2007 St Joseph le Paradis St Pierre

The top cuvee, the 2007 St.-Joseph Le Paradis St.-Pierre, comes from the granite hillside vineyards of Mauves and Tournon. An elegant bouquet of raspberries, black cherries, crushed rocks, and spring flowers is followed by a medium-bodied, Burgundian-styled red that should provide plenty of pleasure over the next 5-7 years. Jerome Coursodon is one of the young Turks producing high quality wines in his cellars, which are just up the street from those of Gerard and Jean-Louis Chave. The Coursodon cuvees still sell at fair prices, and they are well-worth seeking out. I was thrilled to hear that his 2006 reds have completely sold out, which tells me consumers have gotten the message as to how good these wines are. The 2007 whites are reminiscent of a northern Rhone white blended with a Chablis. The three cuvees of 2007 red St.-Joseph had already been bottled when I saw them. While they are all very good, they do not measure up to Coursodon’s 2006s. Importer: A Patrick Lesec Selection, agent for the U.S. market, Chemin des Vins, Sherborn, MA; tel. (508) 545-1532