Winemaker Notes
Deep red with complex with dominant black fruit and delicate oak aromas. A pure and intense nose and a powerful attack on the palate. Round and elegant tannins. A veritable success. Fresh and powerful. Will become more refined with age.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very fleshy, ripe and slightly rounder expression that has a very impressive array of graphite, dark, stony minerals and blackberries, swathed in freshly ground, woody spices, bacon fat and pepper. There’s immense composure to the palate with dark-plum essence, dark chocolate and blackberries. Firm, oak tannins frame it up nice and long. Powerful. This needs time but has a long life ahead. Try in 2021.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The Saint Joseph Lieu Dit Saint Joseph releases all come from a fabulous south-facing, granite hillside located just to the south of Tournon. The 2015 Saint Joseph Lieu Dit Saint Joseph is a full-bodied, sexy beast of a wine that boasts a saturated purple color, huge notes of blackberries, burning embers, graphite, and background oak, a stacked mid-palate, and sweet yet building tannins. Despite all its richness and depth, it has thrilling purity of fruit and is impeccably balanced. Don’t miss this beauty!
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As the 2015 Saint-Joseph Lieu-Dit Saint-Joseph had been recently bottled when I tasted it last year and rated it 94 points, I've retasted it and upgraded it a point. Despite being aged in 100% new oak for close to 24 months, it shows only subtle hints of pencil shavings and vanilla on the nose, testament to the substance of the wine. Crushed stones play a role on the nose as well, emblematic of the site's granitic soils, while the velvety mouthfeel of this full-bodied wine delivers waves of rich, concentrated cherries that linger elegantly on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Dark and winey, with intense waves of warm fig, blackberry and black currant compote flowing through, framed by mocha and apple wood accents. Everything pulls together over a strong graphite edge on the finish. Inviting now, but should be better with cellaring. Best from 2020 through 2030.
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Decanter
From 20 to 75 year old vines grown in very steep gneiss and granite soils near Mauves, yielding 38 hl/ha in 2015. The wine spent 24 months in new oak, and was bottled without fining or filtration. Immediately you feel the power of the sunny vintage in the ripeness and relaxed nature of the fruit. It is full-bodied and rich in fruit, but generous oak is also apparent. The tannins are a touch on the dry side. A long, rich, slightly warming finish.
Drinking Window 2019 - 2024
The Guigal domain was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the ancient village of Ampuis, home of the wines of the Côte-Rôtie. In these vineyards that are over 2400 years old, you can still see the small terraced walls characteristic of the Roman period. Etienne Guigal arrived in this region in 1923 at the age of 14. He made wine for over 67 vintages and, at the beginning of his career, participated in the development of the Vidal-Fleury establishment.
Despite his young age, Marcel Guigal took over from his father in 1961 when the latter was victim to a brutal illness rendering him blind. Marcel's hard work and perseverance enabled the Guigals to buy out Vidal-Fleury in 1984, although the establishment retains its own identity and commercial autonomy. In 2000, the Guigals purchased the Jean-Louis Grippat estate in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage, as well as the Domaine de Vallouit in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage.
In the cellars of the Guigal estate in Ampuis, the northern appellations of the Rhône Valley are produced and aged. These are the appellations of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. The great appellations of the Southern Rhône, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Tavel and Côtes-du-Rhône, are also aged in the Ampuis cellars.
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.