Winemaker Notes
Saint-Joseph Lieu-dit is produced from the Saint-Joseph registered vines which originally lent their name to the appellation. This powerful and spicy wine has a lovely freshness on the palate which brings elegance and balance.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Pulled from the historic heart of the appellation, where the vines cling to a steep gneiss-based slope, this is elegant and firm, almost forbidding in its polished, well-oaked façade. Those mahogany tones course along lean, firm lines, the wine compact and con- centrated, a nugget of dense black fruit wrapped in tannins and lashed with notes of licorice and spice. The wine in our bottle remained unchanged for days after opening, opulent in a stand-offish way. Of course, we opened it years before its prime—so you don’t have to. Better to wait at least another ten years, or even twenty. Best Buy
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Saint Joseph Lieu Dit Saint Joseph is tight and closed yet has beautiful, full-bodied richness and depth as well as lots of baby fat, building tannins, and a great finish. It’s another terrific wine from this team.
Barrel Sample: 92-94+ -
Wine Spectator
Warm and lush in feel, with flavors of cocoa-edged plum sauce and steeped blackberry preserves, backed by roasted apple wood and licorice snap notes. This has both muscle and perfume. Best from 2022.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Saint-Joseph Lieu-Dit Saint-Joseph boasts complex aromas that range from maple syrup to cocoa-tinged black cherries and crushed stone. It's full-bodied but possessed of granitic restraint and structural elements, finishing long, cool, silky and elegant. Drink it over the next decade or so.
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.