Les Alexandrins Maison Saint-Joseph 2017
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Intense and rich with notes of wild fruit. The mouth is complex with soft tannins. This wine is powerful and has a distinctive elegance to it. To drink straight away or in the next three years
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Ripe and warm in feel, with a plush edge to the mix of red currant, plum and blackberry preserve flavors. Light anise, singed apple wood and sweet tobacco accents chime in on the finish.
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Cool strikes of granite and graphite extend from nose to finish in this intensely mineral, medium-bodied Syrah. It's a zesty wine marked by crisp blackberry and cherry flavors and a backbone of bristling acidity. Gripping tannins frame the finish. Best From 2025.
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Maison & Domaine Les Alexandrins is the story of three friends combining the savoir-faire they learn from their parents and grandparents and the fruits from beautiful and historic terroirs. Nicolas Jaboulet, the 6th generation of a wine growing family in Tain l’Hermitage, Guillaume Sorrel, son of Marc Sorrel of Domaine Sorrel in Hermitage, and Alexandre Caso, a specialist in the terroirs of the Northern Rhône, joined forces in 2012. They began working parcel by parcel in Crozes-Hermitage for the wines of Maison Nicolas Perrin. In 2015, the name was changed to Domaine et Maison Les Alexandrins. Today, Maison and Domaine Les Alexandrins produces Northern Rhône wines that are true and classic expressions of the Northern Rhône.
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.