Peter Coulthard

9.0

Waitrose. — 3 months ago

Donald Williams

9.3

Found lurking in the cellar. Well worth waiting for. — 6 months ago

with Bonnie

Jay Kline

9.4

I met up with a buddy who is a huge Napa guy. It’s what he knows and to his credit, he has great knowledge of producers and has good taste. We decided to grab a bite at Buvette and he asked if I would pick out the bottle. He said he trusted my judgment, so I walked over to the Rhone wall and noticed the 2019 Jean-Louis Chave Saint-Joseph. Knowing the style, I figured it would touch some of the things he would be familiar with, particularly right now in its youth.

Popped and poured; no formal notes. The 2019 Saint-Joseph pours a deep purple color that stains the glass. On the nose, the wine is fresh and redolent of ripe black fruits and some blue fruits: blackberries and other dark brambly fruits along with some blueberries. The non-fruits were also there: beautiful purple flowers, black pepper, rocky minerals and some lovely vanilla and baking spices. On the palate, the wine was big, full-bodied and had great structure, nearing that medium+ range across the board. The acid is fantastic and the finish was long and savory. It’s easy to draw comparisons between Chave and Gonon as anymore, they share a similar price point and both are known leaders in the appellation. From my perspective, the Chave S-J comes across a bit more focused on the fruit, floral and spice characteristics while the Gonon S-J highlights the bacon fat and rotundone. Otherwise, both are excellent examples. FWIW, my buddy loved the wine (chalk one up for the Old World!) and it was an excellent pairing with our braised short ribs. Drink now to enjoy its youth or enjoy through 2034+. — 2 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Crafted by Joseph J. Wagner, 4th generation winemaker, with winemaking roots in the Napa Valley since 1906. Deep Ruby with red berry fruit aromas, tea and sweet spice notes. On the palate flavors of jammy blackberry and cherry with pronounced sweet vanilla oak, cacao and pepper spice notes. Soft tannins and bright acidity, well balanced, with mineral tones on a long finish ending with toasty spice! Nice! — 4 months ago

Tim L

8.9

Joseph Wagoner, Winemaker…therefore, assumption is it’s the Caymus family. Many Wagoners out there are good news. Good, tasty, medium bodied etc etc and balanced, the key to a may-buy-again-even-if-it’s-not-a-big Russian River Pinot. Reasonable value. Santa Barbara, Monterey and Sonoma Counties. — a year ago

Jeremy

9.3

Great! Compares well to the KJ VR. Would prefer more oak. Will buy again. — 4 years ago

Hubert Smith

9.0

2023 Barbados — 6 months ago

Peter Coulthard

9.2

Waitrose. Very tasty and enjoyable — 9 months ago

Jeff Christner

9.1

Beautiful rosé-ish hue in the glass. Lovely. — a year ago

Fredybeans

9.1

Belle marsanne sans presence du bois intempestif
J aime bien — 4 years ago