Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Wednesday, December 7, 2022 - 100% Syrah from the steep Saint-Joseph vineyard in Tournon-sur-Rhône that gives the appellation its name. The destemmed grapes are fermented spontaneously and macerated for 4 weeks in concrete vats. Aged for 12-14 months in oak barrels (10% new). 14,5% alcohol. Tasted half-blind in a tasting of eleven 2015 Saint Joseph wines.

Luminous, very slightly translucent and quite dark ruby-red color with youthful blueish highlights. The nose feels fragrant, clean and quite solar with sweetly-fruited aromas of ripe dark forest fruits, some brambly notes of black raspberries, a little bit of graphite or soot, light nuances of tobacco and a hint of sunny blackberry. The wine is silky smooth, rather ripe and moderately full-bodied on the palate with rich yet somewhat robust flavors of juicy dark berries, some gamey tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light ferrous notes of blood, a sweet hint of dark plums and a savory touch of meaty umami. The wine is high in acidity with quite ample and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is bold, moderately grippy and somewhat warm with a long aftertaste of powerful blackberry-driven fruit, some ripe plummy tones, a little bit of gamey meat, light spicy notes of crushed peppercorns, a hint of blood and a touch of tobacco.

A rather big and ripe Syrah with lots of substance and impact. The wine is quite structured, thus nicely in balance, and the emphasis is on pure, well-delineated Syrah fruit, making the wine feel vibrant and expressive. However, the overall impression is still a bit too lush, ripe and sweetly-fruited for my taste with a bit too much alcohol heat. It feels like this might be a very lovely wine in cooler vintages, but in a warm vintage like 2015 lieu-dit Saint Joseph seems a bit too warm a place for making harmonious wines. Maybe the wine might drop some of its baby fat and sweet-toned fruit with age? At least the overall feel is still very youthful, packed with structure and bold fruit, promising volumes on the aging potential. However, I must say that at 65€ the wine feels simply too expensive for the quality. In our tasting the wine received two points from the ten participants, making it finish on fifth place.

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