2010 St Joseph, Domaine du Tunnel, Rhône

2010 St Joseph, Domaine du Tunnel, Rhône

Product: 20108024312
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2010 St Joseph, Domaine du Tunnel, Rhône

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Description

The keeper - Scoop up this majestic, deftly oaked 2010, a truly great northern rhone vintage. Fans might balk at paying almost £30 for Stephane Robert's terrific, lively, leafy, violets and cracked black pepperscented, structured St Joseph, but buying it by the half-dozen makes it a steal. A Syrah grape exclusive with an unusual perfumed, dried herbs twist of its own, plus a fine, long, tangy, faintly gamey finish, this is the bargain game-bird red of the season. Or tuck it away until 2015 and beyond for some more of those fine, gamey flavours to emerge.
Jane MacQuitty, The Times, 26th October

With vines in the heart of the appellation (that is to say on the slopes of Tournon and Mauves) Stéphane is well placed to exploit the burgeoning reputation of this oft-overlooked commune. The grapes are 90% destemmed and matured for eight months in second-fill demi-muid; the wine has an attractive perfume of bay leaf and sun-dried herbs and a nicely rounded palate with ripe tannins and a clean finish.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012

 

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About this WINE

Domaine Du Tunnel

Domaine Du Tunnel

Located in a somewhat anonymous back-street of St Peray in Rhone, Domaine Du Tunnel is forging a reputation as one of the leading wine producers in newly rejuvenated villages of St Peray and Cornas, both famous through history and throughout France for making, respectively, excellent white and red wines.

Now, with the savoir faire of young vignerons such as Stéphane Robert, this reputation is set to achieve more international recognition.

Stephane began building this domain in 1994, when he was 24. He now works with 3ha in Cornas, 2.5 in Saint Joseph and 2 in Saint Peray, most of which he owns Aiming for wines which are characterised by fruit intensity rather than oak

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Saint-Joseph

Saint-Joseph

Saint-Joseph is the second-largest appellation in the Northern Rhône with 50 growers producing wines from over 600 hectares of vineyards. Established in 1956, over 90 percent of the wine is red – made exclusively from the Syrah grape. The white wines, meanwhile, are typically a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne varieties. Its vineyards run due south on the west side below Condrieu, and are in six communes: Mauves, Tournon, St Jean-de-Muzols, Lemps, Vion and Glun.

The styles of wine in St Joseph tend to be much lighter than other red Appellations d'Origine Contrôlee and the quality can vary dramatically. The soils and climate differ, as it is a long, narrow AOC. There is no particular characteristic of the commune as some wines are produced near Côte-Rôtie, whilst others are near to Cornas.

The best St Josephs are still produced in the original heartland of the appellation between St Jean-de-Muzols and Mauves, where soils are predominately granitic with patches of limestone and schist. Typically, even the finest St Josephs are slightly lighter and faster-maturing than the wines of Hermitage, as Saint-Joseph's east-facing vineyards lose the sun up to two hours earlier in the crucial ripening season.

Recommended producers: Pierre Gaillard, Domaine Coursodon and Paul Jaboulet.

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Syrah/Shiraz

Syrah/Shiraz

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.

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