Winemaker Notes
Garnet red with purple highlights. Nice intensity of wild dark berry notes (blackcurrant, blackberries), mineral notes (graphite), underscored by lovely, smooth oakiness. Palate: soft and well-balanced. Soft and well-balanced on entry. Fine, tight tannins, beautiful mineral tautness derived from the granite. Long lasting finish with lovely dark berry notes.
Pair with fish in tapenade sauce small game, lamb, cooked pork meats and soft cheeses, like goat's milk cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wild berries, roasted meat, smoke, black pepper and some leather, too. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins. Lots of violets on the palate giving it a very delicate and elegant character all along. Bright with crisp acidity and a precise, focused finish. Very mineral and granite-driven. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Salty and smoky, with pleasing chewiness to its notes of red fruit, flanked with cured tobacco leaf, toasted anise and spice details. A bacon lard element brings meatiness, and a tug of tar plays out on the sultry finish, wafting with sandalwood smoke. Drink now through 2032. 10 cases imported.
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.