2003 St Joseph Offerus

Component #1: Full ruby. Blackberry, fresh blood and a candied note on the nose. Superripe yet floral and fresh, with lovely peppery lift. Very youthful fruit here, especially for the vintage. Component #2: Medium-deep red-ruby. Blackberry and blueberry pie with chocolatey torrefaction on the nose. Fat, sweet and peppery, with lovely fruit. Finishes with substantial broad tannins and excellent length. Component #3: Medium ruby. Cassis, black pepper and gunflint on the nose; very much a sample from granite soil. Deep, concentrated and penetrating; liqueur-like without being at all cooked. Component #4: Superripe, peppery, liqueur-like nose; less pure and delineated than the previous couple of samples. Drier and tighter in the mouth, and difficult to taste today. Component #5: Medicinal black fruits and mint on the nose. Intense flavors of crushed dark fruits and pepper, with an exotic suggestion of banana. Kept fresh today by the carbonic gas. I look forward to seeing how these disparate components will combine, but all the elements are here for an outstanding Saint-Joseph.

Just up the street from the estate, Gerard’s son, Jean-Louis, has a small negociant business dedicated to making high quality St.-Joseph. The 2003 Offerus St.-Joseph is a beauty. Powerful and rich, with loads of berry fruit, a stunning perfume, and a heady finish, it is the finest example of this offering yet made. Moreover, it will be a bargain in this potentially monumental vintage. One of the last producers to harvest in the north, Chave began picking on September 5th, and refused to acidify despite the fact that analytically there was virtually no acid left in his grapes. He told me this vintage has made him totally re-examine all his ideas about winemaking since the finished wines taste fresh, lively, and while they possesses enormous levels of alcohol (15-17% plus), they are neither hot nor heavy. He said, “perhaps it is our terroir, but I never thought wines like this could be made.” Everything was still in barrels as the assemblage had not yet taken place, so my tasting notes are based on tastings from each individual cuvee in the cellars. Importers: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524 and Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800. Note: Importers are in the process of changing.

Just up the street from the estate, Gerard’s son, Jean-Louis, has a small negociant business dedicated to making high quality St.-Joseph. The 2003 Offerus St.-Joseph is a beauty. Powerful and rich, with loads of berry fruit, a stunning perfume, and a heady finish, it is the finest example of this offering yet made. Moreover, it will be a bargain in this potentially monumental vintage. ||One of the last producers to harvest in the north, Chave began picking on September 5th, and refused to acidify despite the fact that analytically there was virtually no acid left in his grapes. He told me this vintage has made him totally re-examine all his ideas about winemaking since the finished wines taste fresh, lively, and while they possesses enormous levels of alcohol (15-17% plus), they are neither hot nor heavy. He said, “perhaps it is our terroir, but I never thought wines like this could be made.” Everything was still in barrels as the assemblage had not yet taken place, so my tasting notes are based on tastings from each individual cuvee in the cellars. Wine Advocate.December, 2004