, on soils of decomposing micaschist; the cuvée was created by Caroline Frey in 2006, with its first vintage in 2009.

• Over a hundred hectares across the major northern Rhône appellations; entirely hand-harvested and sorted parcel by parcel in 12-kilogram crates; vintage climate and quality data tracked since 1972
• Domaine de Thalabert (Crozes-Hermitage): the appellation's oldest vineyard, Jaboulet-owned since 1834; vines planted 1934-1975 on low, stony terraces of glacial origin
• Le Taurobole and La Maison Bleue (Hermitage): easternmost hill terroirs on limestone over colluvial/fluvial-terrace deposits; La Maison Bleue vines planted 1955-1994
• Les Pierrelles (Côte-Rôtie, Côte Blonde): vines planted 1974-1992 on decomposing micaschist; cuvée created by Caroline Frey in 2006, first vintage 2009

The house's own site groups its range into three tiers. The Essentials, described as 'Vins de Vignerons,' partner with selected growers across the Rhône Valley, blending grower fruit with the estate's own at harvest or during vinification under the house's oversight: Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets (red and white), Saint-Joseph Le Grand Pompée (red and white), and Vin de France Syrah and Viognier. The Classics are described as the historical heart of the estate and include Crozes-Hermitage Thalabert (red) and Thalabert Mule Blanche (white), Côte-Rôtie Les Jumelles, Cornas Les Grandes Terrasses, Condrieu Les Cassines, Saint-Péray Les Sauvagères, and Hermitage Le Taurobole. The Collections celebrate the house's most distinctive micro-terroirs: Cornas Saint-Pierre and Reynard, Côte-Rôtie Les Pierrelles, Crozes-Hermitage Roure (red and white), Hermitage La Maison Bleue, and Condrieu Les Grands Amandiers; the house notes that some Collection wines come from parcels identified and isolated by Caroline Frey, including Reynard in 2015 and Les Pierrelles in 2009. Separately, Parallèle 45, a Côtes du Rhône blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Marselan and Carignan from 40-year-old vines, has been 'a classic since 1950' according to the house, and has been certified organic for several years alongside Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets. Red-wine cuvées are typically hand-picked, sorted by plot in small crates, traditionally vinified with full destemming and roughly three weeks of maceration with daily pump-overs, and aged 12 to 18 months across French oak barrels, demi-muids, truncated cone vats and concrete eggs, with the mix of containers and proportion of new wood varying by vintage; Hermitage cuvées age around 12 months in wood, Thalabert closer to 9 months.

• Essentials (Vins de Vignerons): Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets (red/white), Saint-Joseph Le Grand Pompée (red/white), Vin de France Syrah and Viognier
• Classics: Crozes-Hermitage Thalabert (red) and Thalabert Mule Blanche (white), Côte-Rôtie Les Jumelles, Cornas Les Grandes Terrasses, Condrieu Les Cassines, Saint-Péray Les Sauvagères, Hermitage Le Taurobole
• Collections: Cornas Saint-Pierre and Reynard, Côte-Rôtie Les Pierrelles, Crozes-Hermitage Roure (red/white), Hermitage La Maison Bleue, Condrieu Les Grands Amandiers; some parcels identified by Caroline Frey (Reynard 2015, Les Pierrelles 2009)
• Parallèle 45 (Côtes du Rhône): a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Marselan and Carignan blend from 40-year-old vines, 'a classic since 1950,' certified organic for several years
• Typical red winemaking: hand-picked, sorted by plot in 12kg crates, full destemming, about 3 weeks maceration with daily pump-overs, aged 12-18 months in a mix of oak barrels, demi-muids, truncated cone vats and concrete eggs

In 2023, Caroline Frey uncoupled the house's two legendary Hermitage cuvées, La Chapelle (red) and its white counterpart Le Chevalier de Sterimberg, from the Paul Jaboulet Aîné brand, creating a separate entity, Domaine de la Chapelle, as their new home. A dedicated new winery close to the hill of Hermitage, just outside the Hermitage appellation boundary and visible from the Chapelle Saint-Christophe at the top of the hill, is being built for the entity, designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, whose projects include Noma 2.0 in Copenhagen; Frey described the cellar as intended to be 'very integrated, not a very imposing architectural cellar,' so that focus stays on the hill of Hermitage itself. According to Frey, the winemaking process for La Chapelle would not change at the new site beyond substituting cement vats for stainless steel tanks in vinification, and there were no plans to sell off either the red or white cuvée. Domaine de la Chapelle wines are distributed separately from the rest of the Paul Jaboulet Aîné range, through the Place de Bordeaux, the traditional Bordeaux wine-trade distribution network, rather than alongside the house's other cuvées.

• 2023: Caroline Frey created Domaine de la Chapelle as a separate entity for La Chapelle (red) and Le Chevalier de Sterimberg (white), uncoupling both from the Paul Jaboulet Aîné brand
• A dedicated new winery near the hill of Hermitage, designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, was under construction, sited just outside the Hermitage appellation boundary
• Frey said the winemaking process would stay the same apart from a switch to cement vats from stainless steel tanks, with no plans to sell off either cuvée
• Domaine de la Chapelle wines are sold through the Place de Bordeaux distribution network rather than with the rest of the Paul Jaboulet Aîné range

The estate dates its shift to sustainable and organic farming to 2006, the year of the Frey acquisition. It achieved ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification in 2012, reached its first certified organic vintage and began transitioning to biodynamics in 2016, and had its entire vineyard under biodynamic cultivation by 2021. The house has planted 500 trees and shrubs of 21 species, plus 170 meters of shrub and small-tree hedging, around its vineyards, and has established biodiversity refuges on the vineyards' outskirts, including Clos Gounon, a 7-hectare enclosed sanctuary at the heart of the Thalabert estate in Crozes-Hermitage described as the first LPO biodiversity refuge in the Drôme, and a 1.4-hectare corridor at Domaine de Roure; naturalist inventories at these sites record 49 bird species, 16 butterfly species, 9 bat species, 8 dragonfly species, 3 reptile species and 4 mammal species, along with several amphibians. On packaging and logistics, the house has used the Trescases cork house, its supplier since 1876 when Paul Jaboulet Aîné was its first client, uses bottles made from 100% recycled and recyclable glass, sources roughly 40% of its water savings over the past decade, generates part of its energy from 2,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels, sources most suppliers within about 100 kilometers of its headquarters, and has dropped air transport in favor of maritime and land transport for commercial deliveries. As a response to a warming, drier climate, the house, under Caroline Frey's direction, has experimented with a 'bridge-braiding' technique that lets vine shoots grow and arch naturally rather than being trimmed at the apex, aiming to reduce water consumption from regrowth and provide the grapes more natural shading; the 2022 harvest, affected by more than 50 days above 32°C, began on August 11, which the house described as unprecedented in living memory for its winemakers.

• 2006: shift to sustainable/organic farming begins; 2012: ISO 9001 and 14001 certification; 2016: first certified organic vintage and start of biodynamic transition; 2021: entire vineyard farmed biodynamically
• Biodiversity refuges: Clos Gounon (7 hectares, Thalabert estate, first LPO refuge in the Drôme) and Domaine de Roure (1.4 hectares); combined inventories record 49 bird, 16 butterfly, 9 bat, 8 dragonfly, 3 reptile and 4 mammal species plus amphibians
• Eco-design: corks from Trescases (supplier since 1876, Jaboulet its first client), 100% recycled/recyclable glass bottles, 2,000 m² of photovoltaic panels, roughly 40% water savings over 10 years, suppliers averaging within 100km, no air transport for commercial deliveries
• 'Bridge-braiding' technique under Caroline Frey lets vine shoots grow and arch naturally instead of apex-trimming, to reduce water stress and shade fruit; 2022 harvest began August 11 amid over 50 days above 32°C

Primary sources (the estate's own site, jaboulet.com): home, our history, winery, sustainable viticulture, biodiversity, eco-responsibility, the bridge-braiding climate-adaptation page, the three cuvée-range pages (Essentials, Classics, Collections), harvest and vintage reports, visit us / the Vineum, and product pages for Domaine de Thalabert, Le Taurobole, Les Pierrelles, Les Jalets, Le Grand Pompée, La Maison Bleue and Parallèle 45. Secondary sources: Decanter ('Walls: The next step for Jaboulet's Hermitage La Chapelle,' January 2024, and 'Caroline Frey steps back from French estates to focus on Swiss vineyards'), Wine Spectator ('Jaboulet's New History Starts Now,' November 2006), The Drinks Business ('Caroline Frey to step back from the direction of Domaines Paul Jaboulet Ainé,' July 2025), and Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News ('Jaboulet family to stay on at PJA'). Last verified 2026-09-13. Where the estate's own site and a secondary source disagree, the estate's own site governs.