St-Joseph (Northern Rhône): The physical environment

St-Joseph, according to John Livingston-Learmonth (The Wines of the Northern Rhône),

... is a country cousin wine which can rise to the occasion, but which above all expresses a very important Syrah style for anyone wanting to check out this grape's credential. Syrah and granite is a good pairing ... Its grandiose at Hermitage, voluptuous at Côte-Rôtie off the Côte Blonde, grave at Cornas and here (ed: St-Joseph) -- well, its lively, unleashed, and often delicious.

The wines from this Northern Rhone appellation "... can capture and convey the elemental aromas, flavors, and emotions of these wines, but in a more open, easier-going manner" and does not require the aging (5 - 7 years) associated with Cornas (8 - 12 years), Hermitage (15 - 20 years) or Côte-Rôtie (15 - 20 years).

St-Joseph is a tale of two appellations, both temporally and spatially. The initial appellation designation occurred in June 1956 and gave protection to the fruit and wines from 6 communes stretching over a distance of 6 miles. This initial appellation was expanded to 25 communes, and 40 miles, in 1969, effectively shifting the gravitational center of the appellation to the north and resulting in distinctive northern and southern zones.

The history and current structure of the appellation is shown in the figure below.

The expansion of the appellation did not immediately benefit the reputation of the region's wine. According to Livingston-Learmonth:

The immediate implication is this: large amounts of young vines now grow on sites that cannot be all good -- and if their fruit is handled by novice vignerons, there is little certainty that good wine will be the outcome.

Well more than a decade has gone by since John uttered these words so the vines have become older and the vignerons more expert. There are, however, no solutions for bad sites.

All six of the original appellation communes are located in the southern zone of the expanded appellation (See figure below).

Granite is the overarching theme of the appellation but a limestone seam can be found between Chateaubourg and Guilherand in the extreme south. While dominant, the granite is not uniform in composition or effect. According to Jean Gonon, the granite found in St-Jean-de-Muzols and Tournon differ in that:

The St-Jean-de-Muzols granite is composed of very small particles and is not as rich as the Tournon soil. The Tournon granite contains some mica and has larger grains as well a some clay -- it is less degraded. The Syrah from the sunnier, full south St-Jean soils is marked by brambly, often black fruits and is intrinsically pretty generous -- there is little sense of the northern zones toughness or taut texture from the core areas of St-Joseph.

The most significant communes of the northern zone are shown in the figure below.

As mentioned earlier, granite is the theme running through the St-Joseph appellation and this granite imparts an order and structure to the tannins of the region's wines. According to Livingston-Learmonth:

It places a frame around the wines that keep them tidy, subtle, and ready for an evolution that turns fulsome youth into complex middle age. The tannins give the wines a slightly pesky side, the fruit is grainy,a little taut at times, but always the aroma is vibrant and layered, never monotone.

That being said, there are demonstrable differences between the wines from the northern and southern zones of the appellation and these are characterized in the table below.

Northern Zone Wines	Southern Zone Wines
Upright, peppered wines	Wines that are warmer and more “embracing”
Reserved	More instantly open
Richness less intense	Richness apparent
	Blackstrap, tarry notes
	Tannins riper and mellower
Wines are younger and from more modern clones
Green pepper aspect to the wines of Chavanay	Much less evident at Tournon

With this description of the physical aspects of St-Joseph completed, I will next turn to the tasting of the Chave St-Joseph wines at Digress.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme