Babylone Saint-Joseph Syrah

Charleston Food and Wine Classic…Rhône tasting.

Bright red, candied cherry, lively. Raspberry.

Clear blue and black fruit with earth and iron. Opens to typical violets. Moderate tannic grip. An approachable constraint.

This is a terrific St.-Joseph that fills a nice niche in the world of syrah I don't encounter nearly as often as I'd like - it has all the earthy funk, cracked pepper, and dry-aged meatiness of a powerful Northern Rhone yet instead of the slick, dense fruit and/or ripping tannic muscle that ordinarily accompanies that, it's a buoyant middleweight with pure fruit firmly on the red-fruit side of the spectrum. It's almost like a friendlier version of a Levet Cote-Rotie - a lot of the savory elements that make those so interesting are here and the transparency and weight are similar, the fruit here is just rounder and cleaner. It's not a "needs food" wine - it's easy to sip and even has a surprising amount of glou glou for something with this kind of depth. A blend of young(ish) 25 year old vines and some serious 115 year old V.V.'s, which may be how it manages to pull off both sides of that personality at the same time.

Such beautiful fruit. Killer pairing with Famous Dave's!

Ripe and flashy, still has the earth and meat but very much about fruit for an ow wine

Julien taking a crack at northern rhone syrah- hot in bistro
scene great value across river from Hermitage 2nd vintage-very supple chocolate- high tone fruit fills the gap between crozes and higher priced wines

Liked

Felt like we wanted for the wine to never open up. Initial whiff of something special, but wine was nice but kind of ordinary

Similar to previous bottles. Heavy on enjoyment with elegant red fruit & enough tannic structure to add texture & grip. Not the most complex, but easy to enjoy for sure.