Winemaker Notes
Very dark crimson colour with purple reflections. Concentrated nose, red fruit, spicy. In the mouth length and power with silky tannins completed by a very well balanced structure. This rich and velvety wine will reveal great aromas within a few years.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Shows impressive harmony -- with a gorgeous mix of blackberry and lavender smoke woven with singed bacon fat for a seductive profile -- and drinks beautifully now. Supple and harmonious, offering softened, gentle tannins that maintain a gentle hold through the long, fragrant finish. Drink now through 2032. 300 cases made, 50 cases imported.
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Syrah aged 15 months in barrel (15% new), the 2022 Saint Joseph Olivaie offers red and black fruits, leafy herbs, sappy flowers, and spicy wood. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with ripe tannins, it's a layered, elegant, and impressively made wine in a classic style.
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James Suckling
A well-composed, silky and bright red. Aromas of dark cherries, raspberries, roasted meat and some baking spices on the nose, following through to a medium body with fine tannins. There is a succulent, pulpy center palate with a silky texture toward the cherry-like finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A pure, perfumed wine, the 2022 Saint Joseph l'Olivaie reveals aromas of plums, dark berries and dark cherries mingled with lovely menthol notes. Medium to full-bodied, layered and textured, it's seamless with a fleshy core of fruit, velvety tannins and a long, dark berry-inflected finish.
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.