2013 St Joseph Le Clos
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Tasting notes
Bright violet. A powerful, expressive bouquet evokes fresh dark berries, incense and candied flowers, and an exotic Indian spice nuance builds in the glass. Offers palate-staining boysenberry and bitter cherry flavors that open up and become spicier with air. Lush yet vibrant in character, displaying seamless texture and a sexy, lingering floral note on the impressively long, smoke-accented finish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Deeper in color and more opaque than the Les Granits, the 2013 Saint Joseph le Clos checks in at 14% natural alcohol and has beautiful density and depth in its crème de cassis, burning embers, wet rock and charcoal-scented bouquet. Medium to full-bodied, tight, focused and sensationally pure, with building tannin and a seamless, elegant, lengthy profile, it needs 2-3 years of cellaring and will have two or more decades of overall longevity.
Dark purple. Lively, sharply delineated aromas of fresh red and dark berries, Asian spices, potpourri and anise, along with an intense mineral overtone. Juicy and pure, offering palate-staining blueberry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air. Fine-grained tannins give shape to the finish, which leaves sexy floral and spicecake notes behind. This wine shows the elegance of a fine Côte-Rôtie.
Less than 1 ha, 100% Syrah. In Tournon, south-east facing 15-year-old vines just above the cemetery. There were vines here before 1000 AD. Broad and toasty. Complete and confident. Neat and very fresh. Most impressive. Long. (JR)