2020 St Joseph
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Tasting notes
Showing consistently, and certainly giving some perspective with regards to the 2021, the 2020 Saint Joseph is gorgeously rich and textured, medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of ripe black fruits, roasted herbs, and earth, floral nuances. Despite its wealth of fruit, there’s plenty of structure here, and if anything, it’s showing more structure and tannic grip today. It deserves 3-4 years and will evolve gracefully over the following decade with ease. This is a brilliant Saint Joseph.
Critic scores
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The refined 2020 Saint-Joseph hits the palate with great concentration and a juicy core of red fruits. Pencil shavings, crushed violets and cedar add more layers. Maintaining spot-on balance and neatly framed by polished tannins, the 2020 Saint-Joseph is classic Gonon. It is less ripe and flamboyant than the 2018 or 2019, but offers more substance than the 2021, concludes with lifting energy on the savory finish.
St. Joseph is often declared to be a second tier appellation in the Northern Rhone, but here’s proof that it can play in the first league of the region. This has an incredibly deep nose of ripe blackberries, other forest berries and smoke. On the barely full-bodied palate it is simultaneously rich, focused and extremely complex with very graceful fine tannins and stacks of stony minerality at the breathtakingly fresh finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
Deep magenta. Displays expansive aromas of black raspberry, cherry liqueur, candied flowers and olive, along with exotic spice and smoky mineral nuances. Weighty as well as energetic in style, offering sappy, mineral-drenched black and blue fruit preserves, floral pastille flavors and hints of star anise and allspice. Finishes juicy, lively and wonderfully long, with resonating spice and floral notes and youthfully gripping tannins. (JR)