Winemaker Notes
The wine has a deep ruby color with purple tinges. Its nose shows aromas of blackberries and spices, lifted by some mineral and gently wooded notes. Well concentrated, this has pure flavors that come to the palate in successive layers of varying aromas, all of equal intensity.
This wine pairs well with game, marinated beef in sauce, grilled food, green peppers and any kind of cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
A highly fragrant bouquet evokes ripe, mineral-accented black/blue fruits, Moroccan spices, olive and candied flowers, along with a smoky mineral element that builds as the wine opens up. Juicy, energetic and focused on the palate, offering appealingly sweet boysenberry, cherry preserve and violet pastille flavors that deepen steadily through the midpalate. The floral note resonates on the impressively long finish, which features well-knit tannins and a smoky mineral quality.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a cooler, windy terroir located just to the north of Tournon, in the southern portion of the appellation, the 2019 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine sports a dense purple hue to go with a beautiful bouquet of cassis and darker berries as well as peppery herbs, leather, graphite, and violets. Terrific on the balance as well, it's medium to full-bodied, has a great mid-palate, ripe tannins, and integrated acidity. It's another beautiful 2019 from this estate that does everything right. It needs a decant if drinking any time soon (I followed this bottle for multiple days) and will have two decades of longevity if you're so inclined.
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Wine Spectator
This flows beautifully, with a ripe, pure and steady beam of cassis and dark cherry preserves that shows good brightness and delineation through the finish, picking up light floral and mineral accents along the way. Seductive in style, with a lovely mouthfeel and sneaky length. Best from 2022.
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Wine Enthusiast
Sourced from a single plot, Sainte-Epine, in the heart of Saint-Joseph, this limited-edition bottling is made only in fine vintages. Reflective of the hot, dry year, it's lavishly rich, bursting with plump blueberry and black-plum flavors accented by peppery spice and purple flowers. Opulent yet freshly balanced, this immediately enjoyable Syrah should drink well through 2035 at least.
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.