Winemaker Notes
The wine has a deep ruby colour with purple tinges. Its nose shows aromas of blackberries and spices, lifted by some mineral and gently wooded notes. Well concentrated, this wine has pure flavours that come to the palate in successive layers of varying aromas, all of equal intensity.
Pair with games, marinated beef in sauce, grills, green peppers. It goes well with all types of cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A suave and smoky style, with sandalwood, black tea, olive, juniper and bay leaf notes leading the way, followed by a core of lightly steeped bitter plum and blackberry fruit. Concentrated, showing latent length as all the elements take a late encore, supported by a lingering mineral echo. Should unwind a bit more slowly than most of its colleagues. Best from 2022 through 2035.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2017 Saint Joseph Sainte Epine, a fine example of this cooler, granite terroir located just north of Tournon. Notes of graphite, camphor, scorched earth, and liquid rock all give way to a medium to full-bodied, focused, structured wine that has a terrific core of dark fruit, building tannins, and a great finish. It's going to need 4-5 years of bottle age, but it’s a beauty.
Rating: 93+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine comes from a couple of vineyards planted in 1981 on weathered granite soils geologically identical to those found in Hermitage's Les Bessards. Crushed stone, salted licorice and pencil shavings accent black cherries and black olives, while the full-bodied palate is velvety but structured, ripe and warm but firm and mouthwatering, with at least a decade of aging potential. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.
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James Suckling
Some brassy oak opens the nose here with a wealth of dark plums and brambly fruit on offer, as well as a plush dark-plum and berry core and such a fresh and fleshy note of sarsaparilla. Excellent depth. The oak will settle in here. Try from 2022.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Spanning the longest stretch of river in the northern Rhône—from Condrieu in the north, to Cornas in the south—the heart of St.-Joseph lies directly across the Rhône River from Hermitage. While its soils are basically the same as Hermitage: granite, supplemented by sand and gravel, its east facing slope receives less sunlight than Hermitage, which causes less overall berry ripening on its Syrah vines. However, some of the best of them can rival any fine expression of Hermitage, Cote-Rotie or Cornas with concentrated black fruits, dark spices, crushed rock and violets. A general advantage of the region is that its Syrahs typically don’t need as much time in the bottle compared to a Cote-Rotie or Hermitage and are much easier on the bank account!
A textbook St.-Joseph red is firm with a core of minerality that is enhanced by savory and peppery qualities. Aromas and flavors of smoke, olives, herbs, and violets are common; its wines are dense in red and black fruit.
St.-Joseph is also a source of fine northern Rhône white wine. Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne grow well here and can be blended or made into single varietal wines. St.-Joseph whites are full and silky with citrus, pear and pineapple flavors and a rich bouquet reminiscent of honeysuckle, toasted nuts, spice and caramel.