Saint-Joseph Syrah

I highly recommend this gorgeous Syrah. A classically styled northern Rhone. Dark cherry, red currant, blackberry, this has spice and smoke, and the meaty side of Syrah. 93-94 pts as this has potential to improve.

Meaty, minty and peppery nose. Wow. So gamey and bloody. Pedal to the medal St. Joseph. Ultra traditional stuff here. Lots of olive and all on a serious granitic background. Palate is elegant and so refined but also has a wild side in that it’s super gamey, olivey and very supple and has good red berry sweetness. Really clean. These wines get cleaner every year without losing their feral edge. Very fine tannin. Also some youthful austerity. Needs air. I will be back. As this opens up exotic tea scents. Maybe oolong and Puer-eh. Great concentration and super silky and long. This is so good. 19 is also best vintage since 15.

Ripe and rich and great aromas but the 15% is showing tonight.

Classic feel to it, rustic and charmingly appealing with it’s drinkability and mid-weight structure.

Just a classic drop dead nose. Big olives. Green and Kalamata. Almost a tapenade mixed with black and red berry fruit. Some wonderful game notes. Awesome granite and tiny stone minerality. By far the most open 18, at least aromatically I’ve had in a while. Palate is ripe and a super juicy with blood red berry fruit that is vivid and super pure and then finishes with a mean granitic streak. Then more fruit after that with olive and a granite undertone. This is classic, fantastic and complex. JC Marsanne deserves more attention for this bottling. Maybe best bottle I’ve ever had from him.

After a few hours this lost a touch of precision. 9.5 to 9.4.

Although this is still a young wine, I am glad to say that after atleast half-a-dozen recent disappointments with wines from @SaintJoseph this one is both exciting and of great quality. Dark fruit, spices, meat, blood, mint, and some flower petals; a rich, tannic and food-craving wine.

Nose is a bit subdued out of the gates. Some mineral, some feral, some spice. But palate is full blown awesome 15 in full glory. Dense, juicy, meaty and so packed with dense berry fruit. Long and so fresh, I mean really long. This is so good. I’ll be back as the nose opens up.

After 12-15 hours open nose is meaty, minty, granitic, spice, feral, herbs and a hint of sauvage floral.

Bring me some Gilles Verot head cheese and other Lyonnais delicacies. This meaty blue fruited stunner is gorgeous and goes on and on. I can see the Mauves neighborly comparisons. The first time I tried Gonon was at Bar Boulud.

Bold nose of purple flowers, blood, & blackcurrants. Bacon fat and black olive. Floral and meaty on the palette. Loads of structure left. Great stuff.

So smooth and elegant.