Saint Joseph - Great Natural Winemaking in the Northern Rhône!

7/20/2009 -

The appelation Saint-Joseph, which extends for 40 miles along the west bank of the Rhône near Tournon, contains a wide variety of soils and micro-climates which has made consumers wary, and yet the best sites, which rival those of Cornas, Hermitage and Cote Rotie, produce consistently exciting wines. Quoting Livingstone-Learmonth's excellent book The Wines of the Northern Rhône "Syrah and granite is a good pairing ... It's grandiose at Hermitage, voluptuous at Cote-Rotie, grave at Cornas, and here (at Saint Joseph) - well, it's lively, unleashed and often delicioius" CSW has brought in three of the leading "natural" producers of Saint-Joseph, all of whom beautifully illustrate the "lively, unleashed and delicious" aspects of Syrah in this wonderful area.

Although there is a smal vein of limestone in the south of the appellation, near Cornas, the best hillside vineyards "...conform to the geological logic of possessing the most granite and the poorest ground higher up, with stony areas in midslope and then some clay and deeper ground in the middle to lower areas." Very generally speaking, wines from southern vineyards around Mauves, Tournon and St. Jean de Muzols tend to be heavier and riper with the northern wines showing a leaner structure and brighter acidity.  The lower slopes with more clay and sand are better for whites and give reds that are less tannic. The local variations seem endless, as the slopes are cut into myriad exposures with different granites and topsoils, but of equal importance are the growing and winemaking styles of the hundreds of producers, many of whom are relative newcomers. There is a core of fine, experienced growers in Saint-Joseph, but there are many who lean towards over-extraction and excessive new oak in their pursuit of a more "modern" style. The three growers we are featuring work organically in the vineyard, ferment with wild yeasts, are "non-interventionists" in the cellar and use minimal sulfites. Their wines capture the wild and beautiful aromatics of Syrah and the great terroirs in this unique region. While they are not inexpensive, they represent excellent value for those seeking a real and complex expression of Syrah - and they will accompany beautifully this summers grilled steak, lamb and pork dishes....

(For those seeking more information, we highly recommend John Livingstone-Learmonth's The Wines of the Northern Rhône as well as his excellent web-site, drinkrhone.com)