Domaine Coursodon Saint-Joseph Silice Blanc 2012

Jérôme Coursodon, with his father Pierre alongside, produces a stunning range of red and whites from the historic village of Mauves in the original sector of Saint-Joseph. When the Saint-Joseph appellation was established in 1956, it consisted of six communes (Mauves, Glun, Tournon, St. Jean-de-Muzols, Vion, and Lemps), all dramatically steep slopes directly across the Rhône river from Hermitage, sharing the granite soil that makes up the terroir of the western “Les Bessards” section of that famous hill. The Coursodon family has true roots farming the granite in and around Mauves back to the mid 1800’s and Jerome’s grandfather Gustav was one of the leaders of Domaine bottling and organizing the St. Joseph appellation in the 1950’s. In 1968 the appellation expanded from the original six communes to twenty communes, stretching from Condrieu to Cornas. The new communes did not share the steep granitic slopes that made up the original six villages, instead consisting of a variety soil types and inclines. From their prized vineyards, all on the granite slopes in and around Mauves, the Coursodons produce wines of incredible complexity, depth, minerality, and age-ability that can compete with the best from Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, and Cornas.