2021 St Joseph Les Royes Blanc

Gorgeous notes of quince, honeyed minerality, toasted spices, and white flowers emerge from the 2021 Saint Joseph Les Royes Blanc, a medium-bodied, vibrant white that shows the fresher style of the vintage while still bringing beautiful depth and richness. It's a gorgeous white readers will love to have in the cellar. It should evolve for 4-6 years, although I love it today. The Courbis brothers, Dominique and Laurent, continue to fashion brilliant wines. From their 33 hectares of vines spread between Cornas, Saint Joseph, Saint-Péray, and Vin de Pays, they produce three whites (two Saint Joseph and one Saint-Péray), three Cornas, and three Saint Joseph. As I’ve written in the past, the wines are quasi-modern with most being destemmed and a few of the top releases seeing a touch of new oak. Don’t let that scare you, though – these are pure, rich, concentrated wines that always hold onto a sense of place. Looking at the wines reviewed here, they’ve done an incredible job with their 2021s, and while they show the fresher style of the vintage, they have ample depth. These will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and are well worth seeking out. The 2022s are a step up, with another level of concentration, yet they bring enough tannins where the cellar is going to be your friend.