2018 St Joseph Ste Epine

This rich and mouth-filling St.-Joseph with generous tannins makes a bold statement. Some obvious smoky and spicy oak notes, but also the meatiness of syrah. Then, the austere and stony side of the appellation comes through, growing in intensity as the wine flows over your palate, until it is like a big wave at the finish. Drink or hold.

Matured half in new oak, the other half in second use barrels, the 2018 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine offers up scents of cedar and vanilla set against a backdrop of ripe, dark fruit and spice. Full-bodied, rich and velvety in texture, it delivers all of the goods—concentrated fruit, ripe tannins, expensive oak—combined with the restrained power and refined elegance of its south-facing granite slope. Drink it over the next decade.

Powerful aromas of blackberry and cherry liqueur, pungent flowers, olive and exotic spices take on a hint of smoky bacon with air. Smooth and broad on the palate, offering intense, spice- and mineral-laced black/blue fruit and candied violet flavors, along with a spicy touch of cracked pepper. Closes on a resonating floral note, delivering impressive energy, harmonious tannins and lingering minerality.