In the Rhône, Day 2: Saint Joseph
ByMy visit to Chave was somewhat upset by the news that one of the great faces in the Rhône story had died. This was Pierre Gonon and his funeral on the Friday was very well attended.
I went to see his sons, Pierre and Jean, the following day. They insisted on seeing me, showing a 2010 of extraordinary finesse. In honour of his father maybe, I tasted a red from the over-ripe 2003 vintage which was quite wonderful and still tasting so young.
Why Saint Joseph?
Saint Joseph is a new appellation dating back to 1956. The name itself comes from the best known vineyard, Lieu dit Saint Joseph, which occupies a steep granite slope to the south of Tournon. Before the Appellation the wines were sold as Côtes du Rhône with the name of the village (Tournon, Mauves or Saint Jean being the best known). Some of these wines were prized with prices that sometimes exceeded those of Cornas for instance. The Saint Joseph Appellation was extended to cover vineyards to the north and therein 20 more miles of granite slopes, all the way to the border with Condrieu.
But the heart of Saint Joseph remains in the south around Tournon and Mauves. The best wines all come from very steep slopes which means everything must be done by hand. For the time being the wines are less revered than Hermitage or Côte Rôtie but that is good news, as they remain great value for money.
Marcel Orford-Williams
This is really interesting. I’d always wondered what the very steep-sloped vineyards opposite Hermitage, across the river, were.
There must be huge variation in St Joseph between precipitous slopes like those, and some of the flatter vineyards to the north that are presumably still classed as St Jo.
Presumably there is huge variation in ageworthiness of St Jo wines (I had some 1990 Gaillard recently, and it was very enjoyable, but I can’t imagine that most St Jo keeps north of 20 years!).
In general Saint Joseph is a ten year wine but there are exceptions depending on vintage and where from. Potential here is very exciting especially when considering that some of the best slopes were never replanted. This is why the Chave project is so exciting and he of course has both the passion and wealth to make things happen. Chave will make two wines for the time being: The Domaine and Offerus. His idea eventually will be to release a number of single vineyard wines but there is much to do in the vineyard before that can happen. Meanwhile 2010 Offerus will be in the opening offer and that is going to be very special indeed, undoubtedly the best Offerus to date
Excellent posts on the Rhone, thanks Marcel. I wish more of the buyers would blog on their wine buying exploits.
I agree – really interesting articles with some great insights, thanks Marcel. I concur with Hugh’s request for more Grapevine articles from the Buyers on their regional visits and discussions with growers.