2015 St Joseph Les Royes

Bright violet. Powerful cherry and blackberry aromas, along with hints of smoky bacon, licorice and cracked pepper. Concentrated and energetic on the palate, offering juicy black and blue fruit flavors that put on weight and become sweeter with air. Closes very long, sappy and smooth, showing very good clarity and bite on the spicy, subtly tannic finish.

The 2015 Saint Joseph Les Royes offers a similar, if not slightly darker purple color to go with additional minerality, tons of cassis, graphite and charcoal aromatics, building tannin, and a great, great finish. Like a lot of 2015s, it's charming and approachable today, yet has the tannin and concentration to cruise in the cellar. This cuvée comes from a six-hectare, full south-facing vineyard in the southern part of the appellation, and was brought up in a mix of smaller barrels. The Courbis brothers have hit a home run with these 2015s, the finest wines I’ve tasted from this brilliant estate. All three of the single vineyard Cornas are incredible wines, with the Les Eygats being one of finest Cornas ever made. The 2016s are also terrific wines that aren’t far behind the 2015s, and they’ll be approachable at an earlier age as well.

Opaque ruby. Ripe dark berries, cherry liqueur, olive and pipe tobacco on the highly perfumed nose; a smoky element adds vivacity. Energetic blackberry, bitter cherry and violet pastille flavors show excellent clarity and a hint of licorice that builds with air. The smooth, smoke-tinged finish emphatically repeats the floral and licorice notes, and supple tannins build steadily while folding into the intense dark fruit.