2015 St Joseph Ste Epine

Even better, with more minerality and elegance, the blockbuster 2015 Saint Joseph Sainte Epine comes from this cool, windy, granite site located just outside of the small village of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols. Destemmed and brought up in 40% new oak, its vibrant purple color is followed by full-bodied notes of black raspberries, cassis, crushed rocks, and spring flowers. It’s concentrated, has awesome purity of fruit, and stays compact and tight on the palate. Hide bottles for 3-4 years. This wine should evolve for 10-15 years or more. Delas Frères is located just outside of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols and has plenty of prime parcels spread throughout the entire northern Rhône Valley. The 2015s are the finest wines I’ve tasted from this estate since the 2010s, and if anything, the wines appear to be slightly more balanced and polished, with less obvious oak. The 2016s are less showy, yet have very classic, balanced profiles, and this is unquestionably another good vintage for this estate, which appears to be firing on all cylinders.

Less aromatic than the François de Tournon bottling, the 2015 Saint-Joseph Sainte-Epine is nonetheless a stellar effort that may be even longer lived. It shows great concentration, pouring across the palate in a single jolt of dark fruit, expanding and intensifying on the powerful finish. Black cherries and plums carry hints of molten rock, charcoal and other inorganic complexities, which are brightened by crisp acids and buffered by firm tannins.

First vintage 2014. The must is oxidised before fermentation. Fermented in a single one-year-old 228-litre barrel. Almond, marzipan, dry and fibrous palate with a lovely oxidative edge that gives ripe apple and orange-peel notes. Not sure I would keep this very long, but it is a lovely charming, savoury white rhône for drinking over the next few years. (RH)