Community Tasting Note
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forceberry wrote: 87 points
September 28, 2021 - The fruit is mainly from vineyards in Tournon. 70% destemmed, 30% in whole bunches. The foot-trodden grapes get a few days of cold soak before fermentation. Aged in 600-liter demi-muids (60%) and smaller barrels, ranging from new to very old (10 yo). 14,5% alcohol.
Deep and dark, almost fully opaque blood-red color. At first the nose feels quite restrained and closed, but opens up beautifully into an alluring, fragrant and rather sweet-toned bouquet of dark plums and bilberries, some meaty tones, light perfumed floral nuances, a little bit of peppery spice and a roasted hint of something smoky. The wine feels rich, very juicy and even slightly soupy on the palate with a full body and sunny, ripe flavors of blackberry jam, some cherry marmalade, some roasted gamey tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light savory woody tones, a hint of inky character and a touch of toasty oak spice. The overall feel is rather warm and a bit on the soft side, thanks to the high alcohol and medium acidity. Fortunately the quite ample and moderately grippy tannins bring in some welcome firmness. The finish is very rich, juicy and moderately grippy with somewhat sweet-toned flavors of plum compote and blackberry marmalade, some black cherry tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light meaty notes of umami and a slightly smoky hint of bacon.
A very ripe and surprisingly weighty Saint Joseph with a noticeably solar overall character. Although not yet "Shiraz" in style, the wine feels noticeably bold in fruit and big in body for a Saint Joseph, not really showing the freshness and high acidity the appellation is better known for. Although quite enjoyable in its own right, the wine feels just too "2018" for my taste - meaning the wine is just too sweet, too high in alcohol and too low in acidity for my preference. Although the wine might get better as it ages and drops some of its lush, sweetish fruit, I doubt it will ever attain much finesse. This is born quite clumsy for a St. Joe, and clumsy it will be.1 person found this helpful 1,898 views
1 Comment
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cfk49 commented:
10/8/21, 1:50 AM - Your notes are spot-on. A relatively disappointing effort from a favorite producer, reflecting the problems of the vintage. I found the wine did improve some the second day, enough for me to put out 23€ to buy a second bottle to follow how it has evolved in five years or so.