2018 St Joseph Les Grisieres
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Dark violet color. Expressive, mineral- and spice-accented aromas of ripe dark fruits, smoky bacon, incense, olive and exotic spices. Offers densely packed yet energetic black and blue fruit preserve, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that spread out and become sweeter on the back half. Shows superb energy and fine definition, finishing very long and focused, with youthfully gripping tannins and resonating florality. 20% whole clusters.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Produced from 70-year-old vines planted just south of the village of Chavanay, the 2018 Saint Joseph les Grisieres delivers plentiful notes of blackberries and black olives. Full-bodied, rich and velvety in feel, it finishes long and softly tannic. Impressive.
A highly fragrant bouquet evokes fresh black/blue fruits, exotic spices and candied flowers, and a smoky mineral element emerges as the wine opens up. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering lively, mineral-accented blueberry, bitter cherry and violet pastille flavors and a touch of salty olive paste. The floral note reappears on an impressively persistent finish that features harmonious tannins and lingering spice and mineral notes.
More classic Saint Joseph with its darker fruits, minerality, bouquet garni, and smoky nuances, the 2018 Saint Joseph Les Grisieres is a rich, concentrated 2018 with building tannins, plenty of flesh, and terrific balance. It’s going to need 5-6 years or bottle age, however. One of the insider-only producers in Condrieu is Andre Perret, who has a tiny cellar just south of the village of Condrieu. His whites are consistently at the top of the heap in the Northern Rhône, and his reds rarely get the credit and recognition they deserve. You can’t go wrong with any of these wines, and if you have tried a wine from Perret, get out there and find a bottle!