Winemaker Notes
Deep red. Complex with dominant black fruit and delicate oak aromas. A pure and intense nose. A powerful attack. Powerful, round and elegant tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2017 Saint Joseph Vignes De L'Hospice from barrel and it doesn't disappoint from bottle. Revealing a deep ruby/plum color as well as spicy, exotic notes of crème de cassis, toasted spice, incense, barbecue smoke, and acacia flowers, this beauty has subtle background oak, full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It offers pleasure even today yet will be at its best in 4-5 years and keep for two decades.
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Wine & Spirits
The Guigals never intended to buy land in St-Joseph, until they saw the parcels that Jean-Louis Grippat was offering them upon his retirement: The vines in Vignes de l’Hospice occupy a vertiginously steep slope right behind the town of Tournon, the scrabbly, granite-based soil held in place by a series of terraces. They vinify this wine as they do their Côte-Rôties, in stainless-steel tanks, followed by 30 months in new barrels they cooper on site. The wood takes prominence at first, adding an extravagant amount of smoky, toasty caramel and spice to the aroma. But the fruit comes up with air, concentrated and powerful, with a saline minerality that keeps it lifted and mouthwatering. This is built for the long term.
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Wine Spectator
A polished and toasty style, with vanilla bean and singed mesquite accents draped over a core of very substantial dark cherry and plum fruit. Fruitcake and licorice frame the finish, with a buried iron note to keep it honest. Really packed throughout. Best from 2022 through 2035. 125 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Marked by scents of tar and black olives, cedar and clove, blackberries and cassis, the 2017 Saint-Joseph Vignes de l'Hospice is the most complex, structured and age worthy of the three Saint-Joseph cuvées. The puppy fat and jamminess that were present earlier in its élevage are largely gone, and while the wine is medium to full-bodied, it's also reserved and elegant, with shadings of crushed stone and fine-grained tannins defining the palate and lingering on the finish.
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.