2021 St Joseph Rouge
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Tasting notes
Full bottle 1,323 g. 100% Syrah grown on steep-sided granite terraces, vines from very young to 50+ years old. In conversion to organic certification. Hand-picked, partially destemmed, spontaneous fermentation for three weeks in stainless steel. 12 months in 228-litre barrels. Sylvain Gauthier is from the French Moselle where his father had an organic vineyard. He moved to the Rhône to work at Domaine du Tunnel in Cornas and Chapoutier and stayed. He started planting his vineyards on the slopes around St-Jean-de-Muzols in 2004 and in 2007 he found vineyards around Cheminas on steep granite terraces. The domaine is now 10 ha with the majority in the St-Joseph appellation. Rich, dense layers of leathery tannins, chocolate-chestnut torta, bitter black olives, roast game and masses of dried rosemary. A yin-yang of cool elegance and compact power. (TC)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
From an up-and-coming estate readers should have on their radar, the 2021 Saint Joseph sports a healthy purple, mostly opaque color to go with spicy, peppery, perfumed aromatics including lots of blue fruit, camphor, and violet nuances, medium body, good overall ripeness, and the crisp, almost crunchy style of the vintage. I love its balance, and both its acidity and tannins are nicely integrated. Drink bottles over the coming 7-8 years or so.