2001 St Joseph Les Granits

One of Chapoutier’s sexiest offerings is the St.-Joseph Les Granits, a luxury cuvee produced from hillside granite soils near the village of Mauves (the home of renowned northern Rhone wine producers, Jean-Louis and Gerard Chave). The 2001 St.-Joseph Granits reveals such cooler climate characteristics as crisp acidity and a tighter, more compressed mid-palate. It possesses a dense ruby/purple color, aromas of crushed stones, violets, and red fruits, and a concentrated style. Although it will require more time to come around, it will never have the volume or seductive personality of the 2000. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2014. These uncompromising offerings from a young genius are not meant for consumers who want something to drink immediately. They are the essence of bio-dynamically farmed vineyard sites cropped incredibly low, given extended fermentations with indigenous yeasts, and rarely touched until they go into the bottle unfined and unfiltered. In most vintages, the wines are not even racked off their lees, which only adds to their natural style. These are truly remarkable wines, but for most readers, patience is the operative rule as they generally need a good 8-10 years to strut their stuff. Once moribund, over the last 12 years, this firm has become one of the reference points for nearly all the Rhone Valley appellations since the brash yet immensely talented Michel Chapoutier took over in the late eighties. The single vineyard offerings are as good as Rhone Valley wines can be. Moreover, Chapoutier continues to upgrade the quality of those wines offered in more significant quantities than the 500 or so cases each of the single vineyard offerings. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900

Saturated ruby-red. Complex aromas of noble rusticity: redcurrant, leather, minerals, smoked meat and earth. Then distinctly sauvage in the mouth, with notes of tobacco, iron, mocha, smoked meat, leather and pepper, all kept fresh by firm acidity. In a rather severe style befitting a wine from granite soil, but built to age. This bottling has consistently transcended its appellation.