2018 Saint-Joseph Préface

Given his long stint in Burgundy, it’s no surprise that Pierre-Jean Villa’s winemaking style runs to the elegant, even in hot vintages. His 2017s are a fine case in point, as they definitely do not behave as one might expect from a dry, incessantly hot year, showing fine detail and energy and the balance to age. The wines here, sourced from Villa’s 14 hectares of vines, are made to reflect the personality of the vintage, with up to 100% whole clusters for the Côte-Rôtie Fongeant, and raised in mostly neutral barrels, with about 10% being renewed each year.

Along with his partner, Olivier Decelle, Pierre-Jean Villa recently acquired Domaine de Boisseyt-Chol, with its 11 hectares of vineyards in Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu and Saint-Joseph and a sprawling winery facility in Chavanay that sits right beside the railroad tracks that stretch alongside the RN86. In the past, the winery was a railway depot for the pickup of the fruit for which the area was once well-known for. Villa moved his own winemaking there giving him a lot more room to move around, even though his not-so-old digs were cramped. In addition, he is extremely proud to show off his new, cutting-edge ozoned-water system, which they have installed at no small expense and allows for chemical-free cleaning throughout the winery. Villa’s wines are consistently well-made and expressive early on, leaning far more toward elegance and richness. Their up-front appeal is deceptive though, as many older bottles have proven over the years. Villa, who is a native of the region, spent a number of years working in Burgundy, notably at Clos de Tart and Domaine de la Vougeraie before coming home to help establish the (no longer so) boutique-y Les Vins de Vienne in 1996. It’s not a surprise that his winemaking style favors elegance and detail. Villa struck out on his own in 1999 and has, with little fanfare, quietly risen to the upper tier of northern Rhône wine producers. I’m also happy to note that pricing is extremely fair given the wines’ quality. Villa told me that he personally favors 2018 over 2017 for the wines have more delicacy. Speaking to the 2017s, he said, with typical candor, that “with the low yield and small bunches the wines are really rich and dark in character. People who like that style of wine are going to be really happy but those who demand delicacy, maybe not so much.”